First Philadelphia area Malthouse since Prohibition

I'm all for buying local, but is there any reason to believe this malt will make better beer than other commercial malts, particularly since it is almost certainly much more expensive than mass-produced malt?

 

I think it's awesome! But the question of will it make better malt really goes to the choice of seed, the soil, and growing conditions. I'm sure the malting will be top-notch, but if the grain isn't quality to begin with it won't matter - you can clean and polish a 1978 Ford Pinto but it will never look even half as good as a busted up Mustang!

 

YES!!! @NeroFiddled !!! I was always drawn to your reviews and appreciated your comments. I'm glad you are still offering your insight.

As far as the malting, it'll be cool if they offer malts for homebrewers and for a reasonable cost.

- Joe

 

Are you comparing the price to just any commercial malt, or strictly to imported* floor-malted malts? The brewers who today continue to purchase and use floor-malted malt for certain beers seem to think it is superior to industrially-produced malt.

Washington Post's Greg Kitsock has a good explanation, in article about Brooklyn's use of floor-malted malt in Brooklyn’s The Companion will floor you:

I recall seeing a video of Oliver raking malt at a malthouse for one of his beers (I thought it was at a UK malthouse so would not for the beer noted above) but didn't find it after a quick Google.

* I know there are still maltsters in the UK, Germany and Czech Republic (maybe elsewhere?) still floor-malting - the last US malthouse doing floor malting that I know of was Genesee's in 1930s (I think it closed in the 1970-80s, but don't know how long floor-malting lasted there). As noted in the Post article, Rogue is now also floor-malting but obviously for in-house use only.

That's certainly not what the records show - just as an example, in 1918, of the 33 breweries in Philadelphia at the time, only two - Poth and Continental - were doing their own malting. And that was down from 4 brewery malthouses in Phila. in the 1890s.

Coincidentally, pre-Prohibition Philadelphia was home to the Francis Perot's Sons Malting Company which advertised itself as being "Est. 1867 - The oldest business house in America" - so the malting industry had a long history in the US. By the turn of the last century, though still headquartered in Phila., their malthouse itself was located in Buffalo, then pretty much the center of the malting industry in the eastern US.

 

As usual, great background, Jess. Looks like I overstated the amount of malting being done at breweries. Can you share your source on those brewhouse malthouses circa 1918?

I wrote about Perot's Vine Street facility here. I think you transposed the numbers in that date - should be Est. 1687.

 

Also, one other correction to my column: I should've reported that the base malt (not all of the malt) in Free Will's Milk Stout is from the new malthouse. Deer Creek does not yet have the capability of dark-roasting its malt.

 

Yeah, easy to do - especially as one gets older. Gotta admit I missed it the first time around reading your article, because I (also?) tend to think "mid-1800s", not 1915 when I read "one hundred years ago".

(Just heard about the 150th anniversary of some Civil War event and thought to myself, "150! How can that be? I remember the centennial of that happening when I was a kid. [quick mathematical calculation including my current age] Oh, yeah, that's how...")

Ha, ha... sure did. (I hate when that happens, especially when "correcting" someone else ).

Above illustration, and info on brewery-owned malthouses from 1918 ed. of The Western Brewer's - Brewers Hand-Book.

Not sure when Perot moved their malting out of Philla. - I always think of them as a Philadelphia establishment.

The other interesting thing I noted about Philadelphia brewers who were also malting is that the 1896 Brewers Guide (American Brewers Review) listed brewery maltsters as Baltz, Betz, Bergdoll, International (never heard of them) and Robert Smith - so, Poth and Continental aren't listed as malting a decade earlier.

 

Any old malt. Less diastatic power does not necessarily mean better. There are many ways to convert fewer of the carbohydrates in malted barley (or wheat) to simple, fermentable sugars. So I'm not sure that lower diastatic power is, in itself, a reason to say that floor-malted barley is superior to what is produced by industrial malthouses. It may provide some advantages in the brewing process to be able to create a less fermentable wort without having to mash at a higher temperature or adjust pH upwards, but whether that is "better" is highly specific to the type of beer you are making. On the other hand, it might also require additional steps, such as step-mashing or decoction that other malts don't, and hence use more power and possibly more water in making beer.

Now, if you told me that floor malting operations are choosier about the grain that makes it onto their malting floors than large operations, I may be willing to cede the point that the grains are superior. But I don't think it's fair to conclude that a large malthouse is automatically using grains of lower quality than a malthouse that exclusively makes floor-malted barley by hand.

 

Thx, Jess. Here's a good look at Buffalo malting facilities, which indicates the Perot move was made around 1907.

Now, if you told me that floor malting operations are choosier about the grain that makes it onto their malting floors than large operations, I may be willing to cede the point that the grains are superior.

Yes, that's ultimately the goal for these new "craft" malthouses. They intend to work directly with farmers to produce grain that they feel will result in better malt. Deer Creek is spending a lot of time on this aspect of its business, as are other small maltsters.

Also, not to be lost in this development: How local malting fits into sustainable food production. While it may not necessarily be measured directly in terms of improved quality, it can have a dramatic environmental/economic impact. Beer drinkers will have to decide if that's something that matters to them.

 

Nice website. Yeah, the history of the malting industry is pretty ignored in brewery historical circles. I know Schaefer owned one of the Buffalo area malthouses for a time - I think Stroh sold it off a few years after they bought Schaefer.

Interesting that apparently Fred Koch owned a malthouse that Genesee got when they bought Koch in 1984. Koch owning a malthouse makes some sense since they were in Dunkirk, just a hour south along Lake Erie - but they were so small (under 100k bbl), you've got to figure that it wouldn't pay unless they also sold the malt on the open market.

Dug through my files a bit and it appears that Genesee's malthouse on Sodus Point (below) on Lake Ontario, which they bought in the mid-30s, abandoned floor-malting in 1940 - which increased production from 160,000 bushels to "over 1 million" by the late 1960s.

 

@joe6pack, do you know the specific barley variety names that are being malted at Deer Creek?

There has been some discussion about floor malting vs. industrial malting.

While I have only recently received the book “Malting – A Practical Guide from Field to Brewhouse” by John Mallet I would recommend this book to others learning to learn more. On page 50 there is some discussion about the superiority of floor malted barley from a flavor perspective. There are 27 other references to floor malting in the Index so needless to say lots of discussion about floor malting in this book.

Best of luck to Deer Creek Malthouse, I hope this business is a success!

Cheers!

 

I don't know the specific barley types at Deer Creek, though they did tell me they're currently testing 78 varieties of both 2- and 6-row. They're also working with wheat, rye and sorghum.

And, agreed on Mallet's book, which I've only just started to read.

 

Hey guys, I'm one if the owners of Deer Creek Malthouse. Just wanted to chime in and say thanks for the support! I'm learning a lot about the history of malting in the Philadelphia region from you guys, and we are honored to be a part of its continuing evolution!

We are working hard to make the best malt we can using all locally grown grains. We are really excited to help local farmers become a part of the craft beer supply chain. Using some assumptions, I calculated that Pennsylvania Craft beers would consume the equivalent of about 50,000 acres of malting barley a year. We are creating an option for brewers to use locally grown grains, and even if it is very small - it's a start.

Josh

 

That's good to see. I emailed them trying to buy their malt. I think I said I'd pay a premium for it but $3.15/lb is up there. I'll have to see what the sack price is or I'll have to brew something pretty light weight.

 

I love everything about this thread.