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We’re always busy at the malthouse - crafting some of the best dang malt in the country is a full-time job, after all - but this year, we achieved some major milestones. Maltstones, you might call them. Goals that have been long in the dreaming and years in the making. And the honest truth of it?  We’ve had a blast in the process. Turns out this whole craft malt community is pretty amazing.

As 2022 rolls to a close, and as we take a rare but welcome moment to sit back, kick up our boots, and sip on that eggnog, we can’t help but wax a little poetic.  Farming will do that to you. All the hard work, long hours, and crazy pace suddenly draw to a close and we look back and think, “Holy sh*t! We did it!” Another year in the books. 

We couldn’t do what we do without the hard work of our dedicated team. And so, as we wrap up this calendar year, we asked them to reflect a bit on 2022 at Root Shoot Malting. Read their reflections (posted in no particular order!) to see what stood out to everyone - and pick up a few favorite beer and spirit tips in the process!

November is typically when we finish up harvest here at Olander Farms. By this time of year, we’ve spent nine months planting, cultivating, watering, and growing. From barley planting in March to corn harvest in November, we’ve been busily working away, growing your future beer and soon-to-be spirits.

When you land on Bruz Beers website, you know immediately what you’ve gotten yourself into. Right there, in gold-colored text set against a black background, front-and-center on the homepage, Bruz lays it all on the line. Badass Belgian Beers.

It’s an understatement to say that barley is our cash crop. Sure, we grow some wheat and rye and corn. We dabble in heritage grains. But barley, as most craft enthusiasts know, is the backbone of beer (and it’s often used in spirits, too!) so running a malthouse means bringing in the barley - and lots of it.

The prize for the brewery in the furthest reaches of our glorious state has to go to Wild Edge Brewing Collective in Cortez, Colorado. Owned by Tucker Robinson and partners, Wild Edge sits in a remodeled warehouse in downtown Cortez and specializes in craft beers with an emphasis on sours - both kettle and barrel-aged. They also serve up some mean IPAs, Saisons, and Belgians.

Need a drink? Wanna support Root Shoot? Into saving family farms? We made a graphic for you! Save this pic in your phone, mark it as one of your faves, and use it to pick your next brewery or distillery adventure!

We work some amazingly beautiful properties. We get to spend our days in sunny fields with the Rocky Mountains as our backdrop. We’ve got bright green rows of crops under bright blue skies. We use some sexy looking tractors and some handsome vintage trucks.

Specializing in authentic Belgian beers, Barquentine draws its recipes from tradition, but their beer - and location - are definitely up to par for the modern-day Colorado beer nerd. Located in the trendy Edgewater Public Market, a beer-drinker can find plenty to explore for an afternoon, or even well into the evening.

It’s barley season, and the barley is coming in strong, something for which we are always thankful since it is the heart and soul of our entire operation. At last check, it has reached its full height, the seed heads are looking solid, and soon we’ll be cutting off irrigation.

Brought to you by Ballmer Peak Distillery in Lakewood, Colorado, this Sonoran State of Mind cocktail is easy, approachable, and - above all - delicious. It’s a drink you can whip up in your kitchen, take out to the back patio, and sip with your swimsuit on and your feet in a kiddie pool.

This year, the current wheat shortage, and the related potential for severe worldwide food shortages, are acute enough that wheat production, something usually considered quite mundane, is now being covered with no small amount of regularity, and a fair amount of alarm.

We started our Homebrewer Highlights last month in honor of National Homebrew Day. At first, we figured we’d do a short blog post featuring three or four Root Shoot homebrewers and their beer, but as responses came in to the form we sent out, and as we started seeing all the amazing projects homebrewers are tackling with our malt, we decided to extend the project.

A dive into our logo icons.

When your craft-malt certified truck comes in a bright cherry red, adorned with sage, yet beer-y, advice (It’s easier to start the day when you know it will end with beer) and the picture of a friendly mule looking you in the face, well…you must be Bill Benson, owner of Iron Mule Brewery in Castle Rock and one of our favorite malthouse visitors on pick up days.

With summer patios on our mind and so many great distilleries in our Root Shoot family, we’ve decided to collaborate with a few of our amazing partner businesses and post a Cocktail of the Month recipe for you spirit-sippers to try at home. This month, we have a Finglas Dubdair Barrel Aged Gin hoppy paloma from Talnua Distillery.

Joyride Brewing makes the best Kolsch in the world. We mean this quite literally: they took home the gold medal for their Ice Cutter Kölsch in the German-style Kolsch category of the World Beer Cup.

The Gilded Goat opened the doors of its first location, a mid-town Fort Collins brewery in 2017, just a year after Root Shoot began malting, and they started sourcing malt from us right away. Earning the support of a new client is always an honor. Earning the support of The Gilded Goat…well, it was downright flattering.

National Homebrew Day is May 7th, and while we often spend time touting the breweries and distilleries that work with us, we want to take a minute to recognize another group that holds a soft spot in our hearts…the folks that go the extra mile to brew their own beer with our local Root Shoot malt!