Edition 54: Friends of Warminster Maltings

by The Maltstar | Sep 2, 2024 | Malt-stars News

What Goes Round…

Earlier this summer, the announcement by Marston’s, the brewers, that after 190 years, they are to cease brewing (in order to concentrate on their pub business), drew howls of protest from the likes of CAMRA. I, for one, am not sure I understand why!

Back in the day, Marston’s Pedigree beer was a superb pint, as were the beers from Bank’s Brewery in Wolverhampton, and Jennings Brewery in Cumbria, both of which eventually ended up under the Marston’s umbrella of ownership.

But that amalgamation was the point at which brewing “moved on” from the dedicated and passionate vocation it had been forever, to a more economic model. Brewing “up to a standard” appeared to give way to brewing “down to a price”, in the belief that to most people the cost of a pint meant more than the taste of a pint.

That this has then led to Marston’s eventual exodus from brewing is surely something their directors perhaps ought to be deeply embarrassed about?

Warminster Maltings - Traditional English Floor Malt

But what an opportunity for our Craft Brewing sector! A chance for them to give us back the likes of “Pedigree” and ‘Banks’s Mild”. Straight forward beers with real body, the archetypical “liquid bread”! And beers with a name that fits the contents of the glass and invites indulgence. All the statistics tell us that these are the beers that make up the overwhelming majority of our consumption. How extraordinary that the ‘big boys’ are moving out. It would be even more extraordinary if Craft Brewers did not move in!

Harvest Review

At the time of writing, we are still assessing the overall results. The Winter Barley harvest was early, in July, but the bulk of the crop, the Spring Barley harvest, has been late, mid-August onwards. The latter was due to the late planting of the Spring crop, at the end of April, which normally bodes badly for both quality and yield. But not so in 2024!

Starting with Winter Barleys, the first samples were a little bit thin, but quickly improved as the bulk of the crop manifested itself. The variety Craft (we do not malt that at Warminster) produced some very low grain nitrogen’s, less than 1.40%, unsuitable for brewing. Maris Otter, on the other hand, has delivered exactly what we want, nitrogens ranging between 1.40 – 1.60%.

The Spring Barleys across the south of England have, for the most part, proved to be the cereal crop of the year. Respectable yields of plump barley grains, textbook nitrogen content (1.40 – 1.65%) all harvested in very warm and dry conditions, so the grain is safe. Further up country, the harvest continues.

So, as far as Warminster Maltings is concerned, our malting barley “reservoir” is all good for another year, and at prices in line with 2023.

Teas in the Garden

We’ve had great success with our first two ‘Teas in the Garden’ events this year and have a third event still to go on Wednesday 11th September (fingers crossed for good weather!).

For years, these events have been about welcoming our friends and neighbours to enjoy the beauty of the maltings buildings and garden. This year, we’re also raising funds for a local charity, and we’ve chosen Alzheimer’s Support, specifically the Warminster Day Club at The Old Silk Works, just around the corner from us.

So far, we’ve raised an amazing £685! We’re hoping our final ‘Tea in the Garden’ of the summer will help us add even more to the total.

Heritage Tours

Heritage Open Days are run across England every September, and we have always gladly taken part in this event, to celebrate our history. Therefore, we were terribly disappointed to have to pull out this year due to circumstances beyond our control.

Though now not officially part of Heritage Open Days, due to the timing, we have decided to run 2x tours on Friday 11th October, one at 11am and one at 2pm. Fortunately, a good number of people booked on the original tours have been able to reschedule but there are still a few places remaining.

If you would be interested in seeing inside our beautiful Listed Grade II building, dating from mid-19th century, and learning about the traditional floor malting process, you can book through Warminster Town Council on 01985 214847 or admin@warminster-tc.gov.uk

Finished at Last!

It has taken 23 years, and our restoration of the Maltings is finished. We are planning to celebrate this next summer.

Robin Appel
& Lisa Conduit

Edition 53: Friends of Warminster Maltings

by The Maltstar | Jul 1, 2024 | Malt-stars News

English Whisky Update

Two reports landed in our Inbox at the beginning of June, one of which is the first report from the newly formed English Whisky Guild. Both paint a very optimistic picture of the future demand for Single Malt Whisky. In 2023, Scotch Whisky exports exceeded £6bn for the first time! Worldwide, exceptional demand is driven by China, the U.S., and what is termed as Travel Retail. For the U.K. India could also represent enormous pulling power if an impending Trade Agreement permits.

Brand strength, heritage, age, cask type/finish, scarcity, storyline, and experience all contribute to the value of Single Malts. Even so, New World Whiskies (NWW’s), of which English Whisky is a part, are attracting extraordinary levels of attention and value already. Apparently, White Peak distillery in Derbyshire (an occasional buyer of Warminster Malt), operating out of a former Wire Works, very recently sold its first numbered bottle for a record price of £9,000! Of course, the purchaser will probably never open it, but instead hopes to sell it at auction in 10 years time for a very handsome profit. You see, the market is not just about “drinkers and gifters”, it is also about “collectors and investors”.

