Transparency is a cornerstone value at Riverbend Malt House, not just for our sourcing but also in our communication to our customers. As the market shifts, we want y’all to be the first to know about pending changes that will impact our shipping process and pricing. 

We ship Riverbend malt through a broad array of Less Than a Truckload (LTL) carriers to destinations throughout the Southeast every day. These LTL carriers are governed by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA), which establishes guidelines for different types of freight with a class system based on density and durability.

Beginning on July 19, 2025, the class of bagged malt will switch from Class 50 (dense and durable) to Class 65 (same as bottled beverages, less durable). As a result, shipping charges will likely increase. In fact, some carriers have already implemented this class change.

Here are the steps we’re taking to manage this issue….

1) We are negotiating set rates with carriers ahead of this transition to reduce the impact on customer costs. 

2) We are phasing out carriers that have prematurely transitioned to the Class 65 designation.

3) We are having conversations and getting price quotes from multiple carriers to ensure we have achieved the best possible mix of expedient, cost-effective service for our customers.

While we don’t have concrete updates today, we’ll be sure to keep everyone updated as these changes take effect. You can visit the NMFTA website here for more information.

Please note we have always offered free shipping to our local customers! If you’re in Asheville, these shipping changes do not apply.

Accessorials are a pain in the A$$!

While we’re on the subject….let’s talk about accessorials! What are these, you ask? Quite simply these are upcharges associated with additional services that can impact your shipping costs. For example, if a driver offers to bring your pallet inside the brewery with a handtruck, this can result in an additional fee for “inside delivery” that was not originally included when your shipment was quoted or booked. 

Please note that we can no longer cover these unexpected costs and will be reaching out to you to send updated invoices that reflect these items. 

Going forward, we’ll be adding signage to pallets to help all involved avoid these fees. Please keep an eye out. 

Please feel free to reach out to your sales representative with questions. We’re here to help y’all navigate these changes. 

Our Malt With A Mission slogan is much more than a saying around here. It’s a set of environmentally conscious practices that we’re constantly refining to reduce our impact.

Each year, Riverbend Malt House collects data points that we use to analyze our footprint. These include grain sourcing, utilities, and recycling and upcycling initiatives. Tracking these metrics ensures that we are always making strides towards reducing our carbon footprint and supporting thoughtful farming practices. In 2024, we’ve added the sourcing, sorting, and malting of regeneratively grown grains to our repertoire as the first-ever Certified Regenified™ malt house. 

Without further ado, here’s a review of our 2024 efforts…

Production

In 2024, we produced 3.5 million pounds of malt. This number was impacted by the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. While we were fortunate to avoid flooding and damage to our building, the loss of power for more than a week caused some of our product to spoil. 

We sourced 94 percent of our raw material from Southeastern farms in 2024. The remaining 6 percent was associated with contract malting projects, and sourced based on the needs of our customers. 

Emissions

We’re proud to report a reduction of 0.5 percent in emissions per pound of malt produced last year. These reductions were primarily driven by LED lights that we installed in our warehouse in late 2023. We upgraded all 141 of our light fixtures to LED panels, which resulted in a 64 percent reduction in power consumption associated with factory lighting. 

Recycling and Upcycling

In collaboration with nearby farms, we upcycled 188,971 pounds of rootlets. This byproduct of our process becomes feed for very happy cows. 

Also in 2024, we diverted 12,600 pounds of polywoven plastic from the landfills through our malt bag recycling program.

Regenified™ Certification

We’re incredibly proud to share that Riverbend became the first malt house to become certified for regenerative farming practices in April 2024. You can read more about our status as a Certified Regenified malt house here. 

Step two: release a Certified Regenified malt. We sourced our grain, 2-row Avalon barley, from Harborview Farms in Maryland to develop our newest malt product. Regenified Southern Select yields aromas of sugar cookie, melon, and honey in the finished malt with rich mouthfeel, exhibiting a creaminess not often encountered in a Pale Ale style malt.

