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!
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The world’s top four cereals are corn, wheat, rice and barley, in that order. In 2021 – 2022, nearly 150 million tonnes of barley were produced globally.
Norfolk may produce only a fraction of that volume, but this East Anglian county is responsible for what is probably the best malting barley in the world.
What gives Norfolk that claim to fame? Well, here are 6 explanations:
Much of the soil in the county is light and sandy – and has naturally high levels of phosphate. It drains relatively freely, which means its nitrogen component is low. The resulting crops are relatively low in protein. This makes for great malt for brewers.
East Anglia is the driest region of the UK, with just 26 inches of rain a year on average in Norfolk. There are however gentle sea breezes that carry a little moisture across the dunes and into barley-growing areas.
Temperatures in June, July and August reach an average maximum of around 200C, 230C and 220C respectively, the warmth supported by the Gulf Stream ocean currents.
Norfolk has around 1,600 hours of sunshine a year, with longer daylight hours during the ripening season than regions and countries with more southerly latitudes. With skilled farming practice, barley yields are high, and the quality of the crops excellent.
The decent length growing season allows for the thriving of both winter and spring barleys in the area, with harvesting taking place in July and August.
Norfolk is home to Maris Otter, the variety probably best loved and certainly best known by craft brewers in Britain and, increasingly, overseas.
In the north of the county, hidden amongst the normal plots of agricultural farmland, are the Maris Otter mother fields. Here only the purest selection of seeds are planted, propagating the supply of seeds for the region’s farmers – who go on to produce fabulous crops of Maris Otter for us maltsters.
Many of those farms have been growing Maris Otter ever since it was first introduced in 1965 – just as Crisp has been malting it since then.
It may seem odd to say that Norfolk is great for barley growing partly because of the existence of the maltings in the county, but when the parts of the supply chain work hand in hand over 150 years, it’s clear that the elements become intrinsically linked. Crisp technical experts, plant scientists, seed merchants and farmers pool their knowledge and experience to develop new varieties and make the best of existing ones.
The county is the hub of barley expertise.
Grain is heavy, and there are significant carbon emissions produced in its transportation. Given that the process of malting reduces the weight of raw grain by around 25% it makes absolute sense to malt the barley grain as close as possible to where it is grown, to minimise environmental impact of the onward haulage.
Since so much of the superb malting barley is grown in Norfolk, and since we malt it here, well that’s another claim to fame – or at least to best practice!
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