Over the years, we’ve participated in some fun with upcycling projects in line with our environmental objectives; but the Beer to Bags partnership is taking our efforts to another level!
Happy North Carolina Craft Beer Month everyone! This month, we are proud to announce that Riverbend Malt House is now the first malt house licensor for Beer To Bags. Beer To Bags upcycles spent malt bags to create stylish totes.
Why Upcycling?
Due to the amount of polypropylene in malt bags, they are a difficult product to recycle because they decompose at a very slow rate. Beer to Bags has found a solution to that problem by upcycling spent malt bags and turning them into customizable tote bags. Upcycling is preferred over recycling do to the amount of energy recycling takes. Rather than destroying the old bags and trying to make them into a new resource, Beer To Bags is able to modify them and turn them into a cool, useful product for beer lovers.
We’re working to remove millions of malt bags from landfills, but that’s just one material and industry. There is so much work to be done, so I welcome anyone who wants to join to make an impact where you can,” Emily Neville, the Founder of Beer To Bags told Authority Magazine earlier this year. “It takes the small, intentional efforts of all of us to make a difference.”
Upcycling For A Cause
Beer to Bags gives 1% of every sale to a good cause. For the totes made with Riverbend malt bags, they decided to give that 1% to the American Malting Barley Association (AMBA) because of the work that they do for us and craft maltsters all over the country. AMBA aims to help with the research and development of public sector malting barley varieties, helping farmers sustain the crops we use.
As part of this license, all totes made with our spent malt bags will include our logo on the inside of the tote. You can shop for totes made with Riverbend malt bags on the Beer To Bags website or you can customize a bag for yourself or your business using their Custom Order Consultation. With the holidays coming up, the timing couldn’t be better to treat the beer lovers in your life to these creative gifts.
Thanks to Beer To Bags and the AMBA for collaborating with us on this exciting partnership!
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Beer-to-Bags-Riverbend-Announcement-e1698101080288.png17152560Karson Krousehttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngKarson Krouse2023-10-23 14:28:192023-10-23 19:01:00Beer to Bags: Upcycling for a Cause
Since we launched the malt house, Oktoberfest season sales calls were met with a similar refrain…. “I only use German malt for those recipes”.
Of course this makes sense; these events are wrapped in hundreds of years of history and tradition. Add to this, the relative lack of experience of an upstart malt house and new barley varieties, and you have a recipe for hesitation.
Over the years, we have honed the recipes of our Munich “family”, coaxing a nice mix of bread, sweet aromatics, and floral character from our locally-sourced grain. These aromas combined with consistent color and extract levels have given us a bit more confidence to hit the streets and ask for that coveted Märzen or Festbier spot.
The increase in quality and consistency combined with a global supply chain meltdown helped us gain traction in 2022, and we have built on that momentum this year. Breweries across the Southeast have taken the leap and reimagined these classic lagers with freshly kilned malt from Riverbend Malt House— as opposed to the Atlantic Ocean.
Over the past few weeks we’ve received positive feedback from our customers as these beers have gone into packaging, and gotten tapped for Oktoberfest celebrations. Hearing that makes it feels like we’ve torn down one of the last barriers for craft malt.
As these releases make their way to the taprooms and storefronts, our hearts are filled with pride. We know there is a tremendous amount of time and effort tied up in this liquid and we are proud to be a part of each of these expressions of the season. If your Festbier (or any other style you might want to tell us about) was #madewithRiverbend, we’d love to hear about it.
A sincere thank you goes out to everyone that chose to make their Oktoberfest Lager with Riverbend this season. We look forward to raising a frothy stein with you in the coming weeks!
Prost y’all!
— Brent
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/pexels-pavel-danilyuk-5858172-scaled.jpg17092560Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-09-18 18:43:202023-09-18 18:48:49Falling For Festbier
DECATUR, GA— Brick Store Pub will host the second annual Riverbend Craft Malt Showcase on Thursday, September 21. This tap takeover will boast a stylistic range of 15 beers brewed with malt from Riverbend Malt House.
WHAT
Craft breweries across the Southeast have united to build this one-of-a-kind tap list that includes a wide array of beer styles such as German-style Lagers crafted for Oktoberfest season, IPAs, cask ales, and much more— all made with Riverbend malt.
