Brewing Begins in the Malthouse

When you take a brewery tour, you usually hear the history first. There’s the one about the homebrewing engineer who got tired of making tires more round, so he started a brewery (true story). Then, the tour guide asks the group what beer’s ingredients are. There are usually a few guesses from the crowd, with the top answers as hops and yeast. Sometimes water and malt get a shout-out.

Of all the ingredients in craft beer today, hops are the rock star. Water, yeast, and malt, not so much. Hops get a lot of attention these days because craft beer fans adore hop-forward beers, and they can tell you what hop varieties are in their favorite beers. Just put “Citra” on a label, and I guarantee the beer will sell.

I get it, hops are sexy. Hops contribute a lot of flavor and aroma to beer. But you know what else gives the beer a ton of flavor and aroma? Malted barley. (Yeast does too, but that a whole ‘nother conversation.) Malt rarely gets the kind of attention that hops do. Some breweries list their grain bill on their website, fewer put it the packaging. A lot of breweries prominently display the hop varieties on the label.

We need to change that. Hops and yeast give beer its personality, but malted barley gives beer its soul.

Brewers extract sugars from grains so yeast can produce ethanol and CO2. Remember, brewers make wort (the sweet liquid before adding yeast), but yeast make beer. But there is a significant step before wort production: malting. Maltsters are the wizards that convince the barley to begin germination to prepare the grain’s starches for the brewers. Malteurop described it this way:

“Malting is based on the plant germination process of the barley seed. During germination, enzymes are released and formed to digest storage carbohydrates and proteins for use in root structure and acrospire growth. Maltsters and brewers are interested in these same cellular components for the brewing process.”

Three US states grow most of its barley: Montana, North Dakota, and Idaho. These northern states have an ideal climate for growing barley with long, warm summer days and just the right amount of rainfall. Last year we finally made it to malt country, Montana. I’ve always wanted to visit a malthouse and got the chance at the 2019 Beer Now Conference.

We kicked off our time in Great Falls at with a visit to Malteurop’s massive malting plant. Malteurop is a farmer-owned global malt producer that operates in 14 countries. In their own words, here’s who they are:

“At Malteurop, we’re champions of the hard work that goes into farming barley, creating exceptional malt, and brewing uncompromising beers. And as craftsmen ourselves, who come from a rich heritage of barley farmers and old world malt artisans, we’re innovators and seekers of what malt can be. We’re down-to-earth, we still believe in getting our hands dirty and we take the time to do it right.”

Malteurop operates four malthouses in North America, three in the US and one in Canada. Great Falls, MT is an ideal spot for Malteurop, situated in the heart of America’s Barley country with a clean and plentiful water source. Water is crucial in malt production and local Giant Springs, which Lewis & Clark happened upon in 1805, provides 190 million gallons of consistent, clean water every day.

The Great Falls malthouse is busy, operating 24-7-364. I’m sure the beer-drinking people of America appreciate their hard work. The malthouse produces a variety of malt, from base malts like Pale Ale and Pilsen to regional specialties like Colorado Select and Montana Select, and even Distillers Malt.

We learned about the entire process during the presentation. The harvested grain is delivered, assessed and prepared for malting. Malting begins by steeping barley in water to bring its water content to over 40% of total weight. Then germination starts, taking a few days at a temperature warm enough to convince the barley it’s time to start growing. After the grains begin to sprout, Malteurop stops the germination process by drying the barley in a kiln. The kilning process is essential in determining how the barley contributes to the flavor, color, and aroma of the beer. It’s in the heat of the kiln where barley develops color and flavor. Color and flavor are influenced by how long and at what temperature the barley is kilned.

At the end of our visit, Malteurop concluded with six things about malt:

• Malt is the foundation for any beer
• Malt creates character and complexity
• Malt adds color, flavor, body, and sugar content
• Malt affects the alcohol content
• Malt enhances foam stability/head retention
• Malt provides nutrients for healthy yeast and fermentation

Those are good things to remember. And next time you enjoy a beer, think about the hard-working folks in the malthouse who contributed to your beverage. We wouldn’t have beer without them.

 

We want to offer a big “Thank You” to Rick Slotness, Shelly Siron, and the entire Great Fall, MT Malteurop team for their hospitality. We had a great visit with y’all. 

 

*Disclaimer: On our visit, Malteurop fed us lunch with local Montana craft beer, and gave us some malt sample packs, a cap, and a cool little toy tractor.