Speakeasy malt for distillers

Introducing Speakeasy Malt For Distillers

ASHEVILLE, NC— Secret’s out— after much underground research and development, Riverbend Malt House now offers a malt style designed for distillers. Speakeasy malt for distillers is now available for purchase.

Riverbend has relished their role as a provider of flavorful malts to distillers for over a decade, often providing that “secret sauce” that sets an American Single Malt Whiskey or bourbon apart from the crowd. The release of Speakeasy malt for distillers is our first offering designed specifically for this rapidly growing spirits category. 

The development of Speakeasy utilizes a barley variety that has shown great potential to deliver higher levels of enzymatic activity compared to other winter 2-row varieties. This variety coupled with an extended, cool germination and gentle kilning temperatures create the building blocks for this innovative malt style.. 

“Our Speakeasy malt is a balancing act,” says Riverbend Co-Founder Brent Manning. “It’s not just an enzyme package, but a rich, flavorful malt that is designed to convert corn in a Bourbon recipe while delivering notes of melon and honeysuckle. Speakeasy provides an avenue for craft distillers to explore whiskey recipes with local ingredients.” 

Read all of Speakeasy’s specifications here. Distillers interested in purchasing Speakeasy malt can contact their Riverbend sales representative or place an order online

Contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com with media inquiries about Riverbend Malt House. 

 

ABOUT RIVERBEND MALT HOUSE

Riverbend Malt House is on a quest to connect Southeastern family owned farms and fermenters. Co-Founders Brent Manning and Brian Simpson launched Riverbend, the first craft malthouse east of the Mississippi River, in Asheville, North Carolina in 2010. Buoyed by a 70,000 foot production facility and state of the art equipment, Riverbend Malt House helps breweries and distilleries large, small, and in-between stand out with flavor, locality, and community in an increasingly competitive landscape— all the while challenging the status quo of corporate, big-agriculture malt. Learn more at riverbendmalt.com.

Southern Lager Invitational

ASHEVILLE, NC— After the successful execution of the inaugural Southern Lager Invitational during the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville– in a monsoon no less— Bootleg Biology and Riverbend Malt House are excited to bring this festival to Asheville in its second year. The Southern Lager Invitational will take place on May 25 from 5 to 9pm at The Mule at Devil’s Foot Beverage’s production facility, just a short drive from downtown. This event will cap Asheville Beer Week (May 16 – 26), themed ‘Craft and Creativity for Community’.

Open to interpretation, Southern Lager, an unofficial but emerging beer style, ​​tends to be a cold-fermented, dry-finishing, lower-ABV beer that pairs well with sweltering heat. At the second annual Southern Lager Invitational, craft brewers from across the South will serve their expressions of Southern Lager made with Riverbend malt and fermented with Bootleg Biology yeast to capture a sense of Southern terroir. 

Tickets are now on sale for the Southern Lager Invitational at devilsfootbrew.com. Festival entry includes samples of beers from more than 20 Southern breweries, including— 

1718 Brewing Ocracoke

Akademia Brewing Co.

Alga Beer Co.

Barrique Brewing & Blending  

Cahaba Brewing Co.

Cherry Street Brewing

Cellarest Beer Project 

DSSOLVR

Fait La Force Brewing (bonus collaboration with Leveller Brewing Co.

Fonta Flora Brewery

Fullsteam Brewery

Grand Central Brewhouse

Honor Brewing Co.

King State 

Little Animals Brewery

Oklawaha Brewing Co. 

Skeeta Hawk Brewing

Soul and Spirits Brewery

South Main Brewing Co.

The Southern Growl 

 

The beer menu and food truck list for Southern Lager Invitational will be published in coming weeks. 

This second annual celebration of local lagers is made possible by our sponsor Boelter, who are providing custom 2024 glassware for festival participants.

Media interested in attending and or covering the Southern Lager Invitational can contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.

 

ABOUT BOOTLEG BIOLOGY

Bootleg Biology is a full-service yeast lab for professional brewers and homebrewers. 

From our location in Nashville, TN, we’ve earned a reputation for creative cultures that meet the rigorous demands of a brewery while still satisfying brewers’ goals to push the envelope.

From crispy lagers and juicy IPAs to complex mixed fermentations, Bootleg has a culture for every brew. All of our yeast is made fresh, ensuring optimal viability and keeping you on schedule.

