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Kernza and Why Not Beets, Eh?
Aug. 16th, 2026 05:12 pmI was trying to find out the most common starch to be fermented into gin, and Google wouldn't do anything but wax lyrical about juniper and botanicals, which, yes, yum, but if I wanted to plant a crop to become gin, I wouldn't be waffling around with juniper bushes, nor fragrant foliage. Eventually it was revealed that the base alcohol is a neutral spirit most often made from grain, and sometimes potatoes.
I was looking for this because there is a new (to me) grain in town, Kernza[1], which is exciting because it is perennial and thus doesn't need to be planted every year, saving planting costs. It also has super long deep roots, so it holds the soil in place and helps retain water. It also means that the plants are not removed at harvest, and so the ground is never bare, gone on the wind[2]. The plant produces grain (a bunch grass seed), and hay stuff as fodder for feed. It is a relative of wheat, but not exactly wheat. Less gluten, smaller grain size. It grows well in colder climes[3]
Someone is already making whisky with it: https://smokyvalleydistillery.com/blog/what-is-kernza
So I was thinking about what starches are most commonly used for alcohol fermentation, and it's:
whisky wheat
beer barley
rye whisky rye
bourbon sweet corn
vodka potato
rum sugar cane
gin any old thing
So then I wondered why there isn't a booze linked to beets[4]. Something pink, delicately botanicalled with dill, eh?
Google google google - oh. Apparently it is ersatz rum, not allowed to be called rum[5].
[1] - name patented, and researched mercilessly, and ultimately to be controlled completely for the benefit of stockholders, don't you worry
https://kernza.org/
https://landinstitute.org/our-work/perennial-crops/kernza/
[2] - did you see what I did there? *snortle*
[3] - which, face facts, folks, means less and less each day
[4] - and turnips, now that I think of it, but where's the romance (or comedy) in that, eh? I wonder whether turnips/swedes/rutabagas weren't the first starchers used in gin fermentation
[]5 - yes, yes - only sparkling disappointment
I was looking for this because there is a new (to me) grain in town, Kernza[1], which is exciting because it is perennial and thus doesn't need to be planted every year, saving planting costs. It also has super long deep roots, so it holds the soil in place and helps retain water. It also means that the plants are not removed at harvest, and so the ground is never bare, gone on the wind[2]. The plant produces grain (a bunch grass seed), and hay stuff as fodder for feed. It is a relative of wheat, but not exactly wheat. Less gluten, smaller grain size. It grows well in colder climes[3]
Someone is already making whisky with it: https://smokyvalleydistillery.com/blog/what-is-kernza
So I was thinking about what starches are most commonly used for alcohol fermentation, and it's:
whisky wheat
beer barley
rye whisky rye
bourbon sweet corn
vodka potato
rum sugar cane
gin any old thing
So then I wondered why there isn't a booze linked to beets[4]. Something pink, delicately botanicalled with dill, eh?
Google google google - oh. Apparently it is ersatz rum, not allowed to be called rum[5].
[1] - name patented, and researched mercilessly, and ultimately to be controlled completely for the benefit of stockholders, don't you worry
https://kernza.org/
https://landinstitute.org/our-work/perennial-crops/kernza/
[2] - did you see what I did there? *snortle*
[3] - which, face facts, folks, means less and less each day
[4] - and turnips, now that I think of it, but where's the romance (or comedy) in that, eh? I wonder whether turnips/swedes/rutabagas weren't the first starchers used in gin fermentation
[]5 - yes, yes - only sparkling disappointment
