Craft malting, also called micro-malting, [1] is an agricultural practice of creating malting barley in relatively small quantities for craft beer. [2] One guide says that craft malt must include 50% locally sourced grain, [3] the figure endorsed by a trade industry group. [4]
In addition to beer, craft malt can be used for whisky (peat malting), [5] or as specialty grains for baking. [6] The craft malt may be heirloom varieties that are not commercially viable for large growers; [7] of tens of thousands of barley varieties, only 10 or so are produced in great quantity for beer. [6] Craft malting also appeals to local food culture in areas away from the main grain producing areas of the Midwestern United States. [8] [9]
Craft malting may be traced to a 2004 operation in Reno, Nevada that supplied organic products to Nevada and Northern California breweries. Other early craft malting operations began in 2010 in New England; North Carolina in 2011; and Michigan and West Virginia prior to 2013. [10] [11] In 2013 there were five craft malt operations. [7] There were 59 craft malthouses by early 2017. [12]
The Pacific Northwest craft beer industry has created strong demand for craft malt. A supplier in Skagit Valley was one of the first in the nation, operating since 2014. [13] Washington State University operates the Mount Vernon Research Center which has developed new barley varieties suitable for the local climate and soil. [14] One cultivar called "Richard" has produced over 6,400 kilograms per hectare (5,700 lb/acre). [2]
According to one source, "Skagit Valley malts are naturally lower in protein than those from other North American growing regions". [15]
Farms in the Skagit Valley area have produced barley on a small scale since the 1890s or earlier, and some are in the fourth generation of ownership by the same family. [16]
The arrival of craft malt has been called "The most important development for Seattle craft brewing", [17] and "redefin[ing] ... what it means to be a truly local beer". [8]
A Skagit Valley craft malt company created the United States' first peat-smoked malt, to be used in whiskey made by the largest whiskey distillery west of the Mississippi, in Seattle. [18] [19]
Seattle-based Westland Distillery opened a farm for experimental barley varieties in the Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, as well as purchasing barley for whiskey production from Skagit Valley Malting. [20]
Organizations supporting craft malting include Canadian Malting Barley Technical Center in Winnipeg, [12] the Craft Malting Guild (a trade association) and the Washington State University program mentioned above.
Irish whiskey is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' comes from the Irish uisce beatha, meaning water of life. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of decline from the late 19th century onwards greatly damaged the industry, so much so that although Ireland boasted at least 28 distilleries in the 1890s, by 1966 this number had fallen to just two, and by 1972 the remaining distilleries, Bushmills Distillery and Old Midleton Distillery, were owned by just one company, Irish Distillers.
Big Rock Brewery is a Canadian public company and the largest brewery that is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As of March 2020, it was also Canada's largest craft brewery. Additional brewing operations are located in Vancouver, British Columbia; Etobicoke, Ontario; and Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario. Big Rock distributes a variety of beers and ciders throughout Canada.
Smoked beer is a type of beer with a distinctive smoke flavour imparted by using malted barley dried over an open flame.
Beer in Wales can be traced to the 6th century. Since the 2000s, there has been a growing microbrewery industry in Wales.
Beer in Norway has a long history, stretching back more than a millennium. Until some 200 years ago, most farms where it was possible to grow grain south of the Arctic Circle, brewed their own beer. From the early 20th century brewing was industrialized and home brewing was restricted. Significant consolidation in the brewing sector reduced the number of major breweries to just a handful. With the exception of the farmhouse ales, most beer styles brewed in Norway trace their ancestry to central Europe.
Beer, called maekju in Korean, was first introduced to Korea in the early 20th century. Seoul's first brewery opened in 1908. Two current major breweries date back to the 1930s. The third brewery established in Korea, Jinro Coors Brewery, was founded in the 1990s. It was later acquired by Oriental Breweries (OB). Hite Breweries's former name was Chosun Breweries, which was established in 1933. The company changed its name to Hite Breweries in 1998. OB Breweries established as Showa Kirin Breweries in 1933. The company changed its name to OB Breweries in 1995.
Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor components from grain by steeping it in hot water, and then letting it rest at specific temperature ranges to activate naturally occurring enzymes in the grain that convert starches to sugars. The sugars separate from the mash ingredients, and then yeast in the brewing process converts them to alcohol and other fermentation products.
Cisco Brewers is a brewery, distillery, and winery founded in 1992 in Nantucket, Massachusetts, by Randy and Wendy Hudson. It was acquired by Craft Brew Alliance in 2018 and by AB InBev in 2020.
Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey is a 94 proof, small batch whiskey distilled in Denver, Colorado. Stranahan's was the first modern microdistillery to legally make whiskey in Colorado, and an early craft whiskey distiller in the United States.
A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foods. The traditional malt house was largely phased out during the twentieth century in favour of more mechanised production. Many malt houses have been converted to other uses, such as Snape Maltings, England, which is now a concert hall.
Leopold Bros. is a family-owned and operated distillery located in Denver, Colorado. They are well known as an independent distillery that floor malts, mills, mashes, and ferments all the grains in their spirits, as well as distills, ages, and bottles their entire portfolio at their one and only distillery in northeast Denver. They currently have the largest traditional floor malting room of any distillery in the United States, where they malt Colorado barley onsite.
Copper Fox Distillery is a distillery that produces American whiskey in Sperryville, Virginia and Williamsburg, VA. The owner and operator of the distillery is Rick Wasmund.
Australian Whisky is whisky produced in Australia. As of December 2021, there were 333 registered distilleries in operation within Australia, of which approximately 50 have a whisky on the market. The industry has shown steady growth since the early 90s especially in the boutique craft distilling scene.
Costa Rica has a very strong beer industry centered on mass-produced Lagers. Imperial beer, produced by Florida Ice & Farm Co. is known and associated with Costa Rica all around the world.
Rye India pale ale is a style of rye beer with a strong hoppy character, comparable to India pale ale. In this beer style, malted rye grains in the mash ingredients add a tangy or spicy character to the beer.
ASW Distillery is a manufacturer of liquor located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the second legally licensed distillery in Atlanta since the end of American Prohibition and distilled the first single malt whiskey in Atlanta history. In 2018, the distillery's Duality Double Malt Whiskey became Georgia's first-ever Double Gold Medal Whiskey, as judged by the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky:
Westland Distillery is a distillery in Seattle. Their Garryana single malt whiskey was placed third best in the world in a 2023 blind taste test conducted by Whisky Advocate magazine. Garryana is aged in barrels made from Pacific Northwest native Garry oak, Quercus garryana. The company has a farm for experimental craft malting barley varieties in the Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, as well as purchasing barley from Skagit Valley Malting there.