Stormcloud Brewing Company Brews Harvest Beer with 100 Percent Michigan Ingredients

19 Oct 2015 --- Frankfort, Mich. — With the arrival of harvest season, Stormcloud Brewing Company has produced three harvest beers to celebrate the transition from summer to autumn and Michigan’s bounty of seasonal crops. While all three beers are brewed with hops grown in northern Michigan, one of the beers, a Harvest Saison, is brewed exclusively with 100% Michigan grown and harvested ingredients.

A Michigan made beer from start to finish, the Harvest Saison is brewed with barley, red wheat, yeast and hops all grown and harvested in the Great Lakes State. The Harvest Saison’s Michigan-based ingredients include:

100% Michigan Malt – Pale Ale Malt and Munich Malt both produced from barley grown by Hop Ridge Farms in Grand Rapids, Michigan and malted by Pilot Malt House in Grand Rapids.

100% Michigan Wheat – Red Wheat grown by Knappen Milling Company in Augusta, Michigan.

100% Michigan Hops – Fresh-harvest Empire Hops, Michigan’s first proprietary hop variety, grown by Empire Hops Farm in Empire, Michigan.

100% Michigan Yeast – A Michigan indigenous yeast harvested in the Upper Peninsula’s Keweenaw Peninsula and cultured by Craft Cultures in Hancock, Michigan.

“In addition to our Harvest Ale, and our Harvest Tripel, I wanted to add a Harvest Saison to our lineup this year,” says Stormcloud’s Head Brewer and Co-Owner Brian Confer. “We brewed some small five-gallon trials with the Keweenaw Yeast this past winter and its flavor profile pointed me towards Saison. We decided on fresh harvested Empire Hops because of the unique twist of it being a proprietary Michigan only grown hop, and completed the circle by sourcing 100% Michigan grown malt and wheat. With the release of our Harvest Saison, our customers will get to enjoy a beer that is absolutely 100% Michigan grown, and brewed.”

The Harvest Saison was brewed by Confer in Stormcloud Brewing Company’s downtown Frankfort location and is available on tap in the brewery’s adjoining pub. The two additional harvest beers are also available at Stormcloud’s pub, both featuring northern Michigan grown hops.

Stormcloud Brewing Company’s 30:03 Harvest Pale Ale, pronounced “33,” is brewed with 90 pounds of Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops picked fresh off the vine just a 30 minute drive north of the brewery. The hops are then added to the brew kettle within 3 hours of harvest, still fresh and bright green. The brewery’s 2015 Harvest Tripel, a traditional Belgian beer with light body and higher alcohol, is brewed with 30 pounds of Crystal hops. Hops for both beers were grown and harvested by Empire Hops Farm located in Michigan’s Leelanau County (lower Michigan’s pinky finger).