Among the fields of barley

Not only that, at Warminster, we know that some of the English Whisky distilleries are bringing something new to the party. Along with the contributions to the flavour of the spirit that the local water makes, and then the barrel, or barrels (many are decanted into a second cask), these new distillers are also enthusing about the complex flavour contributions made by heritage barleys. We are talking about our Maris Otter (1965), and even our Plumage Archer (1905). When collectors and investors get to hear about and appreciate this, early releases are surely bound to attract a whole new excitement and demand.

Along with this, our English Distillers are also providing credible storylines, the story of the provenance of their spirit. Where the barley is grown – just down the road from the distillery – and in the case of Warminster Malt customers, the traditional hand-made and very gentle and exact method of malt production. Those distilleries in Scotland who still operate a ‘floor maltings’ are all basking in the impact of that £16m price recently realised by Ardbeg Distillery for its Cask No.3, made in 1975, and made when they still operated their own ‘floor maltings’. ‘Floor made’ malt clearly makes an enormous difference, of which “scarcity” is only a part.

The Whisky market worldwide is predicted to grow by 20% per annum to 2027. It is unlikely that will apply to us at Warminster Maltings, because we just do not have the capacity to meet it. A nice problem to have, some would say, but potentially a problem all the same.

Visitors to the Maltings

It feels a bit like the good old pre-Covid days again, with group visits to the Maltings punctuating our Calendar, once more. At the end of May, we entertained a 16 person delegation from Taiwan, which was a whole new dimension for us, as 14 of them spoke no English. They were visiting the U.K. to explore the English Whisky industry, and one of our Distillery customers suggested they should visit the Maltings. How my description of the process translated, I have no idea, but they took lots of photographs of themselves against the backdrop of our germination floors, and our Mediaeval looking implements.

In Mid June, we then hosted 23 members of the Salisbury Young Farmers Club to an evening tour. As well as educational, this is all about investing in our future, because some of these are the people we hope will be growing barley for us in years to come.

XK Club drivers and their cars along the southern elevation

A week later, I invited a handful of fellow members of a classic car club, in which I am involved. We all drive Jaguar XK sports cars from the 1950’s, and I lined them up along our now very tidy southern elevation. Back in the day when these cars were “the daily driver” for those fortunate enough to be able to afford them, our Maltings was very much still operating in its very original state. To me the cars seemed to belong, and they made a great photograph.

Then the following day, we entertained a delegation from the wider European malting and brewing industry, who were visiting the U.K. for a pre-harvest study tour. We were their last port of call, before they rushed back to Heathrow Airport. As they departed, the tour leader gave me a present for my trouble – x2 standard size bars of Swiss chocolate. I accepted, of course, but I do not know whether that tells me how out of touch I am with modern protocol, or whether that was a vivid insight into the state of the German economy?

Our European visitors

My next group have a very special interest. They are trying to save their local pub.

Teas in the Garden

Weather permitting, we plan to open the garden again for teas on the second Wednesday of the months of July, August and September. So the first of these is Wednesday 10th July, 2.00 to 4.00pm. The regular team led by Pat Whitty, will be delighted to see anyone who would like to take advantage of this special treat. Pat’s scones and cakes have a reputation that precedes them, and the garden is looking very flush at the moment. The cost of our cream teas will be £8 per person.

Heritage Week

Another date for your diary: Friday 6th September, 11.00am and 2.00pm. As we do every year, we are supporting this annual event with Free Tours of the Maltings, but on this one day only, as we still have to continue our normal duties.

Nearly finished, awaiting the steps

It is probably worth pointing out that we have, at last, after 23 years, completed our Restoration Programme of the malt houses, the final project of which has been the reinstatement of the original kiln roofs 3 and 4, both of which were destroyed by fire in 1924. These have now been transformed into usable spaces, one of which will hopefully become our Maltings Museum. The tours will show off both the inside and the outside of what we have achieved.

Tours have to be booked in advance, at the Warminster Civic Centre, Telephone: (01985) 214847. Please come along.

Robin Appel
& Lisa Conduit

Edition 52: Friends of Warminster Maltings

by The Maltstar | May 8, 2024 | Malt-stars News

MaltingsFest 2024

18th – 20th April saw the return of the annual beer festival, MaltingsFest, which is held in Newton Abbott, Devon. It is now in its 29th year and has expanded its range over that time to include ciders and spirits as well as many, many fantastic beers from the South West’s best independent craft breweries – there is something for everyone!

As usual, Warminster Maltings was the main sponsor for this event and as usual, it was a resounding success.

In our last newsletter, we explained our advertising was designed to get across the message that the “Best of the West” beers come from the “Best of the West” barleys (and, not to brag, that we make the “Best of the West” malts!)

