Craft Maltsters Guild Recaps MaltCon2025
The Craft Maltsters Guild reported international attendance and the largest Malt Cup competition yet from MaltCon2025, the organization’s annual conference and trade expo.
DENVER, CO– The Craft Maltsters Guild reported international attendance and the largest Malt Cup competition yet from MaltCon2025, the organization’s annual conference and trade expo.
The only malt industry gathering of its kind, MaltCon began with the Advance Class in Malt Production. This four-day intensive course had 14 participants hailing from Australia, France, Mexico, and the United States.
The conference, which took place in Denver this year, had attendees from nine countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, and the United States) and expert speakers who represented the entire grain supply chain— from farming and malting, to brewing and distilling, and many members of the agricultural research community. In total there were 97 participants, including professionals from 30 malthouses, three breweries, one distillery, 10 industry suppliers, and eight research institutions.
2025 MALT CUP
Each year at MaltCon, esteemed judges complete the final of three rounds of blind judging for the Malt Cup— a prestigious malt quality competition that determines the best malt in the world. This year, there were more entries into the competition than ever before (34 malthouses from seven countries submitted 112 malt samples), as well as two new categories (Distillers Malt and Unique Malt) to create a total of eight malt styles judged.
Congratulations to Maine’s Blue Ox Malthouse, named best in show in this points-based competition. Their team returned home with the traveling Malt Cup trophy.
The 2025 Malt Cup winners are as follows:
PILSEN (20 entries)
Bronze: Cold Stream Malt & Grain, malted in partnership with Montana Craft Malt
Silver: Cascadia Malts
Gold: Red Shed Malting
PALE MALT (13 entries)
Bronze: Two Track Malting
Silver: Red Shed Malting
Gold: Voyager Craft Malt
VIENNA (13 entries)
Bronze: ND Malting & Hops
Silver: Murmuration Malts
Gold: Admiral Maltings
LIGHT MUNICH (12 entries)
Bronze: Two Track Malting
Silver: Root Shoot Malting
Gold: Blue Ox Malthouse
WHEAT (15 entries)
Bronze: Admiral Maltings
Silver: South Fork Malthouse
Gold: LINC Malt
CARAMEL (11 entries)
Bronze: New York Craft Malt
Silver: Root Shoot Malting
Gold: Blue Ox Malthouse
DISTILLERS MALT (9 entries)
Bronze: Cascadia Malts
Silver: Troubadour Maltings
Gold: Root Shoot Malting
UNIQUE MALT (19 entries)
Honorable Mention: Voyager Craft Malt
Bronze: Root Shoot Malting
Silver: Red Shed Malting
Gold: Grouse Malt House
SOLES OF MALT AWARD
The Soles Of Malt, created in memory of craft maltster William Soles, stands for selfless and philanthropic stewardship of the craft malt industry. Each year, a selection committee considers a wide range of craft malt community members to make this tough decision. Congratulations to the 2025 Soles of Malt Award recipient, Brent Manning, the Co-Founder of Riverbend Malt House. Manning was one of the founding members of the Craft Maltsters Guild who served on the Board of Directors for 10 years, four of them as President. Manning and his team have also demonstrated incredible resilience and support for their community in Western North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
SPONSORS
MaltCon is made possible by generous organizations committed to the work of the Craft Maltsters Guild. Thank you to the MaltCon2025 sponsors.
Platinum Sponsor
Yingtai Machinery
Gold Sponsors
Kaspar Schulz
Malters Advantage
Buehler
Silver Sponsors
ABM Equipment
Walinga
Montana State University
Hartwick College
Metropolitan State University
Bronze Sponsors
Root Shoot Malting
IKA Lab Equipment
Resilient Freight Solutions
SPECIAL THANKS
The Guild extends recognition to Hannah Ulhmann, Director of the Montana State University Barley and Malt Quality Lab. Through her leadership, the lab has been the official Malt Cup partner since its inception. Thanks to Ulhmann for her ongoing dedication and work to elevate this competition year over year.
Media inquiring about the Craft Maltsters Guild or MaltCon2025 can contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT THE CRAFT MALTSTERS GUILD
Formed in 2013, 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.
Charlie Papazian To Keynote MaltCon2025, World’s Leading Malt industry Gathering, in Denver Next Month
Registration is open for MaltCon2025. This international malt professional’s gathering will include sensory education opportunities and the Advanced Class in Malt Production.
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.
Craft Maltsters Guild Announces 2024 Malt Cup Winners In MaltCon2024 Recap
The Craft Maltsters Guild had another successful MaltCon in 2024, with more 150 individuals from 10 countries participating both in person and virtually.
DAVIS, CA – The Craft Malt Conference (aka MaltCon) took place at the University of California Davis in February. Organized by the Craft Maltsters Guild, the conference serves to gather stakeholders and grow the market for regional, artisanally-produced malted grain in geographies around North America and beyond. The Craft Maltsters Guild is pleased to report on its international attendance, six scholarship recipients, host of Malt Cup winners, and the recipient of the Soles of Malt award.