Our lab offers a wide range of quality control testing to ensure your product meets your high standards, including PCR testing for common contaminants, IBU testing, selective media plating and more. 

 

ABOUT RIVERBEND MALT HOUSE

Riverbend Malt House is on a quest to connect Southeastern family owned farms and fermenters. Co-Founders Brent Manning and Brian Simpson launched Riverbend, the first craft malt house east of the Mississippi River, in Asheville, North Carolina in 2010. Buoyed by a 70,000 square foot production facility and state of the art equipment, Riverbend Malt House helps breweries and distilleries large, small, and in-between stand out with flavor, locality, and community in an increasingly competitive landscape— all the while challenging the status quo of corporate, big-agriculture malt. Learn more at riverbendmalt.com.

ASHEVILLE, NC– Riverbend Malt House came home from MaltCon2024 with new hardware last month. The Craft Maltsters Guild awarded silver to Riverbend’s malted wheat in the new wheat malt category of the Malt Cup, a prestigious malt quality competition that rigorously judges entries from all over the world.

2024 is the seventh year of the Malt Cup, which recognized craft maltsters for the quality and consistency in six malt varieties. Entries were submitted from 26 malthouses in five countries, and evaluated in three rounds by 70 industry judges. 

Riverbend’s Appalachian Wheat, popular among both brewing and distilling customers, received the silver medal in a brand new Wheat category. This wheat malt is produced using soft red winter wheat and kilned with elevated temperatures to enhance aromas of freshly baked bread and toast. It’s a versatile style that augments grain bills across categories— from Lager to IPA to Wheated Whiskey. 

Appalachian Wheat malt flavor wheel

“Appalachian Wheat malt is like fresh baked bread,” says South Main Brewing Co-Owner and Head Brewer Nic Farley. “We use it in many of our beers for which we want a good haze, or to improve head retention.”

South Main and many other producers such as End Of Days Distillery, Fullsteam Brewery, Lookout Brewing, and Weldon Mills use Appalachian Wheat to craft their mainstay products

“This product has been a part of our lineup since the early days and we are excited to take home a medal for it,” says Riverbend Malt House Co-Founder Brent Manning. “We initially experimented with several heirloom varieties, but after several years of testing and trials we recognized that our process was driving more of the flavor than the variety itself. Definitely a surprise to both us and our customers!”

The flavor and performance of this wheat malt have helped Appalachian Wheat take part in numerous trends over the years— from Hefeweizen to Gose to NEIPA; this malt has stood the test of time.

Order Appalachian Wheat or any other of Riverbend’s malts for brewers and distillers, email orders@riverbendmalt.com

International Women's Day

Happy International Women’s Day!

This year Honor Brewing in Virginia crafted an International Women’s day beer, Inspire Inclusion Kölsch, with Riverbend malt. We are proud to donate ingredients to this brew alongside Jasper Yeast and the New York Hop Guild.

Inspire Inclusion will be exclusively sold through Hop & Wine Beverage distribution. A small batch will also be available at Honor Brewing on tap during their upcoming four-course, paired Irish Beer Dinner on March 13.

A portion of sales of Inspire Inclusion will be donated to the Loudoun Abused Woman’s Shelter (LAWS). Since 1985, LAWS has been providing emergency shelter and help to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. Beyond shelter, LAWS can also provide counseling, legal services, support groups, parenting classes, advocacy, and community outreach.

Thank you Honor Brewing for including us in this beer for an important cause. We call that malt with a mission!

 

2023

ASHEVILLE, NC— The first craft malthouse in the South had a strong year of business growth, community development, and customer engagement in 2023. Here is the Riverbend Malt House 2023 Year In Review.

Production and Capacity

In 2023, Riverbend Malt House malted almost 4 million pounds of craft malt, which included flagship styles as well as custom and smoked malt for specialty projects.  This number represents a growth of more than 20 percent over 2022.

The malt house added conveyance equipment that allowed for the filling of its first bulk truck orders in 2023. This exciting upgrade will allow them to fill silos across the region with top quality local malt.

In response to the growing demand for smoked malt, Riverbend additionally installed an unloader that will allow for more seamless transportation of smoked malts from their retrofitted shipping container smokehouse⁠. 

Local Farmers and Customers

 

In 2023, Riverbend sourced grain from family-owned farms across the Southeast region, including North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky  Virginia, Georgia, and Florida—  all within 500 miles of the malthouse. Learn more in Riverbend’s video Craft Malt Powered By Family Farms. 

