Thanks to the BeerSmith Podcast for hosting our co-founder Brent for an in depth chat about ten years in business. We got into it about development, the malting process, and the undeniable importance of our location.
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality recently recognized Riverbend Malt House for compliance and environmental performance goals.
We appreciate ESI for providing this opportunity for us to elevate our craft malt business while continuing our commitments to environmental stewardship.
Read more about ESI and this acknowledgment here.
Calling all craft brewers and artisan distillers, there’s a new craft malt available from Riverbend Malt House. Sunset Wheat is here1
This new malt is rooted in the same high quality soft red winter wheat that we use for our flagship Appalachian Wheat. From there we explored a warmer kilning regime similar to a Munich-style. This technique uses large volumes of warm, moist air to develop the building blocks for color and flavor development. The result is a malt that is reminiscent of cookie dough finished with a dash of baking spice.
Thanks to these publications for sharing the news of this new offering!
After 10 years in the craft malt business, we’re reflecting on our past, and how we want to approach our future with the least environmental impact possible. The timing was perfect for Medium.com’s Authority Magazine to interview us about our sustainability mission.
In 2019, the newly named “Project Calypso” led to the planting of almost 30 acres of malting-quality barley in Lee and Scott County that was later processed at Riverbend before it was shipped to 18 Virginia brewers, including Sugar Hill in St. Paul. We’re proud to be a part of what The Pulse calls Virginia’s “grain renaissance.”
Thanks to Atlanta City Journal for picking a brew made with Riverbend malt!
Brewed with Vienna malt, Munich malt and floor-malted pilsner malt, all sourced from Riverbend Malt House in North Carolina, Arches Fest Bier is a Märzen-style lager with a whole lot of malt flavor. There’s a bit Caramunich 3, as well, which gives the beer a beautiful dark amber color, and a touch of residual sweetness, while a late addition of Saaz hops add a hint of spice.
Lookout Brewing Co. released a fresh batch of Van’s Harvest Pale Ale last month with Riverbend Malt, White Labs yeast, and local hops.
Riverbend was named in Nikko Krommmydas’s excellent article on summer beers for VinePair: We Asked 11 Brewers: What’s the Best New Summer Beer?
“I’m a huge fan of the team at Albright Grove Brewing and Ancient Trees, a collaboration between them and Perennial Artisan Ales, is the most quaffable thing out this summer. This farmhouse saison is ticking all my boxes for a great saison. Amazing aromas of ripe, fleshy mangos, floral lilacs, and light peppery phenols. Using solely Chesapeake pilsner, Abruzzi rye, and red wheat malts from Riverbend Malt House, this beer is beautifully balanced between the fruit-forward flavors and aromas of the Brett Trois yeast and the subtle spice of the rye.”
This past week, we were recognized for our Rootlet recycling program in multiple outlets. Check out the links below!
Craft Brewing Business: Riverbend Malt House hits rootlet recycling milestone
Jimi Carbone of Beer Sessions featured our South by Northwest collaboration with Skagit Valley Malting on his podcast, Beer Sessions. In this exploration of Washington and North Carolina malt terroir we created two SMaSH (single malt and single hop) malt-forward pale ales brewed identically at DSSOLR in Asheville, North Carolina and Terramar Brewstillery in Edison, Washington. Both craft beers featured the experimental hop HBC 586 with the only variable being the base malt— both 2-row winter barley varieties grown in North Carolina and in the Skagit Valley.
Here are some of our favorite quotes from the episode, courtesy of Vince Tursi of DSSOLVR.
“Riverbend was doing some really cool stuff with different varietals. We were able to pull much different character than I’ve ever really come across in any other craft maltster. I can pick out [their wheat] in a beer.”
“It was really cool to be able to leverage local. As Riverbend has grown, I’ve always tried to use them whenever I can. And now at DSSOLVR, all of our base malt is Riverbend based. It’s great because that means that all of the base malt we’re using is coming from within 500 miles of our brewery.”
“Riverbend just has this really cool well rounded floral, grassy, herbal, and yet still pronounced malt character.”
Listen here! Episode 592: South by Northwest Craft Malt Exchange on the Heritage Radio Network