Blue Ox Malthouse Wins Best Of Show and Double Gold at 2025 Malt Cup Awards

Image courtesy Gabe Toth

LISBON FALLS, ME– On the heels of an expansion that established Blue Ox Malthouse as the world’s largest floor maltster outside of Europe, this Maine malthouse was just awarded two gold medals and Best of Show at the 2025 Malt Cup Awards. 

Malt Cup, the seven-year-old international malt quality competition hosted by the Craft Maltsters Guild in collaboration with the Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab, is the only competition of its kind. Entries undergo three vigorous, points-based rounds of blind judging in specific malt style categories. In 2025, 34 malthouses from seven countries submitted 112 malt samples to the Malt Cup– the most entries ever for the competition.

The judges awarded Blue Ox with gold medals in the Light Munich and Caramel Malt categories for the floor malted Light Munich and Caramel 60 malts, respectively. Light Munich, which won bronze at this competition in 2023, is a character building malt for many beer styles that yields notes of lightly toasted bread crust rounded by a deep biscuity sweetness. Caramel 60 is Blue Ox’s darkest kilned malt, with notes of molasses, tobacco, and raisins. 

Among the gold medalists, the Light Munich malt went on to win the Best In Show title for 2025 after the points scored in judging rounds superseded all other gold medalists. The team returned home to Maine with the traveling Malt Cup that’s prominently displayed at the malthouse  alongside their now six total Malt Cup awards. Blue Ox has won two Malt Cup awards each year for the past three years, also scoring medals for their floor malted Caramel 20, Pale Malt, and Yankee Pilsner.

“This recognition is validation that we can craft world-class ingredients with Maine-grown grains, which elevate our customers’ products, our farmers’ hard work, and our community at large,” says Joel Alex, Founder and CEO of Blue Ox Malthouse. “I am especially proud of the team at Blue Ox who kept our quality consistent amid a complex expansion. We look forward to competing again next year with new, innovative products!”

The Blue Ox team honors their partners at Porter Farms, Aurora Mills, & Farms, and other regional farmers for providing the foundation of their high quality products, and their hard working team whose commitment to consistent excellence makes these accolades possible.  

Purchase Blue Ox’s award winning floor malted products by contacting orders@blueoxmalthouse.com. 

Media inquiring about Blue Ox Malthouse can contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com. 

ABOUT BLUE OX MALTHOUSE 

Launched in 2013 by homebrewer and community organizer-turned-maltster Joel Alex, Blue Ox Malthouse is Maine's first malting operation. Blue Ox Malthouse seeks to push the possibilities of craft beer and spirits, and support Maine agriculture by connecting these two groups through world class quality Maine-made malt. Reinvigorating a centuries-old floor malting tradition, Blue Ox is committed to growing the connection between brewers and farmers while striving to grow more sustainable food systems and serve as a model for sustainable and rural economic development. Learn more at blueoxmalthouse.com. 

Charlie Papazian To Keynote MaltCon2025, World’s Leading Malt industry Gathering, in Denver Next Month

DENVER, CO— Registration is open for MaltCon2025, the largest international gathering of malt professionals that will take place on February 27 - March 1, 2025 in Denver, Colorado at the Springhill Suites Conference Center and Metro State. This year’s keynote is the voice of the American homebrew movement, Charlie Papazian. 

The Craft Maltsters Guild is pleased to host Papazian, among many other industry experts, to address the farmers, maltsters, brewers, distillers, university and laboratory researchers, and other malting professionals who will attend this conference. Papazian is the founder of the American Homebrewers Association (1978) and past president of the Brewers Association (USA). He’s written five bestselling books, including the iconic Complete Joy of Homebrewing with more than 1.3 million copies sold worldwide. 

Papazian is joined by more than 20 other MaltCon2025 speakers, including Hannah Uhlmann of Montana State University, Bruce French of BJF Malt Consulting Inc., and Matt Gacioch of the Brewers Association. This year’s conference will include more interactive sensory education opportunities than previous conferences, in addition to programming about technical malting, business development, and marketing, among other topics. The full schedule and registration details are available at craftmalting.com.

MaltCon2025 will kick off with a welcome reception at Denver’s iconic Union Station and conclude with the annual Awards Ceremony to honor Malt Cup winners and the recipient of the Soles of Malt award. All of this programming is made possible by MaltCon2025 platinum sponsor Laizhou Yingtai Machinery Co., Ltd., as well as gold sponsors Buehler, Kasper Schultz, and Malters Advantage. 

“We are thrilled to offer our conference in The Centennial State, where the craft malt revolution is alive and well,” says Steve Kurowski, the Executive Director of the Craft Maltsters Guild. “There are 26 Craft Malt Certified™ breweries and distilleries in Colorado, fueled by four of our member malthouses across the state.” 

The Craft Maltsters Guild’s Advanced Class in Malt Production will take place the four days leading up to the conference. This intensive class in malting technology aims to give startup and experienced maltsters, as well as others within the malt supply chain, both theoretical and practical knowledge of the malting process and technology. Find more information and register by January 30 at craftmalting.com. 

Entities interested in sponsoring the conference can contact Steve Kurowski at director@craftmalting.com. 

Media interested in participating in MaltCon2025 can contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com. 

ABOUT THE CRAFT MALTSTERS GUILD

Formed in 2013 by eight craft malthouses, the Craft Maltsters Guild’s mission is to promote and sustain the tradition of craft malting in North America, provide services and resources to the Association’s members, and uphold the highest quality and safety standards for Craft Maltsters. Learn more about the Craft Maltsters Guild at www.craftmalting.com.