Riverbend sold malt to more than 300 breweries and distilleries in 2023, a figure that includes more than 70 new customers. 

Malt Innovation

Riverbend’s malt portfolio grew to include seasonal products that included the Hickory King Corn variety as an addition to Riverbend’s malted corn products. The malt house’s ongoing experimentation with kilning regimes coupled with customer demand yielded a new year-round Crystal 50 product as well. 

Riverbend’s ​​stock of Avalon 2-Row barley bred by the Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center increased exponentially in 2023, which allowed for the malt house to craft both a Pale and Pilsner styles of this variety.  “Adoption of Avalon has happened quickly throughout the Southeast and we were excited to have lots from North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee to work with this year,” says Riverbend Malt House Co-Founder Brent Manning.

2023 brought many custom malt projects to Riverbend Malt House, including a malt made with a custom water profile to mimic the water chemistry found in Belgium. This custom malt, Farmhouse Pilsner, was first crafted for Little Animals Brewery and Leveller Brewing collaboration beer. 

Malt With A Mission 

In total, Riverbend redirected approximately 200,000 pounds of waste from landfill in 2023.

In partnership with the local cattle operations, Riverbend composted 15 tons of organic waste and diverted 30,000 pounds of polywoven plastic from the landfills this year; a malt bag recycling program activated by the Asheville Brewers Alliance and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. 

Also in 2023, Riverbend was pleased to become the first malt house licensor for Beer To Bags, a North Carolina-based innovator in the upcycling space turning spent malt bags to create stylish totes.

Riverbend upgraded all 141 of our light fixtures to LED panels in September. Installing these panels will result in a 64% reduction in power consumption associated with factory lighting. These efficiency improvements resulted in a 12% reduction in energy consumption in Q4 2023 compared to 2022.

Riverbend Malt House made a donation to Waterkeeper Alliance for each of the 2023 customer surveys they received. 

Finally, Riverbend was pleased to donate Calypso barley seed to Community Malt spearheaded by Harlem Brewery. This is a collaborative initiative for Black and BIPOC farmers in North Carolina and Virginia who are cultivating small grains as a viable crop. ⁠

Events & Community

Riverbend Chesapeake Pilsner malt was selected as the single malt in the recipes at the 2023 Florida SMaSH Festival. This annual gathering, hosted by Hourglass Brewing and B.E.A.R.D. to raise funds and awareness for A Spoon Full of Hope, raised $16.027.74 in support of sustainable careers in the food industry; all the while showing off the prowess and creativity of Florida craft breweries. 

Riverbend Avalon Pilsner is the feature malt of the 2024 Florida SMaSH Festival. “We’re beyond excited to sample what will undoubtedly be a full-color spectrum of expressions of Avalon from so many different breweries,” says Manning. 

Riverbend was proud to be a part of five beers brewed around International Women’s Day in support of the Pink Boots Society; the Birmingham brewers collaboration beer, BirmingHelles made with the first malting barley grown in Alabama at WK Farms in Hamilton AL, that Cahaba Brewing spearheaded; and a second year of the Brick Store Pub Craft Malt Showcase of Southern beers made with Riverbend malt.  

Riverbend and Bootleg Biology hosted the successful inaugural Southern Lager Invitational at Harding House Brewing Co. during the 2023 Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville. This celebration of classic and innovative lagers that feature Southern-grown ingredients will return in 2024, slated to take place on May 25 at The Mule in Asheville. 

Riverbend’s Co-Founder Brent Manning presented at the Craft Brewers Conference, providing a summary of the successful Farm To Tap festivals and guidance for successful event management. Manning also took part in several conferences, sharing 10 years of craft malt memories at various trade events, including the North Carolina Craft Brewers Conference and MaltCon2023. 

Awards & Accolades 

2023 marks the sixth consistent year of Riverbend’s Living Wage Certified Employer status from Just Economics. It also marks Riverbend’s second consecutive year named on the  Inc. 5000 list. In August, Riverbend was named number 3,992 of the fastest growing private companies in the country in this prestigious ranking. 

Throughout the year, many of Riverbend’s customers were recognized by multiple awards programs for beers made with Riverbend malt– including the Great American Beer Festival®, the World Beer Cup®, the U.S. Beer Open, the North Carolina and South Carolina  Brewers Cups, the Florida Brewers Ball , and the Good Food Awards

Contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer with media inquiries about Riverbend Malt House. 

