Why are brewers and distillers, and their fans, prioritizing products made with craft malt? That’s what the Choose Craft Malt series is all about!
Reason #4: The craft malt community is pushing the limits of craft beverage quality, consumer experience, and sustainability through a wide range of educational opportunities.
Craft malt as a movement is a reimagination of what’s possible when grains are grown, malted, brewed, and distilled at local-to-regional scales. Our community generally believes that the whole supply chain stands to benefit from learning to do things differently, with tangible perks ranging from soil health to brewing performance to consumer satisfaction. And because that whole undertaking has been such a major departure from the industrial malt model, this community has had to come up with its own educational opportunities— not just for maltsters themselves but for a wide range of stakeholders including farmers, brewers, distillers, and consumers.
The Craft Maltsters Guild itself remains the only organization in the world that serves to support the craft malt movement. A big part of what we do is procuring educational programming and resources for maltsters and the malt-curious, in a variety of formats, spanning topics from flavor innovation to sustainable ag to supply chain resiliency to meeting consumer trends. Each year our volunteers help put together Guild sponsored programming like MaltCon, the Advanced Class in Craft Malt Production, Malt Cup, Craft Malt Week, and an educational webinar series.
MaltCon: We encourage every craft malt stakeholder to join each year for our trade conference and community gathering, as a way to come together from around the world for deep learning across the malt supply chain. Folks are guaranteed to leave MaltCon feeling full with new technical information to consider, inspiration to drive meaningful change in the industry, and a bunch of outstanding beverages made with craft malt.
Advanced Class in Malt Production: Malt supply chain stakeholders are also always invited to join us for an intensive pre-conference learning experience. Anyone from farmers to maltsters to brewers and distillers can expect a wealth of world-class experience gathered up and brought to you by industry leaders.
Malt Cup: Those who have been to MaltCon since its inception in 2019 know that each year comes to a close with the awards ceremony for the world’s only malt competition: Malt Cup. This whale of a contest spans 4+ months, includes 3 rounds of judging based on analytical and sensory assessment, and involves a small army of volunteers all coordinated by our friends at Montana State University’s Barley, Malt, and Brewing Quality Lab. It’s become one of the most important educational tools we have, both for raising the global bar on malt quality and training a growing base of individuals who can better understand the nuance.
Craft Malt Month: Craft Malt Month is September, serving as our community’s excuse to celebrate harvest season and spread the good word about craft malt. Many Guild members offered educational opportunities like sensory tastings, tours, and malt-centric classes during the first-ever Craft Malt Month in 2024, and we encourage them to continue to do so in future.
Other Events: Be sure to check out our Events Calendar for upcoming webinars (members attend free of charge!), plus other industry events put on by our membership (submit an event so we can help you promote it).
This movement is teaching all of us how to breathe new life into agriculture and regional food systems, and in the process, to help add an enduring kind of value to the craft beverage industry. The Craft Maltsters Guild is thankful for those who continue to support professional development and public education in this space, and those who continue to join us all on our learning journey.