Peter B’s Brewpub brings a new climate-friendly grain to the Monterey Bay
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL TROUTMAN
When brewer Natalie Mika heard about Kernza —a new eco-friendly grain being used for brewing beer—she had to get her hands on some.
Kernza only dates back to the early 2000s.
A cousin of wheat, it was developed by The Land Institute in Kansas as a more climate-friendly option. Unlike traditional brewing grains like barley and wheat, Kernza is a perennial plant—regrowing year after year and preserving soil health and water quality while preventing erosion.
“We need grains that use the least amount of water and keep the soil healthy, because healthy soil is going to sequester carbon and be really good for our environment,” says Mika, who is head brewer at Peter B’s in the Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey. “With Kernza, once you plant it, it’s going to be there. The roots go 10 feet deep, so you don’t have to re-till, and you can grow cover crops between the rows, which can lead to higher biodiversity.”
Kernza has yet to break into the mainstream, but it has gained some buzz. In 2016, Patagonia teamed up with 11 big-name brewers, like Sierra Nevada and Russian River Brewing, to release beers featuring the eco-grain. One of those collaborations brought Kernza to Mika’s attention.
“I had never heard of it before the GM of our hotel, Janine Chicourrat, handed me a torn-out page from a magazine about Dogfish Head brewing Kernza beer,” says Mika. “She was like, ‘Do you know what this is, Natalie? Can we do something with this?’” The answer was yes.
Mika immediately dove in and released her first batch brewed with Kernza in September 2022, and the latest one this past October. The current version, named Shrub Light, was brewed to be an easydrinker like Miller High Life. It goes well with sporting events (like Monday Night Football, which is big at Peter B’s), but has a subtle edge thanks to the Kernza flavors melding with hints of barley.
“It’s got beautiful honey notes, and it’s super nutty,” says Mika. “This batch is an American-style lager, so you’ve got a little bit of flavor and graininess, but it’s also light. This one is only 7 IBUs, so it’s not very bitter…just enough hop flavor to balance the grain. And it’s nice and highly carbonated, so you get a lot of brightness.”
Though Kernza has been challenging to procure, Mika has been fully encouraged by the Portola Hotel, which has long been committed to upholding eco-friendly principles and was the first LEEDcertified hotel in Central California.
The brewer is also driven by her own dedication to the environment, from growing up in Salinas (the Salad Bowl of the World), to studying viticulture at Cal Poly and then following the wine harvest between California and Argentina for a few years. While taking a break in 2019 and visiting home in Salinas, she came across an open assistant brewer role at Peter B’s that changed everything.
Now, with the keys to her kettle-filled kingdom in hand and head brewer title, Mika is not just brewing with Kernza herself but trying to help others do so too. When she first searched for Kernza, it was nearly impossible to find or afford (costing around $250 for 50 pounds, versus the normal $47 for 55 pounds of barley).
Though supplies have increased and prices have normalized in the past two years, Kernza has a long way to go before replacing its less climate-friendly cousins. All the same, Mika is committed to spreading the word about Kernza and making the beer world a more sustainable place.
“It’s still pretty expensive,” she says, “so I am just trying to use the brewery as a platform because I think it’s a really amazing grain.”
About the author
Ashley Drew Owen is a writer and Massachusetts transplant. Her passion for learning about local food is only overshadowed by her passion for writing about or eating it. Safe to say, she is a lover of food and words, and also driving very fast in the left lane.
