We are fortunate in Humboldt County to have a plethora of locally grown and manufactured products to choose from. I have lived in and visited quite a few different places in my life and have seldom seen as many local farms, farmers markets and locally owned, family run businesses as can be found here. We are also blessed with a lot of local craft breweries. But have you ever seen or tasted a commercial craft beer that was 100% Humboldt County local? I don’t just mean that it was produced locally, I mean a beer made from barley and hops that were planted, harvested and processed by the same person brewing it. Well if the answer is no, worry not, because soon you will have a chance to find out exactly what that is like, thanks to the man behind Humboldt Regeneration, Jacob Pressey. Jacob spent 7 1/2 years brewing at Eel River Brewery and has studied soils and alternative agriculture at HSU to prepare him for the task. If everything goes as planned his community supported brewery and farm will be selling growlers of his farm fresh beer out of his McKinleyville brewery this summer.
Jacob Pressey, owner, farmer and brewer at Humboldt Regeneration
The farm where Jacob is growing 2-row malting barley and hops is just south of Fortuna in the Vanduzen River Valley. He will be floor malting and kilning the harvested barleycorns to prepare them for the brewing process at his brewery located in a warehouse space in McKinleyville. His brewing equipment consists of 1/2 barrel (15.5 gallon) commercial kegs that have been cut and welded back together to give him the capacity to brew 1 barrel at a time. His shiny stainless steel fermenters and bright tanks were purchased in Oregon. While I was there I noticed some oak barrels in the back corner which will be used to barrel age some special releases.
Humboldt Regeneration will be modeled after a CSA farm (community supported agriculture) and will give customers the opportunity to participate in a growler exchange. For a monthly fee you can periodically come to the brewery and have your growler filled with the latest offering. For those interested in some special releases there may be an option to pay for multiple months in advance. If you were lucky enough to attend the Humboldt Homebrewers Festival in April, you may have tasted some of Jacobs tasty Blasphemy Brew. If not, support your local beer farmer and sign up for his growler exchange. Visit the website for contact details. http://humboldtregeneration.com/
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