Page 21 - Beverage Master December January 2020

Craft Beverage

Craft maltster startups have many of the same ing a relationship with your local small malt house.
issues as small brewery startups: Capital intensive
equipment, a production process that requires a Working with a local maltster gives a brewer a
varied technical background, and a competitive whole new palette of flavors and ingredients to
marketplace that’s dominated by a few, large, work with. In an industry where 7000+ players all
international players. Craft maltsters have an added use the same basic inputs, a local maltster is an
layer of complexity of – in many cases – having to avenue toward differentiation: Each grain does
educate their suppliers in how to make the prod- have its own “terroir” that follows through into the
ucts that they need to operate. end beer, providing a very distinct taste of place.
Maltsters that have roasters might offer a lighter
The end result can be, at the worst of times, an or darker Lovibond roast of chocolate, caramel, or
inconsistent product: variations in color, moisture Munich-style malts than might be available at a
content, diastatic power, protein or sugar content, commodity maltster. It allows a brewer that many
uneven kernel sizes, or inconsistent flavor char- more variations on ingredients that they can use to
acteristics, all of which can cause difficulties for create a more distinct array of beers to help differ-
a brewery that is engaged in making a consistent entiate themselves in a crowded market.
product from batch to batch.

Like any brewery moving through its startup phase
into an experienced, scaled production facility,
most craft maltsters have grown past these initial
challenges to create an even, predictable, product,
but the occasional problem may still arise – particu-
larly with an untested supplier or process.

Other difficulties working with craft maltsters can
come from simple supply chain issues. Smaller sup-
pliers with longer lead times and limited on-hand
inventory can be challenging to predict when man-
aging a small brewery that is, itself, running a just-
in-time inventory process. One hiccup in that sup-
ply chain can affect weeks worth of brewing. While there may be times that a local maltster
can’t deliver as fast as a larger supplier could, they
Finally, it’s difficult to ignore that all of the above can also be the source of last minute saves and
also comes at a higher price point. While malt from emergency help. Short a couple of bags of base
international maltsters can run as low as $0.40/lb malt on the last brew of the day? Being able to
before bulk discounts, it’s rare to see a small malt- drive over to your local malt house to pick up 150
ster with the scale available to get a price point lbs of grain is a distinct advantage that can definite-
anywhere near that, and most are at least double. ly save you in a pinch.
Those craft maltsters, themselves, are paying an
elevated rate for grain from small suppliers who are Local maltsters also have – like small breweries
dedicating a small portion of their farms to malting – the ability to make weird stuff without taking
barley. They do not have the advantage of a scaled, an enormous financial risk. The capability to malt
international supply chain for cost benefit to pass ancient, heirloom, or alternate grains like triticale,
along to a brewery customer. spelt, buckwheat, or corn, sometimes in incredibly
small batches, can lead to truly innovative brews
Using a local craft maltster can often mean paying that would be otherwise unavailable from larger
a premium for a product with uneven consistency maltsters.
and unpredictable supply.
From an environmental and sustainability stand-
The Advantages of Using Craft Malt point, it’s undeniable that using a local craft malt-
ster creates a smaller carbon footprint for your
For all that, there are definite advantages to hav- operation. Instead of shipping a container across a

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