🥃 Maltster
A specialist or company that makes malt from barley for distilleries and breweries; most Scottish distilleries buy malt from maltsters to their own specification.
A maltster is a specialist or company that makes malt from barley and other cereals for distilleries, breweries and the food industry; the business itself is called a maltings. Most Scottish distilleries do not malt grain themselves but buy ready malt to exact specifications, from unpeated to heavily peated.
The industry in Britain. The Maltsters' Association of Great Britain (MAGB) represents over 98% of British malt production. According to Difford's Guide, about 1.5 million tonnes of malt a year are made there by seven large and seven smaller maltsters; domestic buyers include distillers at about 48% and brewers at about 40%, and maltsters buy roughly a third of the British barley crop.
Two types of maltings. Among MAGB members are malt producers that sell malt — Boortmalt, Crisp Malt, Simpsons Malt, Muntons, Soufflet Bairds and others — and distilling groups that malt for themselves: Diageo, Highland Distillers and Suntory Global Spirits. Industrial maltings work with rotating drums of tens of tonnes, while floor malting survives at only a few distilleries.
An example: Islay. The Port Ellen maltings, owned by Diageo, has malted barley on an industrial scale since 1974 and supplies most of Islay's nine distilleries, as well as the Isle of Jura. The barley is dried over peat from the nearby Castlehill Moss, up to 2,000 tonnes of peat a year; this shapes the smoky character of Islay whiskies, including Lagavulin and Caol Ila.
Why it matters to you. Knowing that malt is often not made at the distillery itself makes labels easier to read: distillery-owned floor malting is a rarity and a tradition, not a required sign of quality. The raw material does not change the fact that whisky is a strong alcoholic drink. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.
Facts
| Raw material | brewing-variety barley, water; for peated malt, peat |
|---|
How it connects to Spirits
🥃 Maltster → kind of → ⚗️ How spirits are made → kind of → 🥃 Spirits
Links
- Next step
- 🥃 Scotch Whisky, 🥃 Port Ellen, 🥃 Peated whisky, 🥃 Diageo, 🥃 Suntory Global Spirits, 🥃 Lagavulin, 🥃 Caol Ila, 🥃 Isle of Jura
- What it affects
- 🍷 Alcohol and health
- Part of
- ⚗️ How spirits are made
- Related to
- 🥃 Islay whisky
- Similar and different
- 🥃 Barley and malt in whisky, 🥃 Springbank, 🥃 Malting, 🥃 Malting, 🥃 Mashing, 🥃 Mashing
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that a distillery always malts its own barley?
No. Most Scottish distilleries buy malt from maltings; only a few, such as Springbank, Laphroaig and Bowmore, still have their own floor malting.
What is the difference between a maltster and a distiller?
A maltster germinates and dries grain to make malt; a distiller prepares a mash from malt, ferments it and distils it.
Who are the largest maltsters in Britain?
Among MAGB members are Boortmalt, Crisp Malt, Simpsons Malt, Muntons, Soufflet Bairds, and the distilling groups Diageo, Highland Distillers and Suntory Global Spirits.
Where does the malt for Islay peated whisky come from?
Mostly from Diageo's Port Ellen maltings, where barley is dried over local peat; it supplies most of the island's distilleries and the Isle of Jura.
How much malt is made in Britain?
According to Difford's Guide, about 1.5 million tonnes a year; roughly a third of the British barley crop goes into it.
What to read next
- 🍷 Alcohol and health — Alcohol in any drink is harmful in large amounts, and the risks grow with the quantity.
- 🥃 Barley and malt in whisky — Malted barley is the base of whisky: malt enzymes convert starch in the mash, and EU whisky is distilled below 94.8% vol.
- 🥃 Scotch Whisky — Geographical indication protected in the EU since 1989: whisky distilled and matured in Scotland in oak casks, at 40% ABV or more.
- 🥃 Peated whisky — Whisky with a smoky aroma from malt dried over a peat fire; it is a style, not a separate legal category.
- 🥃 Springbank — Family distillery and single malt brand in Campbeltown; licensed in 1828; its own malting floors; Springbank, Longrow and Hazelburn bottlings; owned by J & A Mitchell.
Similar
🥃 Malting · 🥃 Aqua vitae · 🥃 Heads, hearts, tails · 🥃 Triple distillation · 🥃 Tahona · 🥃 Ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin
⚠️ Spirit drinks contain alcohol and are for adults only. Alcohol harms health. Do not drink during pregnancy or before driving; check the label for ingredients and possible allergens.
Sources
- Maltsters' Association of Great Britain (MAGB): trade association representing over 98 % of UK malt production
- MAGB: Members List — Boortmalt, Crisp Malt, French & Jupps, Muntons, Simpsons Malt, Soufflet Bairds Malt, Thomas Fawcett and Sons, Warminster Maltings, Diageo Scotland, Highland Distillers, Suntory Global Spirits
- Difford's Guide: Single Malt Scotch Whisky Production — Malting (steeping 12 % → 43–46 % moisture at c. 16 °C; germination 4–5 days, floor malting c. 7 days, beds 15–50 cm; kilning 24–48 h, 60 °C then 70–90 °C, to 3.5–6.5 %; peat levels in ppm phenols; Saladin boxes and drums; seven distilleries with floor maltings — Balvenie, BenRiach, Bowmore, Highland Park, Kilchoman, Laphroaig, Springbank; UK c. 1.5 Mt malt a year from seven large and seven smaller maltsters, distillers 48 %, brewers 40 %; maltsters buy c. one third of the UK barley crop)
- Gazetteer for Scotland: Port Ellen Maltings — Diageo; industrial production from 1974; supplies most of Islay's nine distilleries and Isle of Jura; barley kilned over peat from Castlehill Moss, up to 2,000 t of peat a year
- WHO/Europe: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health (04.01.2023)