Beachport farmers Mark and Kate Wheal have a new dilemma - whether to feed their barley to their free range pigs or make beer out of it.
Luckily they say both are good outcomes for the 100 hectares of Planet barley they grow each year.
The couple behind successful pork brand, Beachport Berkshires, have added another business to put the seaside town on the map.
In April they opened a craft brewery on the foreshore of Beachport with stunning views of Rivoli Bay and are gearing up for a busy summer of tourists.
Last weekend their "paddock to pint" dream was realised at the Robe Beer Festival with several beers produced from their own barley.
All of the beers on tap in their brewery will start from their home grown barley.
A small amount of their wheat is also being used in the Skipper's Middy.
Mr Wheal admits he has always had an interest in home brewing, even crafting some amber gold for their wedding seven years ago.
"The pigs took up up all of our time for a while but I always wanted to come back to it," he said.
Barley grown in the South East is nearly all destined for the feed market due to the distance from an export port but Mr Wheal says the area produces high quality malt barley.
"When you look at the maritime climate we have with the cool ripening and slower finish, the starches are very well developed within the grain," he said.
He says stepping up to commercial scale has had its challenges, including finding a maltster.
Their search took them to NSW, delivering a truck load of the barley to Voyager Craft Malt near Griffith.
"It was a costly exercise but we had good barley so we wanted to make the most of it," he said.
Two other local brewers, Robetown Brewing and Loophole Brewery, have also used the Wheals' malt but have added different yeasts.
They share Mr Wheal's passion for provenance and desire to pair local beer with the finest local produce from crayfish to lamb to their pork.
"In wine they talk about the terroir of the area so why can't we create the same thing with barley and put the flavour of the region in a beer glass," he said.
He is confident in their barley crops being able to hit malt barley specifications each year but expects the flavours will change with the seasonal variability.
"The amount of barley we use for the brewing process is very small for the amount we potentially grow so we are always able to pick the best paddock or part of the paddock," he said.
Mr Wheal says they are able to extract the maximum value out of the grain with the mash from the brewery fed to their cattle.
"Most of the nutrition has been removed but it is very good for their rumen," he said.
VALUE adding their pork and now barley has given Mark and Kate Wheal a better understanding of what they are producing in their diverse farming business.
"If you consume it or you are putting your name to it you take a lot more care that it is this, this and this - you want to be proud," Mr Wheal said.
Wheal Farms runs 160 certified free range Berkshire sows, 500 Angus and Angus-Simmental breeders and a sheep flock, as well as cropping 350 hectares of wheat, barley, canola and beans annually.
Mrs Wheal says using their own barley has created a "real point of difference" to the many other craft breweries.
"It highlights a lot about what we are about, which is putting brand Beachport on the map and really pushing Limestone Coast," she said.
"We are well known for our fishing, or our wine or our meat production but we are also a great cropping area and for us to have that tie in with our barley right through to our beer and our cropping side to our tourism, we love that synergy of combining everything."
Beachport Brewing Company has seven beers on tap including the Sea Mine Smash, Beach Day XPA, Swell Session Ale and Skipper's Middy all using their own malt.
A new version of their popular Lipson Lager re-created with their malt is coming soon, as well as new versions of Sea Fog Pale Ale and Beachport Cream Brown Ale
The plan is for these to also be available at local pubs and eateries.
In another exciting development the Wheals have just received accreditation for their meat room, which is located under the same roof as the brewery.
