October 2026: Craft Malt Month Recap, GABF, Admiral Maltings & More
Oh what a time to be alive, and working in the craft malt industry.
This craft malt ‘state of the industry’ report by RadCraft Founder Emily Hutto was recorded In October 2026. Tune in, or scroll down to read a transcript of the audio.
Mentions:
Transcript: On the heels of the third annual Craft Malt Month and the 2026 Great American Beer Festival awards that for the first time in 44 years had a Craft Malt Beer category, craft malt has been getting mainstream media attention. So have craft maltsters who are collaborating on creative, resourceful partnerships with each other and with brewers / distillers to enrich their businesses. There’s palpable momentum in our community right now.
At the very same time there’s great loss with the recent closure of industry darling Admiral Maltings and their adjoined, malt-centric taproom The Rake. And, it’s no secret that we’re experiencing a period of general decline in craft beer and spirits.
Such is the paradox of life, and of business, that all of this – and so much more— happens simultaneously.
I’m here today to recap some of my recent work as a sort of ‘state of the industry’ report. Thanks for tuning in.
I’ll start with Craft Malt Month 2026.
In September, more than 13 craft malt celebrations and educational events took place across the continent, and even more stories were told about our community online. We tracked these mentions and determined their overall reach to be about 3 million online users. Check out CraftMaltMonth.com to read some of those headlines.
Recognition is due here for my friend Steve Kurowski, who spearheaded the shift from Craft Malt Week to Craft Malt Month three years ago. Taking the entire month to celebrate bolsters our community- building capacity for more activations, more collaborations, and more marketing opportunities for all of us.
More credit where it’s due: Bear Branch Malt has been the marketing MVP of Craft Malt Month for two years running, with 10+ events celebrating craft malt all over Maryland, 35 beers made with their malt flowing on taps across Maryland, and media mentions far and wide. This year they were on Fox45 news, our friends over at DC Beer wrote about them and craft malt all month, and the Brewers Association of Maryland published Maryland Malt 101: The Grain Behind Your Beer featuring Brad Humbert of Bear Branch. His colleague and also his mom Susan Hebble has my gratitude for sharing her experience leveraging Craft Malt Month as part of her sales and marketing strategy and being SO engaged with the Craft Maltsters Guild marketing committee along the way.
I’ll be transparent here and say that the closure announcement from Admiral Maltings was deflating at the end of September. Ron, Curtis, Dave, and all of their people are such great people making such great malt, and to quote my friend Jon Simpson’s article in All About Beer, this stings.
On a more positive note it was SO good to see Admiral’s strong turnout at the Great American Beer Festival. Bittersweet of course, but well deserved recognition as a sort of industry ushering of their graceful exit.
Admiral was one of the maltsters named in the Craft Malt Beer category at GABF, a special category just for 2026 that had 132 entries. Bronze went to Admiral Chiperton Sausageton III by Hop Dogma Brewing Co. Silver in the Craft Malt Beer category went to Two Track ESB by Free State Brewing Co. with Two Track Malting. Gold went to Jacob Mack Mild Ale by Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino with Root Shoot Malting and Troubadour Maltings.
It’s been so fantastic and refreshing to see trade level recognition of the work of craft maltsters, and award winning beers— of which there were at least twenty— made with malt from craft maltsters sourcing thoughtfully farmed grain from super cool farmers.
Some of those gold medal winners include:
The Belgian-Style Witbier winner Allagash White was made with malt from Blue Ox Malthouse and Maine Malt.
The Brett Beer category winner Wishful Thinking Brewing Company’s On Any Given Day was made with PA grain and malted at Double Eagle Malting.
And, the Classic Gluten-Free Ale or Lager category winner was The Well In Wellington Altbier. The Well is the sister brewery to Grouse Malt House.
2027 Malt Cup Competition
I’m very excited to work with one of the industry leaders and legends Hannah Uhlmann on the 2027 competition, the only malt competition in the world.
Registration for the 2027 Malt Cup opens November 20, 2026 and runs through December 20, 2026. Once registered, maltsters can submit their samples through January 4, 2027. New in 2027 is the Malt Cup Preview Window. For the first two weeks of the entry period, competitors can receive their COA results back and use this as a guide to determine what entries they submit for the competition.
So here’s my PSA: Submitting your malt to Malt Cup is an unparalleled opportunity for valuable feedback on the quality and freshness of your products— affordably and in community with peers along the grain supply chain.
Moving on to PROPS
It is such a dynamic time for the craft malt industry. I’ll close with some quick wins, some PROPS or snaps if you will, for these folks making waves….. of grain.
Here’s to Murphy & Rude Malting, for their resilience and creativity throughout for them what has been a tumultuous year. They just brought their roasting prowess and equipment, and all of their beloved malt style recipes to the Carolina Malt House operation. This is a compelling merger of two brands to me, operating as strategic partners out of the same facility is so resourceful.
Here’s to Rustic Brew Farm for their Founders Cask program. With Rustic Farm Distillery’s barrel program, farmers of corn, rye, and wheat can turn their crops into a custom barrel that Rustic distills, ages, and bottles with custom artwork. Rustic’s Barrel Partners have a rare opportunity to own a full barrel of our 100% estate single malt whiskey. RadCraft is one of these proud partners. Our 15th anniversary whiskey was grown, malted, mashed, fermented, and distilled at Rustic Brew Farm where it’s aging now. We turn 14 this December, so it’s got some time to rest on the farm in Ohio before it’s ready in 2027.
Here’s to Riverbend Malt House, for their pallet coffee program. Some malting companies add a nut roll onto your full pallet order, Riverbend adds a bag of locally roasted beans from Coffee Library. This year, the malt house hand selected the beans in collaboration with West Asheville’s Cellarest Beer Project, who brewed a blonde coffee lager with the resulting coffee blend. This beer, named Bimble (look up the definition if you don't know it’s a great little word), was of course made with Riverbend malt.
And last but not least— props to Rabbit Hill Malthouse for making temporary MALT tattoos this year. I was beyond excited that they asked for our help designing those.
…………
Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Thank you so much for listening till the end.
I’d like to dig into the 2026 harvest for an upcoming state of the industry report like this one. If you want to share about your harvest this year, or maybe weather conditions, or your malt specs, or anything about your experience with 2026 crops— I’d love to hear your story. Please reach out. Here’s wishing you all an abundant autumn. Cheers!