Malt barley harvest on T&L Farms
Last summer we arranged a tour of the MillerCoors brewery in Golden, Colo. As contracted malt barley growers, we got the special treatment.
Our tour group consisted of Tyler and I, my mom Amy, dad Steve, brother Ben, Tyler’s mom Kim, her husband Bill, and Tyler’s Great Uncle Harry, and Great Aunt Veletia. Veletia put together a detailed, very informative slideshow of the trip, the company’s history, and the brewing process here. It’s a fun read with great photos!
During Prohibition, the company diversified by making ceramics and other malted products.
We learned a lot about how beer is brewed in mass quantity. It was fun to see the final leg in our barley’s existence. Now I’ve seen it go from field to cup!
Barley growing on T&L Farms
I’d never seen hops in person before. Have you? They had it growing outside the brewery, and had some of it to touch on the way into the facility.
We saw what the barley goes through before other ingredients are added.
Steeping tanks. The barley is soaked twice before it is germinated.
Germinated barley. This must be done before the grain is suitable for brewing.
Kilning or roasting is done to get the barley just right for different types of beer.
Kilning or roasting before the barley is sent to the brewing process.
This was the best smelling place. The barley goes through the brewing process where other ingredients are introduced. Veletia’s slideshow really has a great explanation of the details.
The finished beer goes through quality control. It’s all more scientific than I ever imagined beer brewing would entail.
We also got to see the product being packaged on site. Look at that sea of cans.
And, of course, we got to taste test some of the product. Was a fun time had by all!
“Let a man walk ten miles steadily on a hot summer’s day along a dusty English road, and he will soon discover why beer was invented.” – Gilbert K Chesterton.
God Bless You & American Agriculture,
Liz
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. – Hebrews 10:25
The Farm Paparazzi 
I’ve never seen hops either. Looks like a fun tour!