 

ABOUT RIVERBEND MALT HOUSE

Riverbend Malt House is on a quest to connect Southeastern family owned farms and fermenters. Co-Founders Brent Manning and Brian Simpson launched Riverbend, the first craft malthouse east of the Mississippi River, in Asheville, North Carolina in 2010. Buoyed by a 70,000 foot production facility and state of the art equipment, Riverbend Malt House helps breweries and distilleries large, small, and in-between stand out with flavor, locality, and community in an increasingly competitive landscape— all the while challenging the status quo of corporate, big-agriculture malt. Learn more at riverbendmalt.com.

Born from two apartment kitchens, one in Alabama (AL) and one in Georgia (GA), Alga Beer Company (get it?) resides in Pensacola, Florida. The brewery recently hit its second anniversary, and we took the time to sit down with owner Brett Reid to talk malt, learn why Riverbend is the top choice for their House Lagger, why it was featured in several of their two-year anniversary beers, and most importantly, why they’re proud to be Craft Malt Converts.

 

Alga Beer Company

Why the switch to craft malt? 

About six months after opening, they started seeing beers from other breweries around them that featured Riverbend malt. In Owner Brett Reid’s words, “We were, in essence, blown away by the flavor of the product itself, in comparison to anything else we tried.” Once they started working with Riverbend, he says they also found they were “spending less money than we were with other malts but were getting a higher quality product.” Making the switch a win-win for Alga. 

 

Alga Beer Company

Flavor Nuance 

“Other mass-produced malts tend to come out neutral in flavor,” says Reid. “We want to have an option to really showcase the flavor of every single ingredient we’re putting into our beers.”

With malt being the backbone of the beer and its primary flavor-contributing ingredient, Reid and his team found themselves asking, Why would you cut corners there?  

Their first foray into working with Riverbend was a collaboration between Alga Beer Company, another Pensacola, Florida brewery, Odd Colony Brewing Company, and Ferrus Artisan Ales in Alabama. Together, they created a smoked farmhouse Lager using 100 percent Riverbend malt, and the brew quickly became a fan favorite. 

 

More Corn Malt Please

Reid’s favorite Riverbend malt styles are both malted corn varieties: the Bloody Butcher and the Cumberland Corn. “I feel like I have more of a connection to the corn because I had a granddad who used to grow corn in his backyard,” he remembers. “I can remember the aroma of the dried corn and how he would make grits, and so it’s kind of a nostalgic thing for me.”

The Bloody Butcher Corn malt, he adds, “is wacky”— in a good way, of course. “I love that it can be super funky. You can add too much of it; but if you get the balance right, it adds this delicate earthiness and a mild sweetness– which I think is incredible.”

“I remember the first time I stopped to see Brett and his team, we became fast friends, we got each other’s jokes and enjoyed a few pints like we’d know each other for years.” says Brent Manning, founder of Riverbend. “That is what it is all about for me, building relationships and helping to create great craft beer.”

Learn more about Alga Beer Company’s amazing beers at www.algabeerco.com. Don’t miss their stellar reels on Instagram, either! 



Florida SMaSH

LONGWOOD, FLORIDA— The eighth annual Florida SMaSH Beer Festival is the official kick off event for 2024 Orlando Beer Week. Thirty breweries will serve single malt, single hop beers made with malt from Riverbend Malt and hops from Yakima Quality Hops on Saturday, February 17th at Reiter Park. 

The 2024 beers on tap at Florida SMaSH were made with Riverbend Avalon Pilsner malt. “With subtle notes of melon, honeysuckle and a mouthfeel reminiscent of coconut water, Avalon Pilsner can excel in a wide range of styles from American Lager to Belgian Farmhouse ales,” says Riverbend Malt House Co-Founder Brent Manning. “Avalon barley is a new variety bred to support the needs of brewers and distillers. We’re beyond excited to sample what will undoubtedly be a full-color spectrum of expressions of Avalon from so many different brewhouses at Florida SMaSH.” 

Last year,  the Florida SMaSH Beer Festival raised $16.027.74 for A Spoon Full of Hope. These funds support Second Harvest’s no-cost 16-week Culinary Training program, which provides qualified, economically challenged adults with the culinary and life skills training to pursue a sustainable career in the food industry. ‘This donation was over 42% higher than our previous highest donation. We were thrilled, to say the least,” says Eric Garbarczyk of Hourglass Brewing Co. “We aim to top our donation to A Spoonful of Hope again in 2024!” 

