Blue Ox Malthouse Adds Seven Roasted Floor Malts To Portfolio

LISBON FALLS, ME– Blue Ox Malthouse has seven new roasted malt products in stock.

Major expansion in 2024 established Blue Ox Malthouse as the world’s largest floor maltster outside of Europe. It also implemented new equipment and processes to enable the malthouse to offer specialty roasted malt products rarely available from craft maltsters. 

After rigorous research and development— which included experimentation with Blue Ox customers Maine Beer Co., Tributary Brewing, and Goodfire Brewing— Blue Ox is pleased to present seven new roasted malts: Chocolate Rye, Crystal 90, Crystal 120, Golden Triticale, Roasted Barley, Roasted Oats, and Roasted Wheat. Like all of Blue Ox’s offerings, these new malt styles are floor malted with premium grains sourced from family farms in the Northeast. Their specifications are as follows:

Chocolate Rye - Roasted pretzels and dark chocolate. Flavorful and black in color. 350 SRM. 

Crystal 90 - Deeply nutty flavors with hints of molasses. 80-90 SRM.

Crystal 120 (Special Moxie) - Cooked raisins, roasted sugars, and maple syrup. 110-120 SRM.

Golden Triticale - Pure s’mores and granola. Put it on ice cream! 10-15 SRM. 

Roasted Barley - Baking chocolate and dark-roasted coffee. Dark black color. 600 SRM. 

Roasted Oats - Notes of sesame and sugar cookies with a glass of milk. 200 SRM. 

Roasted Wheat - Huskless and roasted to perfection. Notes of coffee and chocolate. 550 SRM. 

Browse these roasted malt styles and the entire Blue Ox malt portfolio at blueoxmalthouse.com.  Brewers, distillers, and bakers interested in purchasing Blue Ox’s floor malted products can contact 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.

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. 

Maine's First Malthouse Expands To Become World’s Largest Traditional Floor Malting Facility Outside Of Europe

Photo courtesy Ben Moore (@activebeergeek)

LISBON FALLS, ME— Last week, Blue Ox Malthouse celebrated the grand opening of its expanded facility, now the largest of its kind in the world outside of Europe. 

At 20,000 square feet with quadrupled floor malting capacity, Blue Ox Malthouse is an entirely floor malting-dedicated company that produces malted grains for the Northeast’s brewing, distilling, and baking industries since its start in 2013. This expansion significantly bolsters the region’s grain economy— creating jobs, investing into family farms across Maine and the Northeast, and adding value to products made with Blue Ox malt. It also augments Blue Ox’s ability to create more malt made with a diversity of grains (such as barley, wheat, rye, triticale, and oats), as well as organic, smoked, custom, and soon roasted products, for craft breweries and distilleries across the region and beyond. 

Commissioner Amanda Beal of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry was among the speakers at the event. She commended the expansion in her remarks, stating, “This development creates an opportunity for the growth of our grain sector, offering farmers access to new markets while also benefiting from working with grains as rotational and cover crops to enhance soil health. Additionally, this expansion provides high-quality ingredients for businesses to create value-added products, expanding opportunities for growth on many levels."

Town of Lisbon Council Chair Harry Moore Jr. also gave remarks, noting, “Projects like this one, which not only enhance traditional processes with modern equipment but also focus on sustainability and support for local farmers, are key to the development of communities throughout Maine.” 

“This expansion matters because alcohol is an agricultural product, and alcoholic production can play a  huge role in robust, resilient, vibrant local food systems,” added Blue Ox Malthouse Founder Joel Alex. “In order to realize this potential, we need value-added processes that build the infrastructure that connects this alcoholic production to high quality, local ingredients and farms. Food systems matter because people matter; and we all have such a personal, economic, and cultural connection to food. Food that is better for us is also almost always better for our community and the environment.”

Of more than 100 craft maltsters on the continent, Blue Ox is among a small fraction of them entirely dedicated to time-honored floor malting techniques— and now the largest of these committed producers. Floor malting is gentler on the grain, with less automation and more interaction with the process that beyond offering the market a more consistent, quality, and flavorful product, also builds good jobs in the state of Maine. 

