New beer product for the canton of Zug

The Baar brewery is working together on this project with the Bio Zugerland interest group. Around six tons of organic brewing barley have been harvested for the project in Menzingen.

Regionality and sustainability - these are the keywords at the moment: and the Baar brewery also wants to become more active in this area. Following the launch of the "Hirsebier"(beer made from millet from Cham) in 2014, the company is now working together with the interest group (IG) Bio Zugerland with the aim of offering an organic beer brewed from barley from local production.

For those who are not familiar with beer: the barley forms the basis for the malt, which gives the beer its taste and colour, and is produced by the ‘malting’ process’, in which enzymes are activated and formed. Until now, the Baar brewery has sourced its brewing barley from southern Germany. "The idea of working with farmers from the canton of Zug has been in our minds for some time, because demand for local products has risen sharply in recent years," says Managing Director Martin Uster. The contact with IG Bio Zugerland was established about a year ago – this is an association in which around 15 organic farmers work together to better position their products locally.

Photo 1: Brewer Urs Rüegg (left) and brewery manager Martin Uster take a look at the barley being grown for the brew.
Photo 2: The combine harvester at work in the Neuhof field in Menzingen.
Photo 3: Brewing barley is a summer cereal and, unlike feed barley, has two-line of ears instead of multi-line ears

Optimal conditions this summer
In April, three farmers sowed brewing barley on an area of 3.5 hectares, and the long-awaited idea is now literally bearing fruit: last week, the fields of Chuenz (Edlibach), Unterschwand and Neuhof (both Menzingen) were harvested. "We expect a yield of around 6 tons," says Uster. The aim was to achieve a yield of at least 5 tons. "So we can be satisfied."

Peter Waltenspül, President of the IG, agrees. "We had optimal conditions this summer. The cultivation of brewing barley is relatively extensive." This means that, in contrast to intensive agriculture, the labour input is low in relation to the area. Brewing barley is a summer cereal and, unlike feed barley, has two-line of ears instead of multi-line ears. The grains are larger and the protein content is lower, which is important for the beer quality. The enthusiasm for the project can be heard by the President of Bio-Zugerland. According to Waltenspül, this is the first time that brewing barley has been grown in Central Switzerland.

One of the three farmers involved is Markus Zürcher from Menzingen, who has already experimented with the cultivation of hemp or amaranth. "I like to try out new things," he says when asked what motivated him to grow a new grain variety for the Baar brewery. In organic farming, people generally struggle with the additional weeds, according to Zürcher, which leads to lower yields. "But this project is not about the money, it's about doing something meaningful."

After harvesting, the grain is dried, cleaned and sorted, as Urs Rüegg, master brewer of the Baar brewery, explains. This is followed by the germ-calm, in which the grains can "mature". The malting then follows, for which the barley is transported to Bavois in Vaud. "Central Switzerland still does not have its own malthouse," says Rüegg. "But there are efforts in this direction in the Lucerne hinterland, in which we are also participating." Until then, the Zug brewing barley will be malted in Western Switzerland. "After all, it’s still in Switzerland," says Rüegg. Following  this process, the malt returns to Baar, where it is stored in a silo.

When will the first beer be brewed with it?
According to Martin Uster, it is not yet clear when beer lovers will be able to enjoy their first Baar beer from local barley. "We expect that we will have processed the malt before the end of the year." There are many ideas for the new product. But they first need to know the effective quantity required, and to check the quality of the raw material. The annual requirement for brewing barley in Baar is more than 400 tons, although a share of only 1.5% is covered by the locally produced 6 tons. "There’s still a long way to go before we can meet our needs with local brewing barley," says the managing director. But he emphasizes: "Our goal is a long-term cooperation with the local producers."

For Bio-Zugerland President Waltenspül and Biobauer Zürcher, it’s also clear that the project will continue in the coming year. "I will definitely be back," announces Markus Zürcher. And Peter Waltenspül adds: "We are, of course, looking forward to the first beer made from our barley."