Florida SMaSH  is presented by the Brewers Establishing Altruistic Regional Development (B.E.A.R.D.) nonprofit organization, Hourglass Brewing, and the City of Longwood. This festival was created to celebrate the creativity and camaraderie of breweries in the Sunshine State. Each year, a people’s choice beer wins the coveted, ever-evolving Florida SMaSH Festival Champions Lamp; and the Judge’s Choice competition awards first, second, and third place medals. 

Tickets to the festival are available via Eventbrite, and festival details can be found at www.flsmash.com

ABOUT B.E.A.R.D.

Brewers Establishing Altruistic Regional Development (B.E.A.R.D.) is a non-profit organization created by brewing industry professionals with a mission to serve their communities. Over 7 years, B.E.A.R.D. has successfully donated more than $60,000 to local charitable organizations such as A Spoon Full of Hope.

ABOUT HOURGLASS BREWING

Hourglass Brewing is now serving their 11th year, producing Seminole County’s first small batch craft beer. With two locations in the Orlando area and no less than 30 beers on tap they continually push for innovation while holding on to nostalgia, with a thirst for good times. Visit Hourglass online at hourglassbrewing.com. 

Contact Bill Murphy at bill@hourglassbrewing.com with media inquiries about Hourglass Brewing. 

ABOUT RIVERBEND MALT HOUSE

Riverbend Malt House is on a quest to connect Southeastern family owned farms and fermenters. Co-Founders Brent Manning and Brian Simpson launched Riverbend, the first craft malt house east of the Mississippi River, in Asheville, North Carolina in 2010. Buoyed by a 70,000 square foot production facility and state of the art equipment, Riverbend Malt House helps breweries and distilleries large, small, and in-between stand out with flavor, locality, and community in an increasingly competitive landscape— all the while challenging the status quo of corporate, big-agriculture malt. Learn more at riverbendmalt.com.

Contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com with media inquiries about Riverbend Malt House. 

ABOUT YAKIMA QUALITY HOPS

YQH is a family-owned business focused on quality and service. Founded in 2013, Yakima Quality Hops provides the highest quality hops to breweries throughout the United States and abroad. Based in Yakima, WA, we work directly with growers, allowing us to offer the best pricing and quality control. We work with breweries of all sizes and in all stages of growth. Whether you’ve been brewing for decades or are just getting started, let’s connect so we can get to know your hops needs. Learn more at yakhops.com.

We know you have many options, and we aim to make you proud with your choice of malt provider. Here are seven ways you can really make your investment in craft malt count in 2024.

1. Put Your Craft Malt Manual To Work

Use our Craft Malt User Manual to gain a deeper understanding of how your investment leads to innovative products, supports local, family-owned farms, and protects the environment. You’ll also find out how the use of high-quality, locally sourced malt can enable you to sell more beer and spirits at a higher price.

Malt

2. Use the #madewithRiverbend hashtag

We love to hear about beers and spirits #madewithRiverbend malt! Use the hashtag to be featured on our Instagram account, and fill out this form to land your products on our website.

 

Malt

3. Get Creative With Custom Malt

We love custom and smoked malt projects! Last year we worked with our customers to create signature base malt, estate malt, fig wood smoked Pilsner, and malt steeped in custom water profile designed to mimic the hard water from Belgium– among other exciting flavor and process explorations. Let us know how we can turn your vision for a special beer or spirit into a reality.

 

Malt

4. Craft A Truly Southern Lager

We’re inspired by and hope to propel the Southern Lager movement! We love to help our customers build recipes that are “true to style,” but still with a touch of Southern terroir.

 

5. Dust Off The Homebrew Equipment

Hey homebrewers! Finding that forgotten equipment might just be a good New Years Resolution, especially now that so many homebrew supply shops sell Riverbend malt… just sayin’.

 

6. Join The Craft Malt Certified™ Seal

If 10% of the malt you purchase or the malt you use in at least one recipe comes from craft maltsters, you’re eligible to join the Craft Malt Certified™ seal. Usage of the seal on products and in other marketing helps bridge the “grain to glass” divide, connecting your customers with family farmers.

Become a craft malt convert! Apply and learn more here.

