Local maltsters

[CWood]

I've been experimenting with local malts lately and have been pretty darn impressed. I'm in nc and have read a thing or two about riverbend out of asheville. Just wrote a blurb on another thread about their heritage malts and a recent lager I made. It's like a dark vienna with plenty of bready/biscuit flavor/aroma (still fermenting) Excited to see how it comes out. I've also discovered a new source from Durham NC called epiphany malts. Just tapped a keg of a cali common using riverbend pale and epiphany crystal and biscuit malts. It might be my best common yet. Those biscuit malts are delicious. Also made an oktoberfest using their dark munich (almost more like an aromatic-type malt) and one they called oktoberfest malt (vienna like imo). Excited to try their other roasted and kilned malt. Anyone else tried epiphany, or other local artisan malsters with success?? Seems to be a new movement to get local grains to breweries and homebrewers. Great to have the diversity out there.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

There's a couple of maltsters in Mass but we have tons of nanobreweries that gobble up the product. I saw a program about a bunch of maltsters up in Maine. Maine was the wheat basket of the country before the expansion west. All those farms went to different product after that but there's been a resurgence to grow local again. Basically relearn because nothing was written down on how or what to grow. There's suppose to be a big festival in the Skowhegan area I think. Lectures on growing, brewing and baking.