Formerly a microbiologist at Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and Aventis, East Coast Yeast’s Al Buck got into beer the same way many homebrewers do: with a kit.
Set foot inside Riverbend Malt House in Asheville, N.C., and it’s clear that the maltster has a similar role to the brewer’s. While employees who work at large malt houses may see grain move at the push of a button, at Riverbend much is still human-powered.