Brewers, distillers, and bakers can browse the Blue Ox malt portfolio at blueoxmalthouse.com. Contact collab@blueoxmalthouse.com to place an order or discuss custom projects.

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

ABOUT BLUE OX MALTHOUSE

Launched in April 2013 by community organizer and homebrewer-turned-maltster Joel Alex, Blue Ox Malthouse is Maine's first malting operation that was founded with the mission of creating more robust, resilient, and equitable regional food systems. Blue Ox Malthouse seeks to push possibilities in craft beer and spirits by supporting shorter supply chains and thoughtful farming practices. Reinvigorating centuries-old floor malting techniques and tradition, Blue Ox is committed to these community-focused methods while constantly innovating to serve as a model for sustainable rural economic development. Learn more at blueoxmalthouse.com.

Maine’s Blue Ox Malthouse Wins Two Malt Cup Awards For The Second Consecutive Year

LISBON FALLS ME– Blue Ox Malthouse received two Malt Cup awards during MaltCon2024 at UC Davis last month. It's the second consecutive year that Maine’s first maltster has won two medals in this prestigious malt quality competition.

“These awards are all because of our amazing team,” Blue Ox Founder Joel Alex said as he walked off stage at the UC Davis Conference Center with a second medal. He then quickly texted photos to a group chat, despite it being nearly midnight in Maine. Most of the team was awake and awaiting results.   

Now in its sixth year, the Malt Cup is the only malt quality competition of its kind. Malt samples are evaluated by 70 industry and expert judges, a process organized by the Craft Maltsters Guild in collaboration with the Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab, and DraughtLab. The 2024 judges rigorously evaluated entries from 26 malthouses from across the world in six malt styles, awarding Blue Ox with a bronze medal in the Caramel category for its floor malted Caramel 20 malt, and a silver for its floor malted Yankee Pilsner malt in the Pilsen category. In 2023, Blue Ox Malthouse won Malt Cup awards for Pale (bronze) and Light Munich (bronze). Blue Ox Malthouse is the first and only New England malt house to-date to have received recognition in this competition.

Blue Ox Light Caramel 20 was floor malted from the AC Newdale 2-row barley variety. Caramel 20 has a candy sweetness with flavors of toffee and cajeta.  

Blue Ox Yankee Pilsner is a customer favorite. Also malted from the AC Newdale 2-row variety, this floor malted Pilsner malt style is created with a gentle kilning regime to yield a super light, grainy finish. Yankee Pilsner works perfectly in beer styles like NEIPA, Pilsner, and Saison. 

“To say it’s an honor to be awarded two medals in this year's Malt Cup feels like an understatement,” says Director of Malting Operations Benji Knorr. “It’s more than recognition; it helps our team justify the dedicated effort that we put into making quality floor malts and inspires us to make each batch better than the last. Importantly, it validates that world-class malt can be made by hand using locally-grown Maine grains.”

“This award recognizes our hardworking team here at Blue Ox. Our crew ultimately make all of this possible,” adds Knorr.

The Blue Ox team would like to extend special thanks to their partners at Porter Farms for providing consistent, quality barley that enables the malthouse to create floor malt that they are proud of.

If you’d like to purchase one of these award winning malts, or any of the other Blue Ox floor malts, you can visit the Blue Ox website contact page. 

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.

Maine’s Blue Ox Malthouse 2023 Year In Review: 10 Years Of Maine Malt; Expansion, Beer Collaborations, and Two Malt Cup Awards

LISBON FALLS, ME— 2023 will go down as a historic year for Maine’s first malting operation, Blue Ox Malthouse. The company celebrated a decade in business this year, and broke ground on an expansion that will make it the largest floor malting operation in North America. Blue Ox is proud of its growing team and increasingly meaningful connections among Northeastern agricultural communities, and beyond. 

In March 2023, Blue Ox Malthouse was awarded two prestigious Malt Cup awards during MaltCon2023 in Portland, Maine. Blue Ox Floor Malted Pale and Floor Malted Light Munich malts earned bronze medals.

