Go With the Grain: Craft Malting in America | Imbibe Magazine

Photo: Luke Trautwein / Brewers Association

Malt is brewing’s most essential and overlooked ingredient, a product of agriculture and careful manipulation. It starts by steeping cereal grains, commonly barley or wheat, to spur germination and the production of enzymes that break starches into fermentable sugars. Kiln-drying curtails germination, creating the pale base malt that becomes the foundation for most beer. (Specialty malts are roasted like coffee beans to the desired dark intensity.)

Farms in the Upper Great Plains and Pacific Northwest—notably Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota—grow most American barley, and malting concerns source assorted harvests to create a homogenized commodity of great consistency and affordability. Breweries now want more than mere sugary potential, seeking flavorful difference in distinctive malt.

For Imbibe, I take a deep dive into the future of craft malting in America.