 

Malt

7. See You At #MaltCon2024

Join us at the world’s only craft malt conference in Davis, California (or virtually) next month! MaltCon2024 takes place February 22-24. It’s a great opportunity for our brewery and distillery customers to learn more about malting, malt usage, flavor, and so much more.

Our Appalachian Wheat malt is made using a new regionally adapted variety of soft red wheat called Oakes. With flavors of baked artisan bread and toast, it’s no surprise that this wheat malt was developed for use in the artisan bread industry. However, with an aroma and flavor that is more pronounced than traditional wheat malts, we’ve found it makes a tremendous malting variety that promotes head retention and body in the finished beer. 

Check out these mainstay beers made with Riverbend wheat malt, Appalachian Wheat, by craft breweries across the Southeast.

Appalachian Wheat

Biscuit – Fullsteam Brewery, NC

Fullsteam’s mission is to craft distinctly Southern beers that celebrate the farm and food traditions of the American South. With their award-winning Biscuit Wheat Beer, they’ve done just that.  

Biscuit is wheat-forward with light clove and banana bread notes that don’t overpower the brew. Just enough banana and clove to know it’s a wheat beer, with restrained yeast phenolics to ensure the local grain bill isn’t overshadowed. Says Fullsteam of this Made With Riverbend Mainstay, “We get lots of “I normally don’t like wheat beers, but I love this” reaction.”

End Of Days Bourbon – End of Days Distillery, NC

End of Days Distillery was born from a legacy of hard work and hustle, where creating something with your own two hands meant a day well lived. 

End of Days Bourbon is Wilmington’s first legally produced Bourbon since prohibition. This whiskey was produced and barreled prior to the grand opening of the distillery. Behind the scenes, it was quietly aging in new American Oak cask by Black Water Cooperage. Made with Riverbend Appalachian Wheat, Smoked Appalachian Wheat, and Southern Select 2-Row Barley Malt, the temperature variations within the distillery that occur naturally through the season helped to develop the deep characteristic of the whiskey within.

For-scythe Wheat  – Cherry Street Brewing, GA 

Cherry Street Brewing was the first legal craft beer brewery to open in Forsyth County in 2012. 

A 2022 World Beer Cup Gold Winner, For-scythe Wheat is a crystal clear, bright gold American Wheat that stays dry and crisp until the last drop. Featuring Riverbend Appalachian Wheat Malt, Caroline Rye malt, orange peel, lemon peel, and coriander, this beer offers a subtle spice character and citrus zest notes. For-scythe also gets a healthy addition of Lemondrop Hops for added fresh citrus undertones.

All Malt Bourbon – Weldon Mills – NC

At its inception, Weldom Mills Distillery set out to become the most accomplished distillery in North Carolina. They surpassed that mark by becoming the #1 Micro-Distillery in America two years in a row, and they’ve only been open for three! 

All Malt Bourbon is a Double Gold 2021 John Barleycorn award winner, limited-production, ultra-premium, barrel-proof bourbon whiskey, and it’s the only bourbon in America made with all malted wheat and grains, Riverbend Appalachian among them. This spirit has a buttery mouthfeel and golden tone of sweet vanilla, honeycomb, and dry oak with notes of caramel, oak, and vanilla. 

Floyd’s Humor Raspberry Wit – Lookout Brewing, NC 

Lookout Brewing prides itself on creating small-batch craft brews with love on the front porch of Western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. They love to experiment and explore new styles and perspectives, combining creativity with tradition. 

Floyd’s Humor Raspberry Wit is fruity, quenching, and bright pink. Brewed with Belgian Wit yeast,  juicy, organic raspberries, and Riverbend malted wheat style Appalachian Wheat, Floyd’s Humor is the ultimate summer sipper with a unique and funky twist.

Walden’s Ridge NEIPA –  Albright Grove, TN

Albright Grove Brewing Co. is owned by passionate brewmaster Nick Barron, who has traveled the world to hone his craft on a journey that’s led from Tennessee to London to Chicago and back to Tennessee. 

Created in collaboration with the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy, Walden’s Ridge NEIPA is made with Riverbend Appalachian Wheat, as well as locally grown oats. It has a juicy tropical fruit aroma, a surprising punch of citrus, and a light yet silky body, finishing dry and effervescent.

Hazy Day NEIPA – Brewers at 4001 Yancey, NC 

Brewers at 4001 Yancey is the joint effort of Southern Tier, Sixpoint, Victory Brewing Company, and Bold Rock Cidery. Built-in the historic Bower’s Mill building, the fermentation tanks are the original tanks used when Victory opened its doors in 1996.