The conference itself consisted of two days of networking and technical sessions with some of the industry’s leading experts. Pre-conference events included a four-day Advanced Class in Craft Malt Production; a day of malt quality judging for the Malt Cup; and a welcome reception at Admiral Maltings in Alameda, where participants could tour a production-scale floor malting operation while sampling dozens of beverages made with craft malt from around the United States.
More than 150 individuals from 11 countries participated in this year’s conference across virtual and in-person formats. Of those, more than 120 attendees traveled from North America, Europe, and Asia to participate in the in-person programming
Approximately one third of MaltCon2024 participants represented malting operations. Brewery and distillery producers comprised about 9 percent of attendees. The remaining participants were university researchers, professors, sponsors and other allied trade professionals, and members of the media. Six farm operators were in attendance.
Six scholarship recipients participated in this year’s conference: Don Tse, Lee Dongwook & Katherine Olson (shared), Angelo Ruiz, Rodney Zinyemba, and LaShanda Poteat. Meet the 2024 scholars here.
2024 MALT CUP
The Craft Maltsters Guild’s Malt Cup remains the world’s only malt quality competition, inviting maltsters of all shapes and sizes to compete for the best malt in various common categories. This year’s Malt Cup expanded to six categories: Caramel, Light Munich, Pale Malt, Pilsen, Vienna, and Wheat. Entries in these categories came from 26 malthouses in five countries. Malt Cup entries were scored in three rounds by 70 judges, a process facilitated by the Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab, and DraughtLab.
Congratulations to Hogarth Malt, named Best in Show in the 2024 competition, who took the coveted traveling Malt Cup home with them to Alberta, Canada.
Here are the medal-winning malthouses by category:
Pilsen
Gold – Hogarth Malt - Olds, Alberta
Silver – Blue Ox Malthouse - Lisbon Falls, Maine
Bronze – 3D Malt - Camrose, Alberta
Pale Malt
Gold – Malteria Italiana Artigianale - Perugia, Italy
Silver – Field Five Farm - Saanichton, BC
Bronze – Root Shoot Malting - Loveland, Colorado
Vienna
Gold – 3D Malt
Silver – Murmuration Malts - Bloomfield, New York
Bronze – Admiral Maltings - Alameda, California
Light Munich
Gold – Root Shoot Malting
Silver – Hogarth Malt
Bronze – Field Five Farm
Caramel
Gold – Troubadour Maltings -
Silver – Red Shed Malting - Red Deer County, Alberta
Bronze – Blue Ox Malthouse
Wheat
Gold – Root Shoot Malting
Silver – Riverbend Malt House - Asheville, North Carolina
Bronze – LINC Malt - Spokane Valley, WA
Watch the replay of the 2024 Awards Ceremony at maltcon.online.
SOLES OF MALT AWARD
Given annually over the past seven years, The Soles Of Malt award was created in memory of craft maltster William Soles and stands for selfless and philanthropic stewardship of craft malt. Each year, a selection committee considers a wide range of craft malt community members and ultimately must make a tough decision. Congratulations to the 2024 Soles of Malt Award recipient, Dr. Patrick Hayes, Professor Emeritus at Oregon State University, who was nominated by multiple Guild members this year for his work furthering malt education, developing new barley varietals, and establishing the OSU Research Malthouse– among many other milestones in his career. Hayes says he’s been privileged to work with an evolving team of colleagues at Barley World until his retirement in 2023.
SPEAKERS
The Craft Maltsters Guild extends gratitude to the 2024 Craft Malt Conference keynote speakers Dr. Patrick Hayes and Dr. Xiang Yin, Vice President for Corporate Quality and Innovation at the Rahr Corporation in Minnesota; and all of the experts who contributed their insights and research to this year’s programming. Speakers represented various roles in the small grains supply chain and intersecting industries, including barley breeders, farmers, maltsters, brewers, distillers, professors, students, and scientists.
SPONSORS
The Craft Malt Conference is made possible by generous organizations committed to supporting our members with their contributions.
Presenting Partners
Supporting Partners
Laizhou Yingtai Machinery Co., Ltd
Valued Partners
MSU Barley, Malt & Brewing Lab
Community Partner
SPECIAL THANKS
A special thank you is owed to several individuals who contributed substantial volunteer support via the Guild’s Conference Planning Committee: Harmonie Bettenhausen of Hartwick College, Campbell Morrissy of pFriem Family Brewers & Oregon State University, Glen Fox of UC Davis, and Curtis Davenport of Admiral Maltings. Harmonie and Campbell were particularly influential in the development of the conference program. Glen provided key support on behalf of the conference venue. Curtis ensured that conference attendees left feeling inspired about the impact and potential of regional craft malting facilities.
Contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com with media inquiries about the Craft Maltsters Guild or the 2024 conference. Media assets are available for download here.
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.