2023 was another year of growth, both for our community and the Guild’s recognition as a leading organization in the malting industry at-large. We of course owe a great deal of thanks to the industry professionals and media folks sharing compelling stories about why craft malt matters.
Here are a few of them from Q4 of 2023:
The Portland Press-Herald’s Forecaster published a fall beer guide with a seasonal twist, including a seasonal beer from Black Pug Brewing made with Maine-malted smoked malt from Guild member Blue Ox Malthouse. It’s always a win when breweries and distilleries mention their malthouse in the media!
The Montana Wheat and Barley Committee recently hosted trade teams from both Japan and Mexico to visit Guild members Montana Craft Malt, Gallatin Valley Malt, and Montana State University’s Barley, Malt & Brewing Lab. In The Prairie Star, Sam Anderson, MWBC market development director, relayed his enthusiasm about this team. “These prospective buyers are putting together the largest Mexican purchasing group for craft malt barley,” he said. “They visited five states and explored supplier options while learning the research side of barley at MSU.”
Also in Montana, there’s a family farm growing and malting their own barley for what will be an estate distillery in Power in Teton County. Montana Public Radio has the skinny.
In our Field To Bench series, we share stories of high-quality malt backed by high-quality research like the work at HudsonAlpha Institute For Biotechnology in Alabama to grow premium Alabama malting barley. The first beer made with this barley has received much press as of late, including this AL.com piece by Lee Roop; And, many of the scientists we’ve featured were just quoted in Don Tse’s latest in All About Beer: Barley Breeders Return To Flavor.
This season we extend gratitude to the folks at American Craft Spirits Magazine, BevNET, Brewer Magazine, Craft Brewing Business, and more for sharing the Craft Maltsters Guild 2023 State of the Industry update, as well as news about MaltCon2024 programming.
Please share your news with us! Submit your Craft Malt Certified story or Malthouse News to be featured at @craftmalting on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
Photo courtesy Rustic Brew Farm