Trillium + Fonta Flora Aerial Roots

Kernels have power, and our farming friends at Fonta Flora bring the heirloom goods to a collaborative beer that highlights our collective reverence for agriculture.

Aerial Roots, showcases Floriani Red, Bloody Butcher, and White Eagle varieties harvested from Fonta Flora’s farming neighbors in Morganton. We performed cereal mash to ensure the corn would be fully integrated into the beer. We dry-hopped with copious hand selected lots of Riwaka, Citra, Amarillo, and Chinook to play off of the smooth, drinkable corn IPA.

So what the heck are Aerial Roots? Most modern corn varieties have roots that reach down to the soil from the stalk. These root buttress and keep the stalk upright in windy weather. Recently however, researchers have identified landrace corn varieties grown by indigenous folks that self-fertilize through natural nitrogen fixation on aerial roots that extend farther up the stalk.

Trillium witnessed this trait on a landrace Peruvian variety grown in a test plot this season! This trait has the potential to reduce or eliminate the need for fertilization and could have a massive positive impact on the environmental sustainability of growing corn. Aerial Roots is a symbol of hope brought forward by natural, regenerative agricultural practices.