Malt Cup expands to four categories in 2023

Entry submission window runs from September 19 through October 17, 2022 The fifth annual Malt Cup will expand to four categories in 2023. These include three previously featured malt styles – Pale, Pilsen, and Light Munich (last featured in 2020), and the newest addition: Vienna. Similar to past years, entrants stand to receive top value…

Koji Buzz: Unique Malt Research Underway at Montana State University

By Hannah Turner, Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab An old tradition that is starting to be adopted in a new way by forward-thinking American brewers is koji processing, a practice widely found in Asian cultures. Utilized for centuries (originally discovered in Japan’s Muromachi Period of 1136-1573), koji is commonly used to…

Field to Bench: Genetics, Test Plots, and Terroir

By Meghan Howes, Contributing Writer for RadCraft Long before the term “craft malt” entered the beer industry’s imagination, enterprising scientist Dr. Jamie Sherman was breeding and testing barley and other grains. Working within Montana State University’s (MSU) Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Sherman studied the composition of several grains in an attempt to better understand the genetics…

Field to Bench: Harnessing Education and Resources for the Beer Industry

By Meghan Howes, Contributing Writer for RadCraft Hannah Turner wears numerous hats as Director of Montana State University’s Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab. Each workday varies, though her tasks have changed considerably from when she first came to MSU in 2006. “Early on a typical day meant getting the analyzer started, getting things milled. I’d…