From West Sixth:
West Sixth has announced that it will begin producing its own ingredients for their beers by creating a new farm.
The West Sixth Farm is 120 rolling acres in Franklin County on Shadrick Ferry Rd. Located just 8-minutes from downtown Frankfort, and 35-minutes from Lexington, West Sixth Brewing will use the farm to grow ingredients for their beers as well as a location for the public to visit in order to learn how the ingredients for beer are grown, processed, and used in brewing beer.
“This is a major project for us, and one that we’ve been working on for nearly 2 years”, said co-founder Ben Self, “We’re trying to do something different – the first in the state. In Lexington, our production facility is an urban factory. But Kentucky has a rich and amazing agricultural history. Many folks don’t think of it that way – but beer is by nature an agricultural product.
“At the West Sixth Farm, we’ll create a place for small-scale production of brewing ingredients. But we won’t just have fields of hop trellises and barley, we’ll also grow raspberries and sour cherries and blackberries and squash and sorghum and chili peppers and herbs and pawpaws and all sorts of other products we’re already using to brew many of our specialty batches. We’ll use the land to experiment with new ingredients to learn how these crops can be better grown in Kentucky. And we’ll work with other Kentucky farmers in the hopes that someday, all of our ingredients can be purchased from Kentucky Proud farmers,” said West Sixth co-founder Joe Kuosman.
One item new to the West Sixth portfolio will be the growth of cider apples – to be used at some point in the future for a craft Kentucky cider. “We’re excited to explore the use of some apples not traditionally grown in Kentucky – but ones that will be ideal for our environment and the production of hard cider,” said co-founder and head brewer Robin Sither.
In addition to the production of ingredients for beer and a new craft cider, the West Sixth Farm will also highlight the usage of spent grain as feed for livestock and chickens. There will also be several beehives on site. Honey is an ingredient West Sixth has used previously as a locally-produced ingredient.
Finally, the West Sixth Farm will also house a small production facility – for the production of ales and ciders with ingredients grown on site. They’ll host public and private events on the farm, and in the future may also add a small retail facility.
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