This event will feature beers made by many of the region’s tastemakers— Akademia Brewing Company, Arches Brewing, Beacon Beer Co., The Brutalist, Cellarest Beer Project, Cherry Street Brewing Co., DSSOLVR, Fonta Flora Brewery, Fullsteam Brewery, Leveller Brewing Co., NoFo Brew Co., Redlight Redlight in collaboration with Alga Beer Co., Southern Brewing Company, TrimTab Brewing Co., and Zilicoah Beer Co.
“We’re thrilled to host so many of our favorite breweries here at the Brick Store Pub to showcase Riverbend Malt House’s incredible malts,” says Neil Callaghan, Brick Store Pub’s Beer Director. “The Riverbend team has brought together a killer line-up of beers to showcase the quality of their craft malt offerings and create a unique experience for our guests to learn about the malting process and taste the difference that Riverbend’s products make in ales and lagers.”
Media interested in covering this event can contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT BRICK STORE PUB
Since 1997, the Brick Store Pub has been celebrating craft, community and culture to it’s Decatur, Georgia neighborhood. With an internationally renowned beer program featuring thousands of vintage ales and lagers and a kitchen offering beer-inspired cuisine, the Brick Store Pub has carved a distinctive niche for itself over its quarter century history. It is currently ranked as the #1 Beer Bar in North America by RateBeer.com and has been recognized by dozens of media outlets as an international beer destination.
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Brick-Store-Event-Insta-Square-scaled.jpg25602560Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-09-16 15:30:302023-09-20 01:44:46Riverbend Craft Malt Showcase Returns To Brick Store Pub September 21
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
Photo courtesy HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
When the temperature begins to warm and the days get longer, we start to watch the weather a bit more closely around the Southeast. Calls go out to our small grains growers in late April and early May to get an early read on the crop. Have we had enough rain? Enough warm weather? Any disease pressure? It’s a laundry list of questions designed to gauge what we’ll be working with by the end of the summer.
In the early days, we held our collective breaths as the combines headed out into the fields of family farms. There were many variables to consider; best practices were still in development and the whole idea of harvest felt like a roll of the dice. Late afternoon rains and large storm fronts would inevitably take their toll. These events would lower test weights and increase vomitoxin levels rendering the harvest unusable.
With each passing year, we (along with our network of growers) learned something about growing barley in our region. Observations around microclimates, planting windows, and post harvest storage all helped build institutional knowledge. Updated guidelines and advice from our extension partners helped improve our odds of success. Mother Nature still threw us plenty of curveballs, but we were much better prepared to weather her storms.
As we sat down to review the data from this year’s harvest, it was clear that we had turned a corner. The samples looked bright and plump with solid test weights to match. Nearly 100 percent of the grain samples we receivedfrom ASR Grain Company, Bay’s Best Feed, and Teeter Farm and Seed met the necessary standards for malting. This includes newcomers to the malting barley game, Alabama and Georgia!
New Malt On The Block
Towerhouse Farm Brewery
We have partnered with the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama to improve and expand malting barley production in their area. This year’s variety trials included a 6-row variety called Secretariat as well as the 2-row Avalon variety. Both met our quality standards and malting is currently underway. These malts will go out to brewers and distillers throughout the state as part of an “Alabama grown” campaign.
Our friends at Towerhouse Farm Brewery in Georgia are continuing their quest to provide a grain to glass experience for their patrons. This year marks the second successful harvest of 2-row Calypso at their farm and we are looking forward to producing some exceptional malt for them!
Expanding our grower network into these states has been especially gratifying as we look towards the future of Riverbend. Since our start we’ve heard the question “what do you have that is grown in my state?” The answer is often quite complicated, involving several stakeholders and a potentially steep learning curve. It often takes several years to bring these projects to fruition, but the result is often a big leap for local agriculture and innovation within the neighboring brewhouses.
More Avalon, Please
Speaking of big leaps forward, our stock of Avalon barley bred by the Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center has increased exponentially with this year’s harvest. Adoption of this variety has happened quickly throughout the Southeast and we are excited to have lots from North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee to work with this year. The first batch is currently in production and will be available soon.
Last Kernels
Photo courtesy ASR Grain Co.
Calypso and Violetta also performed well this season and will continue to play leading roles in Riverbend Base Camp and Southern Select malt styles.
