Dogfish Head unveils new Kernza Pils

Dogfish Head has long been a company that cares about the environment, and its newest beer makes use of the latest and greatest in sustainable agriculture.

Kernza Pils is a collaboration with Patagonia Provisions, a division of apparel maker Patagonia, and the Land Institute, a Kansas-based agricultural advocacy group. 

Dogfish founder Sam Calagione said Kernza Pils uses kernza, organic pilsner malt, lager yeast and Contessa hops. Kernza is a wheatgrass that, unlike regular wheat, is a perennial that does not have to be reseeded every year. Kernza has smaller seeds than wheat and has roots that go 10 to 14 feet into the soil so it can get water from deeper in the ground, unlike wheat that only goes 4 feet into the soil. 

The story of how kernza ended up in a Dogfish beer started nearly a decade ago when Birgit Cameron, head of Patagonia Provisions, first heard about the crop. She said because kernza is a perennial and does not need to be planted again, it comes with a reduced carbon footprint and decreased use of pesticides. Patagonia Provisions was founded to create food and beverage products that are more environmentally sustainable. Other products the line sells are kernza pasta noodles, venison links and coffee. 

The Land Institute helped develop kernza and worked to convince farmers to grow it. Rachel Strower, president of the Land Institute, said about 400 farmers across the country grow kernza. 

Dogfish and Patagonia already had a partnership with Patagonia making Dogfish-branded apparel, and Patagonia and the Land Institute already had an existing partnership through Patagonia Provisions. From there, the decision was made to brew a beer using kernza.

Calagione said the recipe was worked on for about a year; the kernza comes in during the mash process, helping give the beer its color and body. He said using kernza for brewing beer came with its own challenges. 

“Kernza as a grain is much smaller than barley, so you have to find special mills that are able to crack it open and expose the fermentable sugars from it, but in a way that you can add in with barley from our bigger mills. Once we did it and did the test batches, then we built the hops around it. What’s great about kernza is it has a really unique, subtle black pepper spiciness and allows certain hop varieties to explode aromatically off the kernza base,” Calagione said. 

He said the beer is very sessionable and makes a good pairing with a variety of foods. 

Kernza Pils can be found at Dogfish Head’s Rehoboth Beach brewpub and Milton brewery, and in six-packs at liquor stores around the Cape Region.