Also during the 2023 Craft Malt Conference, Novare Res Bier Cafe hosted an all craft malt tap takeover featuring several beers made with Blue Ox malt that the Beer Sessions podcast marks as one of the ‘best beer moments of the year’ in Episode No. 694. 

In addition to the Craft Malt Conference, Blue Ox participated in several events supporting Maine’s food systems, including Grain To Glass Freeport, the 2023 New England Beer Summit, and the National Barley Improvement Committee meeting.

In April 2023, Blue Ox Malthouse turned ten. Founder Joel Alex expressed his thoughts on a decade of Blue Ox malt on Instagram. ”What a wild ride. The last ten years seem like a blink of an eye, but if I think of how far we’ve come and moved the needle in connecting craft brewers to local ingredients and the impact on the farmer, I am really proud,” he adds. “It’s been a team effort and required the hard work of many people along the way–employees, customers, farmers, and community partners included.” 

Alex and team were thrilled to visit Porter Farms in Aroostook County and Crystal Springs Farm in Cumberland County, Maine during the 2023 harvest season. “We carefully select farm partners who steward the land with sustainable practices that make for the healthiest soil possible,” Alex says. “What starts at the seed supports the highest quality beer, spirits, and food products made with Blue Ox malt.” 

In the fall, Blue Ox began construction on a major malthouse expansion that will quadruple its production capacity. This growth will establish the malthouse as the largest dedicated floor malting facility on the continent; Not to mention, it will increase hiring capacity for staff of more diverse physical abilities and space and equipment to support a wider range of malt products, including roasted malts. 

The Blue Ox team is growing. This year, they were pleased to bring on Ian Goering as the malthouse’s Account Manager. Goering comes to the malthouse with 12+ years of experience in the New England brewing industry and with a diploma from the American Brewers Guild and experience at breweries in Maine and New Hampshire— most notably as Head Brewer at Tributary Brewing Company. He was most recently the head of production at Aprés. “He is an amazing knowledge resource for our customers,” says Alex. In total, Blue Ox Malthouse now has a team of six skilled malthouse professionals. 

2023 was a year of notable collaborations for Maine’s first malthouse. Maine breweries from across The Pine Tree State made collaboration beers featuring Blue Ox malt in support of the Maine Brewers Guild. In Delaware, Dogfish Head selected Blue Ox Vyenna Malt to create The Most Comfortable Logger In The Woods Vienna Lager with other Maine-grown ingredients, including wild blueberries, turmeric, ginger, and sage. 

Also in 2023, Blue Ox made the switch to entirely solar-generated power. The malthouse is proud to work with Perch Community Solar on this eco-friendly solution. 

Looking forward, Blue Ox is excited to build capacity to meet the growing demand for North American malt for craft breweries and distilleries. More details about the expansion will be announced in coming months. 

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

ABOUT BLUE OX MALTHOUSE

Launched in April 2013 by community organizer and homebrewer-turned-maltster Joel Alex, Blue Ox Malthouse is Maine's first malting operation and was founded with the mission of creating more robust, resilient, and equitable regional food systems.. Blue Ox Malthouse seeks to push possibilities in craft beer and spirits by supporting shorter supply chains and thoughtful farming practices.. Reinvigorating a centuries-old floor malting techniques and tradition, Blue Ox is committed to these community-focused methods while constantly innovating to serve as a model for sustainable rural economic development. Learn more at blueoxmalthouse.com.

Maine’s Blue Ox Malthouse Expansion To Augment Northeastern Small Grains Supply Chain

LISBON FALLS, ME— Construction is underway for a major Blue Ox Malthouse expansion that will triple the operation’s malting floor space and quadruple its processing capacity. The Blue Ox team is thrilled to respond to the growing consumer demand for truly local beers and spirits while combating supply chain challenges that brewers and distillers experience. 

This expansion will ease supply chain difficulties that Northeastern craft breweries and distilleries experience by allowing for more robust resilient supply options.