Finally, we are also welcoming back an old favorite, Seashore Black Rye grown at Tidewater Grain Company in Oriental, North Carolina. This heirloom variety can be traced back to the 1830’s. Stay tuned for details on product release dates.
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/IMG_4802-scaled.jpeg25601920Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-08-31 20:24:492023-08-31 20:39:04Riverbend Malt House 2023 Harvest Report
Today Inc. Magazine named Riverbend Malt House 3992 on the list of the 5000 fastest growing private companies in America. Riverbend ranked #96 on the list of fastest growing North Carolina companies.
2023 marks the second consecutive year that Riverbend has made the Inc. 5000 list, one of the most prestigious rankings of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, representing top tier independent small businesses in America. Inc. 5000 status is conferred based upon a company’s cumulative revenue growth over the preceding three years. At Riverbend Malt House, the revenue growth over the past three years was 116 percent.
“We are gratified to make the Inc. 5000 fastest growing list for the second consecutive year,” remarked Scott Hickman, Riverbend’s CEO. “High quality malt, carefully made from grain sourced from local, family owned farms clearly continues to be a value proposition that appeals to our craft brewing and distilling customers. In an increasingly crowded space, using— and talking about— quality ingredients is proving to be an effective way for our customers to stand out.”
A full list of winners including Riverbend Malt House can be found on the inc.com website.
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/20230726_082938-scaled.jpg14412560Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-08-15 18:51:582023-08-19 15:29:07Riverbend Malt House Named On Inc. 5000 List Of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America For Second Year
For a decade, Riverbend Malt House has worked with Carter Farms in Eagle Springs, North Carolina, North Carolina, to source the Abruzzi rye variety for its Carolina Rye malt. This malted Rye pays homage to a crop that has been grown in the South for more than 200 years, and it’s no surprise that brewers and distillers love it for its unique flavor blend of herbal spice, black peppercorn, and citrus. Here is an assortment of those craft brewers and distillers crafting mainstays made with Riverbend Carolina Rye.
The Survivor’s Cut Series Rye Whiskey by End Of Days Distillery— the first whiskey of this type to be produced in Wilmington, NC since prior to Prohibition— features Carolina Rye among other Riverbend malt styles. ”The quality of the grains and the love and care used in the distillation and maturation process show our continued commitment to the craft,” says the distillery website.
“Probably my favorite usage of Riverbend malts are the Munich Rye and Carolina Rye malts in our Red Rye DIPA,” says Dave Hash, the Head Brewer at Beacon Brewing Co. “The spicy rye malt characteristics pair really well with English crystal malt and citrusy hop bitterness, and you can really get that tingling, slightly cooling mouthfeel that you’d get from a rye whiskey.”
Oak & Grist Distilling loves a good rye malt. Four years in the making, Oak & Grist’s Rye Whiskey is their smallest-batch spirit to date. Spicy, fruity, and locally produced from grain-to-glass with Riverbend Carolina Rye and Southern Select malts, this distillery-only exclusive spirit has garnered a cult-like following from locals and tourists alike.
This Farmhouse IPA made with Riverbend Carolina Rye and Oats has well-balanced bitterness, notes of pith, freshly cut flower stems, red raspberries, and overripe tropical fruit. It’s slightly hazy, and a touch juicy—a great example of a rye malt, well placed.
A taproom favorite soon-to-hit cans, this rye malt-forward Pale Ale features Carolina Rye and also includes Riverbend Heritage Malt and Great Chit in the recipe.
From Base Camp Pale Malt to Appalachian Wheat, beers crafted at The Southern Growl run the gamut of Riverbend malts in their recipes… including, you guessed it— Carolina Rye malt. Our flagship rye malt is a staple found throughout their rotating “Plenty of Plush” lineup of Hazy IPAs. Featuring flavors of herbal spice and black peppercorn, Carolina Rye adds an unexpected punch to this ongoing IPA experimentation. THIS ONE PICTURED is… insert anecdote about the Cozy Cashmere.
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Carter-Farms-Rye-scaled-e1688598347277.jpg11322560Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-07-23 16:52:242025-01-28 21:56:30Mainstays Made With Riverbend Carolina Rye
It’s time once again to give a shout-out to the Riverbend customers who have taken home hardware at recent industry competitions. We are honored to support the makers of some of the world’s finest beers and spirits!
