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Craft breweries need barley

malting barley

Malting barley research in the Eastern U.S. will help craft brewers source more local varieties from the region.

The Craft Malters Guild is working with ten universities including Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue to find regionally adapted spring barley varieties that could be used for brewing.

Executive Director Deb Kleinman says more malt houses are opening and they want to source from local farmers.   “We’re trying to test a fair number of malt barley varieties for how they do in terms of characteristics that a malt house and then subsequently a brewer would look for.”                     

Kleinman tells Brownfield malting barley is a critical part of the supply chain that has been a bit ignored until recently.

“We’re seeing new craft malt houses pop up all over the place.”  She says, “Michigan is a hot bed, but also in the Northeast, now in the Rocky Mountain Region, and it’s really exciting because it provides a link between small family-owned farms to malt houses being the value-added part of the food chain.”      

She says farmers will receive premium for malting barley. 

July is National Craft Beer Month.

AUDIO: Michigan Ag Industry Update (1:58 mp3):

 

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