The next step is to craft a Certified Regenified beer, which our partners at Fullsteam Brewery accomplished last month. They brewed Reset: ESB, a beautiful Extra Special Bitter. Fullsteam plans to certify the entire brewery, and expand its range of Certified Regenified products for which Regenified Southern Select will be the base malt in all of their Reset Series of beers— classic styles made with 100 percent local malt.

Looking Ahead

In 2025, Riverbend intends to accomplish the following goals to support our Malt With A Mission ethos. They are as follows:

1. We plan to expand the acreage of our Regenified crop purchasing to 10% of our total barley utilization.
2. We aim to diversify our network of growers across the Southeast region.
3. We are developing a comprehensive plan for long-term emissions reduction at the malt house.

Who’s with us? Let us know how our environmentally conscious malt products can support your company goals, and please reach out if you’re a grower or producer interested in becoming Certified Regenified.

When it comes to beer and spirits competitions, the reign of craft malt is undeniable. In 2022, numerous brewers, all using Riverbend malts, clinched top honors in industry competitions across the nation. The following year, 2023, Tennessee-based Riverbend user Chattanooga Whiskey was crowned Craft Producers of the Year by American Whiskey Magazine, a testament to their quality and craftsmanship. This success story was echoed by many others who brought home a slew of distinctions. 

Now, we’re here to express our heartfelt thanks and admiration to the Riverbend malt supporters who emerged victorious in the 2024 industry competitions. Y’all’s dedication and passion have not only brought you success but have also enriched the craft brewing and distilling community. 

The 2024 Great American Beer Festival

Georgia brewers Cherry Street Brewing and Rock Solid Brewing both took home bronze medals at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival​​® (GABF) for That Coconut Porter and Beauty is in the Rye of the Beholder, respectively.

2024 John Barleycorn Awards

A big shout out to Chemist Spirits, who snagged the coveted double gold in the Barleycorn Awards for American Single Malt. This whiskey, made with Riverbend Dark Munich and Southern Select, is a testament to Chemist’s dedication to both tradition and innovation. It truly captures the essence of the South, further authenticated by the recent ratification of American Single Malt as an official whiskey category by the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau in December of 2024. Cheers to Chemist for their early adoption and dedication to this whiskey category. 

US Open Beer Championship

Cherry Street Brewing was named #5 on the top 10 breweries list for the 2024 US Open Beer Championship, taking home a total of six awards across gold, silver, and bronze. Fullsteam Brewery took home not one but two pieces of hardware with a gold medal for Hard Frost, a hard-spiced, brandy barrel-aged, native persimmon strong ale, and bronze for Reset: Blonde. Other winners include Akademia Brewing Co. and Mountain Layers Brewing Co., which took home silver with Just Give Me ALL The Bacon and Smoke Over Lublin, respectively. Also, the bronze winners were Gravel Road Brewing Co. and Harding House Brewing.

2024 Spirits Business of the Year Awards

Riverbend supporter Astraea Spirits was honored as a nominee in the gin category at London’s prestigious Spirits Business of the Year Awards! Astraea’s gins are proudly made with Riverbend malt, and to be included in this remarkable category is a true reflection of the distillery’s passion, craftsmanship, and innovation. 

2024 NCCBC Awards 

2024 marked the 13th anniversary of the North Carolina Brewers Cup competition. This year, 934 entries were submitted by 126 independent North Carolina craft breweries, including some genuinely innovative Riverbend malt users who, between them, brought home a total of 11 medals and 1 honorable mention. 

In gold hardware, shout it out to Lenny Boy Brewing, who snagged the distinction for Tropicalus and Raspberry Kaleidoscope. Other gold winners include 1718 Brewing Ocracoke with their 1718 – XPA,  Salt Face Mule Brewing Company for Mosey On Over, and Cellarest Beer Project for Cinder. 

Silver winners include Happy Valley Filling Station for Long Summer and Diatribe Brewing Co. for English Dark Mild. Bronze hardware came home with Fullsteam Brewing for Paycheck,  Happy Valley Filling Station for Everything Delightful #2, Bright Penny Brewing for On Wednesday’s We Wheatwine, and Cellarest Beer Project for Paramon. Cellarest also won an Honorable Mention for Haywood Haylife. 

