Malted barley is the primary ingredient in craft beer. Before any barley, wheat, or other grain makes its way into a brewery, it is steeped in water, germinated, and kilned- a process known as malting. Malt is the backbone and soul of beer and much of a beer’s quality, flavor and aroma is created during the malting process. Only a handful of malting companies around the world still practice the art of floor-malting, wherein the grain is allowed to germinate in a thin layer and is gently turned, rather than piled deep in a mechanical vessel. Floor-malted grain is revered by brewers and distillers for its flavor and character. Admiral Maltings will combine these traditional methods with modern quality control technology to produce consistently distinctive malt.
Much of the malt used in the US is imported and craft breweries often look to Germany and England for premium quality malt. Admiral Maltings is part of a growing nationwide movement to diversify and improve the domestic malt supply for craft breweries and distilleries. Before Prohibition, malt houses were common all over the US, sourcing locally grown barley, and selling to local and regional breweries. The current malt supply, however, primarily reflects the needs of the largest, non-craft breweries. It is now necessary, as the Brewers Association states, “that the barley malt supply chain should . . . evolve rapidly to meet the very different needs of all-malt [craft] beer brewers.”
Outside of California, there are already a growing number of craft malting businesses. The Craft Maltsters Guild lists 32 companies currently in production in North America, and at least another 30 in planning. As the first major craft malting facility in California, Admiral Maltings will offer craft brewers and distillers premium malt with the following advantages:
Improved flavor: Our malt is made using traditional floor-malting methods and delivered fresh from the kiln, providing optimum flavor. Our small- scale allows us to offer custom-kilned malts made with new, unique, and experimental grain varieties.
Locally sourced: Brewers strengthen their ties to the community and reduce their carbon footprint by supporting local farmers.
Sustainably grown: All of Admiral’s grains are grown using organic or no-till practices which promote soil health. Barley and other grains require little to no irrigation. By using locally grown grains, brewers provide a new market for crops that are well suited to California’s arid climate.
In addition to producing malt, we will also open an onsite pub to serve beer and spirits that are made with Admiral malt. So while most of you reading this may not want to geek out with us over the protein content and kilning profile of our newest pilsner malt, you will be able to enjoy a pint of your favorite local beer and know that you had a part in changing the way it was made.
Ron Silberstein, owner and founding brewmaster of ThirstyBear Organic Brewery. ThirstyBear opened in 1996, is San Francisco’s longest operating brewery-restaurant and its only certified organic brewery. He is a founding board member of the SF Brewers Guild, a graduate of the inaugural class of the American Brewers Guild and a graduate of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre’s (CMBTC) Malt Academy – the only such course in North America.
Dave McLean founder, brewmaster of Magnolia Brewing Company. He is a founding board member of the SF Brewers Guild, a member of the original team that started SF Beer Week, and has helped organize programing at Slow Food Nation, Eat Real Festival and Outside Lands Music Festival. He has a diploma from the UC Davis Master Brewers Program and is a diploma member of the London based Institute for Brewing and Distilling.
Curtis Davenport has a background in organic farming and for the past several years has helped develop supplies of unique, high quality California grown grains for brewers and artisan bakers. Curtis has grown malting barley and wheat and in 2013 designed and operated a trial malting system to produce malt for breweries in Southern California. Curtis has completed malting courses at the Canadian Malt Barley Technical Center and North Dakota State University. As the Head Maltster of Admiral Maltings, Curtis will oversee the day-to- day malting operations.
For the past few years, our team has laid the groundwork to open a successful malting business. We have contracted with a handful of California farmers who have already produced two harvests of top quality barley. We have worked closely with the UC Davis barley breeding program to develop new varieties of malting barley with superior malting quality and desirable agronomic traits. Our malting equipment and facility have been completely designed and engineered, and our building permit has been issued. Most of the capital we need to open has been raised, and we have been approved for an SBA loan. In order for the loan to fund and construction to begin, we need to raise an additional $60,000.
We plan to complete construction on the malting facility by the end of April. The pub will open during the summer of 2017 after many breweries have made beer with Admiral malt.
We hope you will join us in our effort to bring malting back to California, and are very grateful for your generous support!