Craft Producer of the Year
To start this Winner’s Circle, we couldn’t be happier to congratulate Chattanooga Whiskey for some exceptional distilling. This Tennessee-based distillery scored the title of Craft Producers of the Year, not only here in the US as awarded by American Whiskey Magazine but, over the pond, in London, was recognized by the 2023 Icons of Whisky Awards as well. Way to go, folks!
2023 World Beer Cup Winners
The May 10th, 2023, awards ceremony, known as “the Olympics of beer,” is the most prestigious beer competition in the world. We couldn’t be happier to congratulate Monday Night Brewing for securing the silver in the Mixed-Culture Brett Beer category with Barrel Farm, and Hi-Wire Brewing who also took home a silver in the Best Experimental Beer category for their Japanese Dry Rice Lager. Other winners who snagged bronze medals include Lenny Boy Brewing Co for their Spaghetti Handshake Italian-Style Pilsner and New Belgium Brewing for their Voodoo Ranger Juice Force IPA (this IPA also won the Gold in 2021 at the GABF). See the complete list of winners here.
The 2023 Florida Brewers Cup
In March, several of our brewery customers in The Sunshine State took home medals at the 2023 Florida Brewers Cup. Here’s a proper congratulations to Gulfport Brewery for grabbing the gold with their hazy, crushable Hippie Oasis. Red Light Red Light won gold for Mixed Culture Brett Beer with their New Wave Biere de Garde, and Deadwords Beer won the gold for Best Saison with Harvest Moon.
Bringing home the silver, Grand Central Brewhouse took home two medals, one for Speed Wobble and one for their Grodziskie. The Brutalist claimed silver with their West Coast IPA. Perfect Plain Brewing Co was a double winner, receiving a silver medal for Yachtside and the bronze for their Czech Pils. Alga Beer Co grabbed some hardware for the second year in a row for their Neighborhood Beer. Other winners include Green Bench Brewing, Hourglass Brewing, King State Beer, and Woven Water Brewing.
2023 South Carolina Brewers Cup Award Winners
Also, back in March, an array of Riverbend malt supporters won medals at the SC Brewers Cup. The awards ceremony took place as a part of the 2023 SCBG Conference and Trade Show at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, where more than 200 representatives from breweries and affiliate industries were present. New Groove Brew was a two-time winner, scoring gold hardware with Rainbow Lake Modern IPA and silver for their specialty beer, Pageantry Pils, and Kite Hill Brewing scored gold hardware for their French Pilsner, That Girl from Alsace. Other winners included Peak Drift Brewing, Plankowner Brewing Co, and The Southern Growl.
The 2023 World Beer Championships
The World Beer Championships (WBC) was founded by the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) in 1994 as the first international beer competition in the United States. Our customer Fireforge Crafted Beer earned three medals in the 2023 WBC. Day on the Lake Pilsner, Game Time Decision American Light Lager (both made with Riverbend Cumberland Pilsner malt), and Novemberfest Märzen got the Gold “exceptional” distinction by scoring more than 90 in the Beverage Testing Institute’s rating system!
Hickory Hops Festival
Hosted in Hickory, North Carolina, the Hickory Hops Festival hosts more than 50 local and regional breweries annually. This year, One World Brewing snagged the gold with their Pre-Prohibition Pilsner made with 100 percent Riverbend malts, as well as a gold for Citra Bomb and bronze for Legacy Lager.
2023 Good Food Awards
The Good Food Awardsare committed to honoring exceptional crafters who produce quality beer while demonstrating a deep commitment to sustainability, as well as environmental and social responsibility. Each year they receive more than 2,000 entrants from all over the United States. Say hello to the 10-time winner, Fullsteam Brewery! For 2023, they take home this honorable distinction for their Wheat Ale, Biscuit.
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.
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_0376.jpg7731179Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-06-28 13:35:282023-07-27 22:12:55Winner’s Circle: International Craft Producer of the Year and Award-Winning Beers Made With Riverbend Malt
It’s almost time to fill those tanks with German-style lagers to serve during this Oktoberfest season. Here is an Oktoberfest planning guide to our standard malt offerings to help plan all of your 2023 recipes.