Congrats to all of the NCCBC Award winners!

2024 NC Business of the Year: Weldon Mills 

Long-standing Riverbend customer Weldon Mills Distillery was named one of the four top small businesses of the year in the 2024 Small Business of the Year Awards, sponsored by Business North Carolina Magazine. We would like to congratulate and thank Weldon Mills for their commitment to and investment in local malt. 

It was an honor to share the stage with their team last month as one of the other three Small Business of the Year Award winners! We are proud and humbled to receive this recognition for the great work of our team at Riverbend Malt House!

Has your beer #madewithRiverbend won a competition? Local, regional, national, or international— we want to hear about it! submit your beers here to be featured.

In this competitive marketplace, making and serving beer is just one part of the consumer experience. We tip our hats to the newest Riverbend Craft Malt Converts Savage Craft Ale Works in West Columbia, South Carolina, where world-class craft beer is the star of the show, joined with other characters like location, community, food, and story. Now, they can add local ingredients to that cast of characteristics! 

The Switch To Craft Malt

Savage Craft is located in a beautiful old fire station. This family friendly community hub has a dog-friendly biergarten, and a 21+ rooftop patio, plus a full menu with tacos, lots of share-able items, and wine and cocktails too. You can find everything you’re looking for in a craft brewing establishment at Savage Craft— including mainstay beers made with local malt. 

“I’ve been peppering Riverbend malt into all of our flagship beers,” says Brandon Evans, Head Brewer at Savage Craft. Over the course of the last several months, he’s made the switch to Riverbend malt. 

Whenever a brewer switches malt providers, some of the biggest concerns are consistency and efficiency, Evans says. His previous provider sold 25 kilo bags (basically 55 pounds) bags, and ours are available in 50-pound increments. He reports that so far he’s done a 1 to 1 substitute for all malt bags in his recipes, “and I haven’t missed efficiency numbers yet. I’ve seen an improvement in everything from efficiency to quality.” 

Some of the other improvements Evans noted when he switched to Riverbend were freshness and cleanliness. “Something I noticed immediately when opening a bag was the freshness. Usually there’s a lot of junk in a bag of malt, and with Riverbend malt bags, he says, “We’re seeing these super clean kernels without a lot of friable stuff in the bottom.” 

Mainstays Made With Riverbend Malt

Savage Craft’s Purge Under Pilsner is a German-style Pilsner crafted using traditional German decoction methods. Crisp-finishing, golden-hued, and refreshing, Purge Under Pilsner is a 2024 South Carolina Brewers Cup Medalist in the Pale Malty European Lager category. 

Savage Craft recently replaced the European-sourced Pilsner malt in Purge Under Pilsner with our Tennessee-grown Cumberland Pilsner malt— the style of beer, Evans explains, that can have the most noticeable differences when evolving a recipe. “I’ve picked up zero off-flavors- no diacetyl, no sulfur, none of the young lager compounds that I’m expecting to have around 4 weeks”, which has cut a week off their lagering time. Evans “won’t promise it’s just based on one factor because we’ve changed our yeast over time to”, but he swears the malt plays a part. 

We agree! So many Craft Malt Converts like Savage Craft report more efficiency, more flavor, and better quality malt. Their investment in Riverbend Malt House uplevels their beers, ultimately contributing to an already exceptional customer experience. 

Visiting or roaming Columbia? Don’t miss some of Savage Craft’s other mainstay beers made with Riverbend malt, such as Galaxy Banger IPA, Carolina Light Cream Ale, V/Ale Cream Ale, CAE Hazy IPA, Canopy Surfer Sours, and Kandahar Candy Man Stout— to name a few. Visiting on a Sunday? Savage Craft serves top notch brunch!

