Malted barley is often referred to as the soul of beer. It provides the bready, toasty, sweet, and nutty flavor components and supplies the fermentable sugars that are converted to alcohol.
Barley is a cereal grain that can be grown in locations with temperate climates. Before it can be used for brewing barley must go through a process called malting, in which the individual grains are germinated to release their fermentable sugars. Maltsters then heat the grain in a kiln according to different recipes to create different types of malted barley such as Pilsner, Vienna, and Caramel Malt.
Much of the brewing industry sources their barley from large industrial farming and malting operations that are usually many hundreds or thousands of miles removed from the brewery.
Motorcity Malt House supports small local farmers by sourcing all of our grain from Michigan. We then malt our grain right here in Shelby Township so we can provide Michigan Brewers with a truly local product.