While the Riggs family farm has thrived for four generations on less than 500 acres in Champaign County, Ill., the fifth generation — brothers Matt and Darin Riggs — knew they’d have to get creative to stay relevant in the modern farm economy.

“Growing up, my dad was very clear to Darin and I that we’d have to have some other job as a source of primary income, which was a bit frustrating because we liked farming,” Matt says. “But at some point in our adult lives, we discovered beer. And it was love at first sip.”

The brothers knew that traditionally brewed beer can be broken down into four simple ingredients: yeast, water, hops and grain. By growing the grain themselves, they knew they could start a brewery just a few miles down the road from the family farm.

“It’s not rocket science,” Matt says. “What we do here is science, but it’s all pretty easy to understand. It’s a really ancient process.”

After some initial experiments with homebrewing, the brothers went out into the world to complete brewery educations, eventually coming back to Champaign County in 2015 to open Riggs Beer Co. with their wives.

“We own the value chain all the way from the seed going into the ground to the beer being sold. Honestly, I think it’s the only chance our farm has to stay relevant for another generation,” Matt says.

Growing the grain
Riggs Beer Co. farms 20 acres of grain for beer, leaving the rest to conventional agriculture. They grow non-genetically modified corn for two of their beers, wheat for their wheat beers and barley for all their beers.

“Corn is really great because it yields 200 bushel an acre, and more importantly, we don’t need to send corn to a maltster. We can use raw corn in our beer,” Matt says. “We have to send all our wheat and barley to Mammoth Malt in Thawville, Ill.”

Larger breweries like Busch and Miller also use corn, but they take out a portion of the kernel before using it in the brewing process.

“We don’t want to do that. We don’t want to send it off for processing. And we actually kind of like the flavor whole-kernel corn delivers in the beer,” Matt says, adding that it gives the beer a fuller flavor that comes with more oil.

The Riggs brothers say that every year, they’ve learned something new. While they’re still testing for the right variety of corn to plant, they’ve landed on Erisman soft red winter wheat as their main wheat variety. It was bred in central Illinois and is suited for growing in the region. It also has ideal properties in the brewery and the malt house.

“We’re never going to be a perfect barley growing region here, though,” Matt says in reference to barley’s preference for dry conditions, like Montana where yields average 60 bushels per acre. “Our barley fields are between 35 and 45 bushels an acre.”

However, the brothers have found that planting winter barley and winter wheat on or close to the Hessian fly-free date for the county increases their chances of growing a healthy and higher-yielding crop.

DRILLING: Darin Riggs readies the drill for sowing winter wheat on the fly-free date for Champaign County, Ill.

“We got some crops planted in the third or fourth week of October last year, and it just got destroyed. So, sometimes that’s also a way to learn a lesson,” Matt says.

“This is the first year where we got all of our winter wheat planted on the fly-free date,” Darin adds.

Not rushing to organic
Matt says he’s relied on fungicide to help manage vomitoxin levels in his crops to keep the harvest safe for human consumption.

“This year and every year, we’ve done timely applications of fungicide,” Matt says. “We may look at dialing that down or doing away with it, depending on weather. But there’s just way too many variables and a steep learning curve to try to minimize fungicide use while we’re still learning.”

He adds that Riggs Beer Co. could realistically start selling organic beer in the future. But he doesn’t want to rush it.

“If you’re putting all of your money on the line to do something — all your eggs in your one basket, so to speak — it’s important to not rush to go certified organic,” Matt says. “Rather, take down inputs each year as you understand and control the processes better. That’s what we’re doing.”