Built in 1847, Rahr Corp. is the producer and distributor of malt and malt related supplies for breweries, distilleries, and allied industries around the world. Rahr recently announced it has purchased the outstanding 51 percent of Koda Energy from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), and Koda is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Rahr. Rahr Malting Co. helped form Koda Energy LLC to develop a renewable energy combining heat and power plant right next to the company. Generating electricity and heat utilizing agricultural, forestry and bio-material by-products, Koda Energy’s emissions will be cleaner than a coal plant and with lower carbon emissions than fossil fuel plants putting Koda at the forefront of renewable energy within Minnesota as well as globally, replacing natural gas.

“While the open market for renewable energy has changed, this facility still provides a clear benefit for our malting operations,” said Jeff Taylor CFO at Rahr Corp. “We are grateful for the SMSC’s partnership over the years and look forward to the continued use of this facility for our business.”

Koda Energy is dedicated to developing environmentally friendly energy. Bioenergy is energy created by burning exclusively natural, organic materials. Koda gets its biomass fuel from the unused byproducts of cereal grain processing, and recycled wood residues.

Everything from thermal power for the malt kilns to the electrical supply for the office comes from Koda’s biomass-powered suspension fired boiler (the first of its kind in the US, and only the second one in the world). Since Koda Energy relies on biomass to create energy, Rahr Malting can produce quality “fossil-free” malt. Electrostatic precipitators strip ionized soot and smudge from the burner exhaust, leaving clean vapor venting into the air. From this process, Rahr generates its greenest available malt to brewers and distillers.