Since 1870 we’ve lived and breathed malting. With this passion and expertise, and by combining traditional and modern techniques, we create an impressive range of malted and non-malted products, including several unique and exclusive barley malts.
There is nothing more we love than talking to brewers and distillers so if you have any questions, or would like to arrange a call with a member of our team, please feel free to get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
Picture the summer sun shining down on fields of golden barley. This cereal crop is flourishing in the light chalk and sand soils, and swaying gently in the cool sea breeze.
You are in the home of what is surely the noblest barley variety in the world: the extraordinary Maris Otter.
A variety that, against the odds, has survived for over 55 years. A malting barley variety unique to England, that grows at its best in this northern part of East Anglia.
It was cross-bred from Proctor and Pioneer in the late 1950’s by the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge. It malted well, as Crisp’s maltsters at the time attested, and it was perfect for pale ales. That explains its rapid growth in popularity among brewers of the time. It soon dominated the UK market and demand remained high for over two decades.
Our Maris Otter malt is prized all over the world for the incredibly rich and moreish ales it helps to create.
Our brewers tell us it is always flavourful, easy to brew with, and returns that characteristic malt body that has made it famous over more than 50 years of barley cultivation.
We work closely with agronomists, biologists, our local farmers, brewers and distillers, and with the expertise of our malting team at Great Ryburgh we are able to bring our finest Maris Otter malts to our brewing and distilling customers all over the world.
We’re proud of these relationships and what it means to be maltsters; we are the vital link that connects brewers and distillers back to the farm and nature.
Our partnerships with farms often go back generations – some of them probably back into the 19th century. We’ve been floor-malting Maris Otter from local growers ever since it was first produced.
The expertise and knowledge of generations of growers and maltsters is shared just as much now as it was 55 plus years ago. The benefits of our long-lasting partnerships will continue to be handed down from generation to generation, delivering the best to you, so you can deliver distinctive beers with integrity and taste.
