"Craft Malting" Catching On Fast

Craft Malting Catching On Fast FARM HOME Food Andrea Stanley and her husband Christian wanted to brew beer from local grain but they didn’t have one of the most important ingredients: malt They figured other local brewers had the same problem so they started a craft malthouse “When we realized no one was doing any malting on the East Coast it was shocking and exciting to discover a unique niche ” says Andrea adding that the closest malthouse was halfway across the country in Wisconsin When it came to setting up their malthouse it helped that Christian was a mechanical engineer and Andrea had business experience He designed and built their first system She warns that it required a lot of calculations of airflow time temperature and moisture “The first 2 steps of steeping and germinating are fairly easy ” says Andrea “It’s the kiln that trips up a lot of people If you don’t move enough air through and dry it down quickly enough you can get a lot of mold growth ” In early 2010 Andrea was selecting barley seed and talking to farmers while Christian was designing and building a 1-ton per week system By September they were starting their first commercial batches of malt Demand grew rapidly By 2012 they had upgraded their system to 4 tons per week and started growing grain and other crops themselves in addition to contracting with other farmers Currently they are expanding again this time to 12 tons per week as they supply brewers and distillers from Maryland to Maine and east into New York State They’ve also started developing other markets for their malt including a packaged malted pancake mix “We plan to continue building the market in our region ” says Andrea She encourages others to follow in their footsteps “It’s a really great job if you like to work hard and be part of agriculture and brewing ” she says “Before you spend a lot of time and money and commit to malting equipment look at your supply especially if you’re not in an area with a tradition of malting grain ” says Stanley “Not every batch will be perfect so it’s nice having distillers as a secondary market ” Stanley also suggests finding a mentor She and her husband worked with a craft maltster from Quebec Today finding advice is much easier She and other craft malthouses recently started the North American Craft Maltsters Guild “Our website went live in February ” says Stanley “We have resources for growers and people interested in malting Our goal is to provide educational opportunities focused on the craft ” Stanley thinks craft malting is at an early stage and hopes the guild will establish standards of quality and safety Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Valley Malt 27 Middle Rd Hadley Mass 01035 ph 413 349-9098; andrea@valleymalt com; www valleymalt com; www craftmalting com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.