Rogue to start own Malt Floor

From http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/rogue-building-its-own-malting-operation

Rogue Nation Breaks Ground on Floor Malting Facility

TYGH VALLEY, OR, June 28, 2010 – The Rogue Nation Department of Agriculture has broken ground on the Rogue Malt Floor located on the Rogue Micro Barley Farm in Oregon’s Tygh Valley Appellation.

The Malt Floor will be a Heritage-malting operation in which Rogue Farm barley will be soaked, floor-germinated, hand-raked on the malt floor, roasted in a brick hearth, and bagged in small batches. Rogue Brewmaster John Maier plans on developing 4-6 varieties of floor malt that will be used in the brewing and distilling of Rogue Ales, Porters, Stouts, Lagers, and Whiskies.

Floor malting began in the 19th century but was gradually replaced by automated equipment that helped reduce labor costs. With the establishment of the malt floor, Rogue joins a select handful of floor maltsters in Germany, England, and the Czech Republic that continue to carry on the heritage malting method.

The Malt Floor will be complete and operational in August — in time for the Rogue Farm barley harvest. Complimentary tours of the Malt Floor will be provided and will also include tours of Rogue rock, Rogue-henge, Rogue creek, and the Rogue fishing pond.

The Rogue Nation Department of Agriculture remains committed to saving the terroir of Oregon hops and barley, one acre at a time, by growing its own.

For more information on the Rogue Malt Floor, Farm tours, or Rogue’s Grow Your Own revolution, contact the Rogue Department of Agriculture at 503.241.3800.

Updates on the progress of the Malt Floor will be provided at www.rogue.com/meetinghalls.

Seems like an awesome tribute to heritage floor malting and totally makes sense that John Maier is doing this. I'm definitely gonna book a tour when I make it out to the left coast.

wscott823 said:

Seems like an awesome tribute to heritage floor malting and totally makes sense that John Maier is doing this. I'm definitely gonna book a tour when I make it out to the left coast.

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I've said all along: if more all-grain brewers malted their own barley,
there would be fewer problems with their brews.

Chris

Cipper said:

I've said all along: if more all-grain brewers malted their own barley,
there would be fewer problems with their brews.

Chris

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To be completely clear, it's actually the ONLY thing you've said so far!

Cipper said:

I've said all along: if more all-grain brewers malted their own barley,
there would be fewer problems with their brews.

Chris

Click to expand...

I would actually disagree with this to a point. I appreciate and enjoy small scale home-malting, however the QC systems in place amongst the major maltsters are far beyond what I could ever achieve personally.
Additionally if I get the space to ever malt at home, I'd probably modify my mashing to ensure complete conversion of the malt, i.e. decoction or step mashing.

It is terribly convenient to mill your malt, single infusion mash and know you'll get a decent end product without worrying, "did I modify the malt enough?"

very cool. i wonder if they will malt enough to be able to sell to other breweries. how nice it would be to have something more local and possibly more flavorful than the big malt houses.

wscott823 said:

I would actually disagree with this to a point. I appreciate and enjoy small scale home-malting, however the QC systems in place amongst the major maltsters are far beyond what I could ever achieve personally.
Additionally if I get the space to ever malt at home, I'd probably modify my mashing to ensure complete conversion of the malt, i.e. decoction or step mashing.

It is terribly convenient to mill your malt, single infusion mash and know you'll get a decent end product without worrying, "did I modify the malt enough?"

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Yeah, homebrewers dont come close to the quality of the malts we can easily buy in LHBS. And that is awesome Rogue is doing this, thanks for the heads up!