I think that point was hammered home by the fact that no less than 20 of our customers took home Gold, Silver or Bronze across the different categories in the beer competition which was held the first day of the festival.

Congratulations to all the winners; we’re already looking forward to next year!

The wonderful Electric Bear, receiving GOLD for their Keg Pale Ale

It Makes Me Hopping Mad!

Whenever I see an article in the media that suggests beer is all about the hops, I am afraid I always see red! So on March 26th when the headline on my BBC App. declared “Scientists help save the U.K. pint”, and the text goes on to inform me that work in Kent on “isolating hop genes in the hope of producing more climate-change resilient varieties”, my reaction is “fair enough”, but this is not about saving “the U.K. pint”!

The body of beer is the malt, the forever unsung backbone of the brewing industry! Without malt there would be no beer as we know it. Without hops, we would probably find another species of plant, or go back to just producing ale. If I was to compare Brewing to the preparation of food, the ‘ops are the ‘erbs! And whilst I quietly applaud the work the scientists are doing in Kent, they are categorically not saving the good old British pint! I just wish Brewers would join us in the malting industry in trying to get this message across to journalists.

Of course, climate change concerns us in the barley trade too, as much as it concerns hop merchants and brewers. But barley production has a relatively simple solution – it migrates west. There is no question that the Eastern Counties, once regarded as the most important area for the production of premium quality malting barley, is getting drier.

On the other hand, barley production further west, was always regarded as risky due to the higher rainfall levels. Not any more. At least, apart from the last 6 months, that is the trend.

The problem is, malt production is concentrated all along the eastern seaboard of Britain, from Witham in Essex, all the way up to the Moray Firth in Scotland. At the moment there is no likelihood of Maltsters following the barley crop west, they will just have to resort to dragging it back east, to their existing facilities. Currently, investment in new Malting capacity, estimated at another 300,000 tonnes, is all north of the border, and specifically for the distilling industry.

So it is left to us in Warminster, all on our own, to guarantee malt with low food miles for West Country Brewers. But not only that, barley grown more sustainably, with less agrochemicals – our farmer suppliers are working really hard at this – and probably now the finest quality malting barley of anywhere in the U.K. All without the intervention of scientists!

Saving the Planet

I read and hear brewers who say there is not a lot they can do to reduce their carbon emissions. Very few can go out and buy a chunk of Scotland and plant a forest, and I am reliably informed that most of the younger generation are not into horse drawn drays. So instead they need to turn to their suppliers for help.

In particular, some see farmers and farming as an area where significant differences might be achieved. They are talking about more nature friendly methods of growing barley, and therefore their malt, which might provide sufficient credentials to reduce the carbon impact of their beers.

Well, if you are talking about barley grown under an ‘Organic’, or even ‘Wildfarmed’ regime, both of which exclude artificial fertilisers and agrochemicals, then that malt carries a badge of honour which should earn some respect.

But before we get too carried away about this, please note that malting barley production is not an intensive form of agriculture in the first place. We will start with fertiliser. Malting barley needs to be low protein, so heavy applications of Ammonium Nitrate fertiliser are completely out of the question. Instead, many growers will measure the ‘free’ nitrogen in the soil in February. This is naturally occurring nitrogen derived from the breakdown of former crop residues, which can be analysed from soil samples drawn across a field. Then, it is possible to calculate and compare the crop’s requirement with this nitrogen residue, and any need to top this up with fertiliser. Quite often the addition of fertiliser is unnecessary.

Then we should consider agrochemicals. Beginning with herbicides: in the Spring we are really only talking about two groups of weeds, dicotyledons (chickweed, cleavers), and polygonum’s (knotgrass, bindweed), which are easily put down with fairly benign, low cost hormone weed killers. Then foliar diseases need to be monitored, the two most common are mildew and brown rust. With little or no nitrogen fertilisers, mildew is unlikely to be a problem, and brown rust really requires prolonged seriously hot weather in June in order to flare up. As for pesticides (insecticides) there is no requirement for them at all.

The point that I am making is, malting barley produced conventionally, is a very low input crop!

If farmers employed a mixed farming policy – both crops and livestock – and only grew barley, it could well be very unfair to accuse them of destroying the planet. And neither are brewers, particularly if they confine themselves to U.K. grown hops. It’s a bit like EV cars, in our bid to be quickly seen to be doing something, we can easily turn ourselves into “busy fools”!

Accomplished Maltster

Please join us in congratulating Leam Moulder on gaining his General Certificate in Malting.

This is a qualification which is very much slanted towards the modern technology of malting, and the exam paper is certainly not written for ‘floor maltsters’ like us. So a special achievement for Leam, which further underwrites Warminster Maltings’ unique position in the U.K. malt market.

Robin Appel
& Lisa Conduit