This product was inspired by the malts hailing from the Hana valley in the eastern portion of the Czech Republic that remain truly under-modified and low in color. In order to reign in these traits, we reduced our steep out moisture and reduced germination temperatures, and coupled this approach with a cool, gentle kiln recipe to ensure minimal color development. The result is a malt with a distinct flavor and color of 2 SRM or less.
The lack of modification opens the door for brewers to utilize step mashing or multiple decoctions to increase efficiency and build flavor. Don’t have that capability in your brew house? Not to worry– we aimed for a level modification that doesn’t require these steps.
One of our best selling flagships, this malt has been featured in a wide array of lagers around the Southeast. Produced using 100% VA-grown barley, this malt contributes notes of fresh-baked crackers and honeysuckle.
We kiln this style similarly to our Light Munich malt, with a cooler curing temperature to minimize color development. Vienna Malt helps to create full body and smooth mouthfeel, while importing honey and biscuit flavors.
Notes of caramel and toasted bread are prominently featured in this product, developed to perform like a light Munich or Vienna style malt. This versatile style packs enough diastastic power to perform as a base malt to boot.
Producing a high-quality Munich-style malt requires a completely different approach to the process. Higher kilning temperatures and extended times combine to create the rich, bready flavor profile that these malts are known for. We use a proprietary blend of 2-row barley varieties as the base for this product. Try it as a base malt for your next Doppelbock recipe or in smaller percentages in a Helles!
A continuation of the Munich-style, this product is crafted using an intense 30+ hour kiln cycle that utilizes high temperatures and different air flow management techniques. The result is an aromatic malt that delivers notes of baker’s chocolate, toast, and dark fruit.
As its name suggests, Double Kilned Munich makes two trips through the kiln, a process that helps develop the complex flavors and increases color to approximately 50 SRM. This malt will contribute a beautiful, ruby red hue and notes of dark fruit and toffee with a touch of fresh roasted coffee flavor.
This malt is kilned at higher temperatures throughout and delivers notes of pumpernickel bread, cardamon, and allspice.
Great For: Belgian Dubbel, Brown Ale
There is also plenty of time to reach out about designing a malt blend to create signature flavor profiles. Please reach out to your Riverbend representative or email sales@riverbendmalt.com for more information about our custom malt program.
ASHEVILLE, NC— As part of its recently launched seasonal malt program, Riverbend Malt House now has a limited quantity of malted Hickory King Corn available for purchase.
Hickory King corn is an heirloom variety that has a rich history dating back to the late 1800’s. It was developed by A.O. Lee of Hickory, Virginia, who created it from a single ear of corn he received from a friend.
Hickory King was one of the last regionally adapted varieties to be used in American Whiskey production before the shift to Reid’s Yellow Dent, which came in from the Midwest and quickly became the choice for distillers and farmers. This variety provided the foundation for the No. 2 Yellow Dent corn that is still in use today.
This corn variety is known for its large kernels and is used for roasting, grits, meal, tortilla flour, and hominy. Riverbend sources its Hickory King from Craig Jebson and his team at Fairview Cattle & Grain in Culpepper, Virginia. The flavor of the finished malt delivers a dry, earthy character that brings to mind homemade tortillas from your favorite taco truck. The sweetness is muted when compared to Riverbend’s Cumberland Corn malt.
“This flavor profile will add interesting depth to beer styles such as Cream Ale or Kentucky Common, contributing a light toasty, smoky aroma with a touch of baking spice without a cloying sweetness,” says Brent Manning who directs Riverbend’s product development. “It’s a great addition to Bourbon mashes too.”
Hickory King Corn malt is available at Riverbend Malt House while supplies last. Contact your sales representative or email orders@riverbendmalt.com to place an order.
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_5368-scaled-e1685321309676.jpg10811920Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-05-28 20:49:142023-08-28 11:50:11Riverbend Malt House Welcomes Hickory King Corn Malt Variety To Malted Corn Portfolio
Beyond seeking the highest quality crops possible, we source our grains with flavor and aroma characteristics in mind too. This constant exploration of nuance has led us to several single origin Pilsner malt styles in our portfolio, which allow brewers and distillers to craft beer and spirits with a sense of place.
