American Malting and Grain Growing for Craft Beer

“We’re expecting a large group of homebrewers to come to the Malting Institute,” said Jason. “To be able to malt at home is the next thing for homebrewers to get their heads around. You can buy raw grain from a farmer and make it into a beer... how cool is that?” Colorado Malting’s goal was always to connect the producer to brewers and distillers, Jason said, and also to give brewers, homebrewers, and distillers tools to take control of their craft. That same philosophy applies at many of the craft malting companies popping up throughout the U.S.

Six-Row In The Southeast

“Following the trend of craft breweries, I see a lot of states getting micro-malthouses in their areas,” said Brent Manning, co-owner at Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, N.C. Riverbend opened in 2011 and quickly generated interest from nearby craft brewers looking to source their grain locally. The company is 1,500 miles away from the closest major malthouse and just down the road from Asheville’s 19 craft breweries (and counting), many of which are customers. Not to mention it is one of the only houses in the country malting six-row barley.

Also called winter barley, six-row barley is planted in late fall and harvested the following summer. It’s indigenous to the Southeast region and better suited for North Carolina’s heat and humidity than its tworowed sister. “We surprise people because we use six-row barley,” said Manning. “A lot of people associate it with dry, husky flavors, and not a rich, malt bready flavor profile. We’re able to really draw out a lot of rich, malty, sweet flavors though. We’ve found that you can make a nice full-bodied pale ale, whether it’s session strength or a big black IPA.”

“We built clientele through education,” Manning continued. “Sometimes we homebrewed beer with our own products and poured it on tours for potential clients. Within a year and a half of opening, we were swamped with demand. We spend a lot of time with shovels in our hands. Today we shoveled 8,000 pounds of malt before lunch.”

Going Gluten Free

Grouse Malting and Roasting Company in Wellington, Colorado is also building its market through education. This exclusively gluten-free malting company was founded by Twila Henley, whose interest in gluten-free beer started during her graduate studies at Colorado State University. She was studying food science and food safety when she met a classmate who had been diagnosed with Celiac disease. “I was struck by her dedication to this diet,” said Henley about her classmate. “I remember thinking, ‘There’s gluten-free bread and pizza crust, so there’s got to be gluten-free beer on the market.’”