Edition 63: Friends of Warminster maltings

by The Maltstar | Mar 1, 2026 | Malt-stars News

Raising a Glass at MaltingsFest 2026

We’re proud to once again sponsor MaltingsFest, a celebration of independent brewing.

Held in Newton Abbot, MaltingsFest brings together outstanding breweries (many of whom are customers of Warminster Maltings) and passionate beer lovers.

As the UK’s oldest working maltings, we know that incredible beer begins before the mash tun so this celebration of the craftsmanship that defines great British beer also gives us the chance to highlight the importance of the ingredients

The event, organised by SIBA, is held over 3 days giving plenty of opportunity to try the beers you know and love, and maybe find some new favourites too.

www.maltingsfest.co.uk

Will Business Rate Reductions Boost Pub Footfall?

In our January newsletter we mentioned that we were expecting to hear about a reprieve for pubs on business rates.

We now know what that will look like and apparently the measure will cut the bill of an average pub by more than £12,500 over 3 years.

Of course, any financial relief is a positive step, but the consensus seems to be that it’s not enough. With other costs (wages, energy, supplier costs…) rising all around, a key question remains: will we see increased footfall in our pubs?

We certainly hope so. For suppliers like us, a thriving pub sector is vital, but we also recognise the pub for the heart of the community that it is to so many.
Do you remember the advert from Charlie’s Bar that went viral a couple of years ago? It really highlighted the importance of our local pubs and bars as social hubs and places of connection.

We cannot lose them.

Celebrating 25 Years of Leadership

You may have seen on our social media pages recently that the 13th of February marked a momentous milestone for Warminster Maltings owner Robin Appel — 25 years at the helm!

Robin undertook an extensive programme of repairs and restoration which took 23 years to complete, all the while carefully balancing tradition with innovation.

From a run-down, barely surviving business to a fully restored and thriving company, it’s been a labour of love and an incredible transformation.

The final stage, and biggest of all the works, was the reinstatement of the pyramid style kiln roofs. The original roofs were destroyed in a fire in 1924 and the restoration project was finished 100 years later, in 2024.

Congratulations to Robin on 25 remarkable years!

Flavour Starts in the Field

Our friends at Retribution Distilling Co. recently explored an interesting question on their blog: can you taste the difference between barley varieties in new make spirit?

The short answer? Yes.

We encourage you to read the full blog on the Retribution Distilling website.

Can you really taste different barley varieties in new make spirit

The Malt Miller ran a similar experiment back in November last year, comparing malts in a classic British pale ale.

Does Floor-Malted Maris Otter Taste Better? Blind Taste Test

Both of these reinforce something we’ve long believed and talked about before: terroir is real and the process and raw material matters.

As distillers and brewers explore provenance and terroir, barley is being recognised as contributing to flavour, especially heritage varieties like Maris Otter and Plumage Archer.

The Malt Men Reach the Final!

Warminster Town faced off against Pewsey Vale last week to emerge victorious and are now headed to the Wiltshire Seniors FA Cup Final on April 14^th at Chippenham Town, where they will go up against Devizes Town FC (formerly known as the Brewers).

As proud sponsors of Warminster Town, we wish them lots of luck in the final.

Up the town!

Robin Appel & Lisa Conduit

Edition 62: Friends of Warminster maltings

by The Maltstar | Jan 6, 2026 | Malt-stars News

A Very Happy New Year!

There are two words you should not use when making New Year Resolutions, “Never” and “Always”. In these very uncertain times, it is probably safer not to make any resolutions at all. Instead, at Warminster Maltings we are making three wishes:

1. A Reprieve for Pubs

On BBC Radio 4, between Christmas and New Year, political commentators were interviewed about our governments continued resort to U-turns on policy. Just before Christmas, farmers learned of yet another – a partial U-turn on Inheritance Tax. The presenter then asked, “Are we now going to see a reprieve for pubs on business rates?” The immediate response was “Absolutely!”

We really do hope so.

2: Wider Recognition of the Value of Craft Beer

Dr Chris Whitty, the Covid Csar, has recently broadcast advice “in the event of a blackout”. This advice includes adding bleach to dirty water, which sounds considerably less attractive than another tip, which was to drink low or zero alcohol beer. But why did he choose beer? We like to fall back on the age old saying “Liquid Bread”.