Hazy Daze is a smooth and juicy IPA featuring Citra and Mosaic hops, and our malted wheat style Appalachian Wheat. Rich in citrus hop character and incredibly easy to drink, it will leave you in a haze and have you coming back for more.

We’ve seen lager styles gaining popularity across the Southeast over the last few years. During that time, we developed several different products, like Czech-style Pilsner, to help our customers build recipes that were “true to style”, but still with a touch of Southern terroir.

We’re thrilled to see more and more producers with mindfulness around expressing a sense of place in their beers, especially in malt-forward lager recipes. As 2023 comes to a close, we’re pleased about the momentum that the Southern Lager movement gained this year and excited for what’s to come in the New Year. Here are some of our 2023 highlights—

The Inaugural Southern Lager Invitational

We got an early start on the year when our friends from Bootleg Biology invited us to co-sponsor the inaugural Southern Lager Invitational late in 2022. The idea of pouring locally-sourced lagers for a large audience at the Craft Brewers Conference seemed like a perfect fit.

In the ramp up to CBC, we helped pull together close to two dozen beers from around the South. The folks at Harding House Brewing Company were incredible hosts, taking great care of everyone in attendance. The event was incredibly successful, and we’re grateful to everyone who attended.

Exciting news! We’re bringing the Southern Lager Invitational to Asheville in 2024. Stay tuned.

Southern Lager Invitational 2023

 

State-Level Lager Collaborations

Tampa Beer Week generated another opportunity to showcase our expanding catalog of Pilsner malts. I found myself chatting with Jason from Gulfport Brewing Company about the recently released Avalon variety from Virginia Tech. Specifically, the Pilsner batches Riverbend had released that featured a rich mouthfeel (think coconut water!) while keeping color low. The conversation turned to the Florida Brewers Conference beer collaboration that was currently underway. They were kicking around the idea of a Vienna Lager and I jumped at the chance to get involved in the project. Our Vienna Malt is one of my favorite products that doesn’t often get a chance to shine. In short, I couldn’t wait to see how this beer would turn out. 

We packed our bags and headed back to Florida for their conference in July. Randy Mosher gave a great keynote address on his latest book that dives deep into the world of beer sensory. We also got a chance to sit in on a presentation about thiolized yeast strains that helped me understand how to balance that ingredient in a recipe… very cool stuff! We also got a chance to share the Avalon story with several brewers in attendance while enjoying the Vienna Lager. It’s always helpful to have an example of a finished beer that features the ingredient you are talking about!

Next up, was another collaboration with our friends from Bootleg Biology. This time we partnered with Atrium Brewing to create a Southern Lager recipe for the Beer CANvention that was happening in Louisville. Turns out there is a fervent group of beer can collectors from around the world that get together every year to talk shop and trade memorabilia. Old school pull tab cans, coolers, t-shirts, basically anything you can think of from breweries large and small was on display at this event. 

This Southern Lager recipe featured our Cumberland Pilsner, Cumberland Corn Malt, and Great Chit. Zuper Saazer hops from Hop Head Farms that deliver a nice herbal punch and the ARL strain from Bootleg that was propagated from a site in Virginia, round out this beautiful beer. It was poured as part of the pre-conference beer festival that kicked off the festivities. A majority of the breweries in Louisville were also in attendance, so it was a great opportunity to check out their beer scene.

For our final collaboration of the year, we joined the NC Brewers Guild and Southern Pines Brewing Company to create a beer that would honor our veterans and serve as the official beer of the 10th annual NC Craft Brewers Conference. We decided on an Italian Pilsner that would feature Chesapeake Pilsner, Southern Select, Vienna, and Great Chit. Idaho Gem and Triumph hops were provided by Mill 95. Southern Pines hosted a brew day for all veteran-owned breweries in NC. The beer made its debut at the NC State Fair in October and took center stage at the awards ceremony during the conference.

Each of these projects took great strides towards establishing a place for local malt in recipes that were previously walled off for European ingredients. Our sincere hope is that fresher malt grown just a few hundred miles from the brewery will support continued innovation, elevating the idea of Southern Lager as a unique style in the years ahead.

Many thanks to everyone for supporting us this year— it means the world to us!

– Brent Manning, Co-Founder