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Find out about new malts and big moves for Riverbend, hot off the press.
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Hear about our recent releases and get updates from our master maltsters.
Find out about new malts and big moves for Riverbend, hot off the press.
Hear about our recent releases and get updates from our master maltsters.
Vine Pair: Brewing Team Spirit
New Belgium’s Old Tuffy Premium Lager made in collaboration with North Carolina State University continues to make headlines.ย A portion of sales of this light lager supports the universityโs fermentation sciences program. According to New Belgium’s COO ย Joe Davis, using our malt in this beer deepens the โconnection with the university and the state.”
Read on about Old Tuffy and more craft beer and university collaborations in this Vine Pair article by our friend Joshua Bernstein.
Good Beer Matters: Craft Malt in 2022
In episode 95 of the Good Beer Matters podcast, our very own Brent and Jesse Bussard of the Craft Maltsters Guild had the opportunity to dive into the importance of craft malt in craft beer production with host Jeremy Storton.
Jesse and Brent touched on how important community and connection were in getting interested in craft. Brent described that “ethos” as key in his decision to get started.
“We’re really looking back to the roots of beer production,’ Brent explained.”In the early days, the malthouse was inside of the brewery, it was all a part of the process chain. We’re unlocking a lot of those old historical scales and flavors when we talk about this.”
Brent and Jesse went on to explain the Guild’s Craft Malt Certified Seal program. Jesse described how the seal itself is a vehicle to tell the story of local craft malt. With so many breweries throughout the country, the seal is a differentiation point, even for larger breweries like New Belgium. It was intentionally designed to key people in to the fact that beer is an agricultural product.
The Guild and craft malt have expanded, both literally and in the craft beer consciousness. From Denver to Asheville, to Belize (where maybe the Craft Malt Conference can take place one day, just sayin’) the Guild has connected customers to their products in an authentic and delicious way.
We’re proud to be a part of it, and we had a blast being a part of this podcast. Thanks Jeremy!
Florida Beer Podcast: Craft Malt Collaborations in the Sunshine State
We’ve been busy in The Sunshine State! From recipe development around our #Riverbend10 Sunset Wheat malt to beer projects that involve full cake additions to the mash, we’ve been collaborating with some super creative breweries and people!
In Episode #92 of the Florida Beer Podcast, Brent chatted with host David Butler to talk about some of these projects. They also dove into a masterclass on craft malt, the malting process, and what’s new at Riverbend.
The podcast kicks off with the Riverbend odyssey to answer “the question of whether or not people care about where their malt comes from,” says Brent. We found the answer to that question in our early partners; craft breweries and distillers who cared about the terroir and regionality of their beer.
With that mission in mind, Brent went on to break down the malting process from farm to glass, ie: steeping, germinating, and kilning, and how all of it center’s on our locality and commitment to sourcing from within 500 miles.
That local sourcing was brought into the spotlight during the pandemic, and coupled with recent droughts, maltsters all over the country had to think creatively to get their products sourced, produced, and distributed. Brent explained how we had to shift to longer lead times to ensure loads were picked up and delivered on schedule, but that the malthouse is currently stocked up with quality, local malt, and things are in great shape for us to continue bringing quality, craft malt to our partners.
It’s that closeness with our partners that has cemented Riverbend in the craft malt world. David touched on that closeness, noting it’s something unusual in the industry, but a major benefit. Branching off of that, they talked about our recent trip to Pensacola, Florida to visit Perfect Plain Brewing and brew an oyster Saison brewed in part with Sunset Wheat, our celebratory 10 year harvest variety.
Brent closed it down with some big picture thoughts about the industry. He’s excited about the where malt is going, and gets great joy from seeing different people from different backgrounds all collaborating to create a maltier world.
Listen to the podcast here.
SevenFifty Daily: Supply-Chain Snafus Will Spotlight Domestic Malt
We caught up with Joshua Bernstein via SevenFifty Daily to make predictions for craft malt 2022.
The big takeaway: supply chain snafus continue to turn the industry toward adding value to their products via craft malt. Props to our friends at Mainstem Malt in Walla Walla, Washington who also weighed in, and cheers to shorter supply chains going forward!
Read more here.