Having outgrown its current facility, Blue Ox purchased the building it previously leased a section of. Once completed, this upgrade will include two malting floors totalling nearly 8000 square feet. In addition to providing more robust resilient supply options, this expansion will achieve the goals of staying dedicated to floor malting while making work less physically demanding, enabling Blue Ox to hire staff of more diverse physical abilities. It will also allow the malthouse to offer a more diverse lineup of malt products, and work with a wider array of small farms without compromising quality, consistency, or performance of its existing products. 

Blue Ox Malthouse was founded with the intention to serve as a liaison between Northeastern agriculture and consumers of craft beer and artisanal spirits.

“After ten years of being on the scene, Blue Ox Malthouse is undertaking this step to connect farms to locally produced beers and spirits in the Northeast region,” says Blue Ox Founder Joel Alex. “We weren’t built to be vertically integrated, but instead to make space for a mid-sized accessible market for rotation crops. Enriching our business with more capacity and improved equipment helps us stay niche and devoted to our mission of provide opportunities for breweries and farms to create meaningful collaborations” 

Completion of the Blue Ox Malthouse expansion is slated for early in the New Year. The malthouse will celebrate with an open house gathering for their customers this winter. Alex and his team plan to invite the community to tour the malthouse to see the value it’s bringing to the food and beverages we all enjoy in Maine and beyond.

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

ABOUT BLUE OX MALTHOUSE 

Launched in April 2013 by community organizer and homebrewer-turned-maltster Joel Alex, Blue Ox Malthouse is Maine's first malting operation and was founded with the mission of creating more robust resilient and equitable regional food systems.. Blue Ox Malthouse seeks to push possibilities in craft beer and spirits by supporting shorter supply chains and thoughtful farming practices.. Reinvigorating a centuries-old floor malting techniques and tradition, Blue Ox is committed to these community-focused methods while constantly innovating to serve as a model for sustainable rural economic development. Learn more at blueoxmalthouse.com. 

Maine’s First Maltster Blue Ox Malthouse Wins Two Prestigious Malt Cup Awards

LISBON FALLS, ME— Blue Ox Malthouse was awarded two Malt Cup awards by the Craft Maltsters Guild on March 17 at the annual Craft Malt Conference held this month in Portland, Maine. This esteemed international competition is the only recognition program of its kind for the malting grain industry. The award comes at the 10 year anniversary of Blue Ox Malthouse’s incorporation to become Maine’s first malthouse. 

Among the 90 total entries from 34 malthouses in four malt categories, Blue Ox received bronze Malt Cup awards in the Pale and Light Munich categories. Entries were scored by 200 judges that included barley breeders, brewers, distillers, maltsters, Beer Judge Certification Program participants, and Cicerones in three rounds of comprehensive analysis that included the hot steep process. 

Blue Ox’s light, clean, and crisp Pale has mild sweet and grainy aromas and is fully modified for high extract and enzyme potential. It’s malted to elevate the foundation of lighter beer styles like Kolsch, Blondes and Pales. Their Light Munich style yields lightly toasted bread crust flavors rounded by a deep biscuity sweetness with hints of peanut butter. It’s malted to build character for many beer styles. 

Both these styles are built of malting barley grown and sourced from Aroostook County Maine–consistent with Blue Ox Malthouse’s mission to support and build local robust, resilient, supply chains. Unusually, these products are also made using the traditional floor malting techniques–a hands-on artisanal approach in which grain is germinated on concrete floors and turned by hand. This method is more common in Europe and Blue Ox Malthouse is one of the few North American malthouses dedicated to using this style of production. 

Now in its fifth year, the Malt Cup is facilitated by the Craft Maltsters Guild— the trade association supporting the work of craft malthouses across the globe— in collaboration with Montana State University’s Malt Quality Lab and sensory analysis company DraughtLab. 

“We’ve known for years that we are making top quality, world-class products that present Maine and Maine grains in the best light possible. It is great to have that validated in such a competitive, high caliber competition,” says Joel Alex, Founder and CEO of Blue Ox Malthouse. Additionally Alex went on to say that “perhaps the most meaningful part for me is the recognition this gives our staff for the great work they do every day to bring these products to life. Winning for the first time while we were hosting the conference here in our home state with our tenth anniversary coming up next month is particularly special!” 

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.