If food becomes seriously scarce, or you want to eat less, try a glass of beer.

3: Add ‘Terroir’ to Ales

The French started this, with their wines. Now the whisky industry is all over it, pronouncing the importance of the soil, climate, water and process. Why don’t Craft Brewers do the same? It is one way of completely outdistancing the ambiguous global brands.

Bring back Devonshire Ales!

The Malt-Men Cometh… to Sturminster Newton!

Boxing Day saw Warminster Town head off to face Sturminster Newton United in an away game and as proud long-time sponsors of the club, we loved seeing the poster promoting the trip to supporters, especially the use of the Malt-Men moniker!

With seven first-team players unavailable and the opposition taking an early 4–0 lead, it was always going to be a tough game. The Malt-Men still created some good chances for themselves, but it unfortunately wasn’t their day on this occasion.

Partner with us

For the past two years, we have donated the money raised from our Teas in the Garden events and Heritage Open Days to a local charity.

We want to do the same again this year but are now looking to partner with a different charity. Supporting our local community is very important to us, and we believe it’s only right that a range of charitable organisations benefit from the generosity of our guests to the Maltings.

So, if you live in, or near Warminster, would you like to recommend a local charity we could partner?

Please email lisa.conduit@warminster-malt.co.uk with any information. We’d love to hear from you.

Robin Appel & Lisa Conduit

Edition 61: Friends of Warminster maltings

by The Maltstar | Oct 31, 2025 | Malt-stars News

We Need to Save our Pubs!

Our pubs are in trouble. We have been hearing this for a long time, but now they really are in trouble. They need your support.

When the hike in NIC’s, and the increase to the Minimum Wage, collides with a cut back in spending by the Great British Public, landlords find it very difficult to make the numbers add up anymore. That is what happened in September. Pubs are now closing at the rate of one every day, and the prospects look dire if nothing changes before very long.

Ahead of Rachel Reeves Autumn Budget on 26th November, there is much lobbying of Government going on by those trying to persuade them to act to save the British Pub.

The Government has set up a Licensing Task Force to investigate the matter, and under the chairmanship of Nick Mackenzie, CEO of brewers Greene King, the Task Force have made four principal recommendations:

An extension to Opening Times and easing of procedure.
An extension, if not a reform of Business Rates Relief for pubs.
Employment incentives to offset the National Living Wage costs.
A review of Excise Duty for cask ale.

The chair of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls is calling for:

The lowering of Business Rates for pubs, bars and restaurants.
A review of NIC’s for hospitality.
A cut in the VAT paid by pubs.

Pre-eminent beer writer, Roger Protz, has written an Open Letter to Rachel Reeves, pleading for her intervention to save the pub and British Beer.

In a recent survey of Great British Icons ‘the pub’ and ‘British Beer’ were both right up there alongside the Royal Family.

The CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping, Steve Alton, is at pains to point out that pubs are “places of connection, careers and community. They bring people together in ways few other spaces can”.

If you are so inclined, please make a trip to the pub.

Long Live the Pub!

WINNER, WINNER

Very often (and deservedly so!) our brewery customers pick up awards and commendations for their beers.

We don’t make too much fuss as it would be a simply enormous list to include each newsletter, but we are always delighted for them, and proud too.

That being said, we must acknowledge that one of our customers’ beers has recently been the recipient of the title:

‘Worlds Best Bitter’

by the World Beer Awards.

Huge congratulations to the team at Triple FFF.

What an achievement!

And we’ll take a tiny bit of credit for supplying the malt.

Tea and Cake, and Charity

Our ‘Teas in the Garden’ events this year were, as always, a wonderful opportunity to show off The Maltings but also an opportunity to raise valuable funds for a local charity.

We have chosen, for the second year running, to support the recently rebranded Beyond Dementia (formally Alzheimer’s Support) who provide such excellent support to those living with dementia.

Unfortunately, due to the great British weather, the last event in September was a bit of a wash-out but we also held a couple of tours of The Maltings where donations were welcome, and we are delighted to have raised a grand total of £929.

Thank you to everyone who came along for their generosity, and support.

We hope to see even more of you at ‘Teas in the Garden’ next year.