In the Carolinas, hurricanes are a part of life. We prepare for them, watch via the media as they build in strength and then wobble inland. Over the years, we have seen some amazingly powerful storms come up from the Gulf of Mexico and over from the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Floyd always comes to mind as it was particularly devastating to my little corner of Eastern North Carolina, near Tarboro and Wilson. That storm destroyed my grandparents’ home and flooded hundreds of square miles of small towns and farmland.

Now unprecedentedly, Hurricane Helene has rewritten the playbook on what a hurricane can do to our state. Now billed as the single largest natural disaster in the state’s history, this catastrophic hurricane created flooding and tornados that have destroyed the town we call home as we know it.

After The Flood

The malt house was not damaged by flooding; however, we had to dispose of a lot of product “in motion” (no longer raw grains in the middle of the malting process) when we lost the following 12 days of power. Relief supplies arrived in full force when our team outside of Asheville Adam, Shawn, and Tyler all made their way to the malt house. Adam brought generators, lights, and plenty of food and water. Shawn’s RV served as the Riverbend office providing a much needed link to the outside world through his T-Mobile hotspot. Tyler brought some whiskey from ASW Distillery and some delicious baked goods (thank you Kelsi!).

This is where the silver lining in all of the madness started to shine through. The sun was shining, there were burgers on the grill, and cold beers in our hands. We spent time just being together….and it helped. While we try to make monthly cookouts a staple of the Riverbend calendar, those occurred during busy weeks with lives lived at full speed. These post-hurricane sessions were different. Our crew brought friends, family, dogs, and whatever food they had to share and a deeper level of camaraderie emerged.

We donned headlamps and filled orders in the dark. Several of our trucking firms had their terminals swamped with flood water, pushing us to bring on new carriers to deliver our malt. The two major interstates we rely on, I-40 and I-26, were closed. This translated to increased costs and delivery times for our customers.

Remarkably, one of the 10-ton batches had completely enough of its kilning cycle and did not spoil during this period of darkness. However, the remaining five batches were a loss due to a lack of fresh air during the germination stage or being stranded in the steep tank. The cleaning process took over a week to complete. Fortunately, we were able to donate this unusable malt (more than 100,000 pounds of it) to farmers for feed and compost.

The work required to reset the malt house was intense. Most of our crew did not have running water and a few still lacked electricity, but they resiliently showed up every day. We filled our carboys and buckets with water from our process tanks before heading home in the evenings. We shared communal lunches of cold cuts and other donated items. I even came to know the joy of a fried bologna sandwich topped with a farm fresh egg.

Relief & Gratitude

Each day seems to contain an equal amount of heartbreaking news and encouraging developments from our community at large. Gofundme pages were established for nearly every small business in town. These were designed to support staff that had been temporarily laid off in Helene’s wake and avoid an exodus of hospitality workers. Local news organizations estimated that over 20,000 people lost their jobs during the aftermath of the storm.

The painful loss of jobs and businesses contrasts the uplifting sense of community that permeates so many street corners and parking lots. Everywhere you looked in those initial weeks after the storm it seemed an aid station was popping up, offering warm meals and supplies. Neighbors worked together to clear debris, repair driveways, and provide for basic needs. The news networks remained fixated on the damage during this period, but they missed the stories of our hardworking, resilient residents quietly rebuilding their lives and our community.

The Road Ahead

Many chapters of this story have yet to unfold. As we close out October, several taprooms and restaurants have reopened to limited foot traffic. The leaves have fallen from the trees and the sun is setting on our region’s busiest tourism season. Very limited brewing has begun using potable water that is being delivered by trucks at significant expense.

Rebuilding of our communities and rivers will take months if not years. We will need everyone’s help to sustain aid through the spring to those who lost their homes. We will need tourism dollars to help our brewers, distillers, and other local businesses more than ever before.

At Riverbend, we’re beyond grateful for so many of you who reached out to check on us. We’re inspired to see the beer community mobilize around relief efforts like Higher Calling Beer and Pouring For Neighbors, and grateful for the companies choosing to brew their relief beers with Riverbend malt. We feel thankful for our incredible team and our families.

Here’s to finding hope and gratitude this season,

-Brent Manning