“If you know your maltster and you understand how they work with their product, these individual origins can help you to differentiate different products,” Vince Tursi, Co-Founder of DSSOLVR, told The Wort podcast last year.
“I like to send Vince the flavor descriptors with small batches of new barley,” Brent Manning, our Co-Founder, replied on the podcast. “He’ll say ‘sweet, that sounds perfect for the Helles or the Maibock we’re going to brew.’ At the apex of our galavanting around and playing with these varieties I came into his taproom and he had four different light beers made with four different Pilsner malts with four different varieties of barley. This is a hallelujah moment.”
Meet Our Pilsner Malts
Ongoing experimentation has landed two single origin pilsner malt styles in Riverbend’s year-round product offerings: Chesapeake Pilsner and Cumberland Pilsner. Add to this our original Pilsner malt, made with Thoroughbred 6-row barley, and Czech Pilsner an undermodified 2-row version; all which give brewers plenty to explore.
Chesapeake Pilsner, the 2022 bronze medal winner in the international Malt Cup, is produced using 2-row Violetta barley sourced from Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. It strikes a beautiful balance of bread crumb, green tea, and honeysuckle flavors. The wort is a touch richer and sweeter than our original 6-row Pilsner. This style has become a staple base malt for many brewers and distillers for its versatility. Chesapeake Pilsner has become a staple base malt for many brewers and distillers for its versatility. The light color allows for inclusion across a wide range of beverage styles including Pilsner, Bourbon, and Single Malt Whiskey. Its grassy, earthy notes play well with hops, too.
Cumberland Pilsner is produced using 2-row Calypso barley sourced from the Cumberland plateau of Tennessee. This variety produces a more full-bodied wort with notes of melon and sugar cookie. The prominent sweet aromatics and bread dough characteristics of this malt style make it a perfect fit for styles in which the malt is center stage, such as Helles, Maibock, and dark lager.
Our original 6-Row Pilsner, made with Thoroughbred grain, has been in production since 2014. This malt first rose to prominence during the proliferation of wild and mixed culture programs that occurred across the Southeast. Historically, these beers were produced with grains from the surrounding fields. Brewers interested in emulating these practices, discovered our Pilsner could provide that perfect, yet hard to define, “rustic” character. This malt is also enjoying renewed popularity in Pre-Prohibition lager recipes.
A Case For Terroir
The expansion of the single origin Pilsner series represents an important step in solidifying the case for a Southern terroir. Flavor can be influenced by a number of factors including barley variety, crop year, and soil health. The malting process (floor or pneumatic) can also introduce additional variables.
“Single origin malt allows me to pick and choose,” says Jon Simpson, the Head Brewer at Fullsteam Brewery. “Kind of like the selection of single origin coffee.”
Crafting beer that represents Southern terroir has always been part of Fullsteam’s mission, Simpson continues. He’s no stranger to brewing beers with all North Carolina ingredients, sometimes all Riverbend malt. “If I’m using local, single origin malt, someone from Montana, for example, can’t replicate that— just like we can’t replicate theirs.”
“If you change [your recipe] up dramatically with a completely different barley from another sector of the United States that in and of itself is such a unique product [despite] going through the same process,” Tursi adds.
What’s Next?
“As lagers come back into the scene in a Gold Rush-type fashion, malt is the main flavor in all of these beers,” said our Alabama, Florida, and Georgia Territory Manager Tyler Adams in this episode of the Florida Beer Podcast. This rise of lager sales across the United States offers an exciting opportunity to propel this conversation forward.
The only remaining hurdle is tradition. Lager brewers have always been sticklers for tradition, and rightfully so— these beers have been brewed with time honored methods and ingredients for hundreds of years. We hope the next wave will incorporate the methods, but open the same door to innovation with ingredient selection that brought us to style categories like the New England IPA or the Cascadian Dark Ale.
What beers and spirits do you make with our single origin Pilsner malts? Share them here on our #madewithRiverbend page.
https://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-05-at-5.04.03-PM.png7041332Scott Hickmanhttps://riverbendmalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Riverbend-Malt-for-Craft-Beer.pngScott Hickman2023-04-20 15:56:162023-07-29 16:40:03Single Farm, Single Field: Riverbend Malt House Single Origin Pilsner Malt Is Establishing Southern Terroir
For the Love of Malted Rye
