regional maltsters? I'd like to go local in Texas.

[Dave Lewis]

I'm back into brewing, and I'm about to be back in Texas (probably Austin) after a three year banishment to the Northeast. I have a little fantasy about doing an entirely local brew. Someday I'd like to be able to grow my own hops, buy malt that was produced close to home, maybe even farm my own yeast. Kind of a low mileage brown ale, or some other kind of ale, depending on what kind of supplies are available that are grown where I am.

So the question is, does anyone make malt anywhere in Texas, or at least somewhere close? Does anyone make malt anywhere besides the northern Midwest?

 

[jdoiv]

I don't have a definitive answer, but I would guess no. Barley for malting is usually grown in more northern climes (milder temps and longer days in the summer) and I would guess that the maltsters keep their plants close to where the barley is grown.
Just a guess, I could be completely wrong though.

 

[Dr Malt]

Main malting locations include Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Washington, North Dakota and various locations in Canada. I am not aware of any in Texas and like jdoiv said, malting barley is grown in these northern states and Canada because it can mature in a short season area.

FYI, hops are grown and processed in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The reason for this is these areas have low levels of plant diseases that affect hops.

Dr Malt

 

[Dave Lewis]

Perfect. As soon as I move to Idaho, I'll be set for malt and hops...

 

[SenorWanderer]

sounds like it might be time to malt your own! if you're ambitious it can certainly be done, if for no other reason then to give it a try. if this is an environmental thing than you could buy some carbon offsets for the shipping on the barley and the energy use. then at least you'd have a carbon neutral beer. carbon neutral brewing is something i've been thinking about a lot lately. in general it'd be an awful lot of work, mostly in figuring out how much carbon you actually use in brewing in the first place. i'm curious to know where you go with this.