Craft Malt Converts: Savage Craft Ale Works
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.
