WC Fields may spark memories of an early 1900s performer and actor, but when you’re in Bowling Green Beer Works, it’s a whole different subject matter. WC Fields is the nano-brewery’s newest release — a German Pilsner that has its roots in Wood County fields. All the ingredients are grown in that county. Local farmer Ron Snyder supplies the barley, while the hops is grown at the Agriculture Incubator Foundation in northwest Ohio.

The beer was first introduced at a private celebration Aug. 28 at the brewery, but it is now available to the public in a limited release — only three barrels, or 90 gallons, were made, according to Justin Marx, Bowling Green Beer Works owner and brewer.

Marx, who opened the off-the-beaten-path brewery in September 2016, says he was approached last year about making a beer with the hops being grown at the Ag Incubator off Road 582. “We bought a good portion of their crop last year, which resulted in our 582 IPA,” Marx says.

He was then approached by Haus Malts, a malting company in Cleveland founded in 2015 by the father-and-son team of Andrew and Craig Martahus. “They wanted to know if I was interested in their barely, which was being sourced in Wood County,” Marx says. “I thought it would be nice to marry the two and do an all-county beer.”

Marx likens the WC Fields to a grandfather of the standard American light pilsner with a 5% alcohol content. “It’s like a Heineken — an easy-drinking beer,” he says. “It is a seasonal beer for us — partly in conjunction with Octoberfest. I’ve wanted to do something like this for the farmers in Wood County and for people who aren’t necessarily into craft beer — not everyone is a craft-beer drinker. This showcases the malt in the way they might appreciate.”

Barley connection
When corn was $7 a bushel, Ron Snyder spent some time in his machine shed thinking about what he was going to plant on the 200 acres he farms. “I knew that price wasn’t going to hold — what swings high, will eventually swing low,” he says. “I knew I needed to find different crops to raise and use my size as an advantage instead of detriment.”

Snyder, who with his wife, Barb, were named a Conservation Farm Family Award winner in 2015, were already growing spelt for Lou Kozma, who manages John Hirzel Farms.

COZY: Many visitors to Bowling Green Beer Works describe it as cozy. It is the home of the recently released all Wood County sourced beer. It’s often difficult to find because of lack of signage. It is among several warehouse buildings and has two garage doors that swing up.

This is where the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” seems to play a role in connecting the dots.

It gets a little muddied, but Kozma already had been working with Ohio State University Extension horticulture specialist Brad Bergefurd (a college buddy) to develop a grant for growing hops.

“I saw an article on Haus Malts, and I called Lou [Kozma] to see if maybe they would be another buyer of spelt from us,” Snyder says. “Turns out, at the exact time I was calling, he was in a meeting with Andrew Martahus, one of Haus Malts’ owners.”

The discussion turned to barley and a series of phone calls followed to iron out the details.

It’s been a learning curve growing malting barley. Snyder says you want 12% protein or less, and the protein level is dictated by the amount of nitrogen. “Too much nitrogen makes the protein go up, and if that happens in malting beer, you are going to get a glass of foam,” he adds. “It’s a balancing act much more than people think.”

ABOUT MALTING: Craig Martahus, owner of Haus Malts, explains about his business and the process of malting barley. In the background is Ron Snyder, who grows and supplies the barley for the beer named WC Fields.

It’s been a good business-friend relationship with Haus Malts, says Snyder, who planted his first 38 acres of barley last year. “It’s been a good crop economically,” he says.

He grew 55 acres this year, but will pare it back to 36 acres next year to mainly accommodate a rotation. “They buy it all,” he says. “It was decided that we needed to pare it down just a bit to prevent us from getting too far ahead,” he adds.

Snyder has started some other crops. This year he planted a hybrid rye crop called Brasetto that will also be marketed to Haus Malts. “We are figuring out how to grow it; it’s not a regular rye,” he says. “We grew 5 acres, and we’re looking to do another 5 next year.”

Bowling Green Beer Works is located at 322 N. Grove St., Suite C, in Bowling Green. It is open Monday through Thursday 5-10 p.m., Friday 4:30-10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 1-10 p.m. Contact BGBW at 512-299-2101. For more information about Haus Malts, email [email protected] or call 216-570-1108.