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A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where
cereal grain A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...
is converted into
malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...
by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
,
whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
and in certain foods. The traditional malt house was largely phased out during the twentieth century in favour of more mechanised production. Many malt houses have been converted to other uses, such as
Snape Maltings Snape Maltings is an arts complex on the banks of the River Alde at Snape, Suffolk, England. It is best known for its concert hall, which is one of the main sites of the annual Aldeburgh Festival. The original purpose of the Maltings was the ma ...
, England, which is now a concert hall.


Production process


Floor malting

The grain was first soaked in a steeping pit or cistern for a day or more. This was constructed of brick or stone, and was sometimes lined with lead. It was rectangular and no more than deep. Soon after being covered with water, the grain began to swell and increase its bulk by 25 percent. The cistern was then drained and the grain transferred to another vessel called a couch, either a permanent construction, or temporarily formed with wooden boards. Here it was piled deep, and began to generate heat and start to germinate. It spent a day or two here, according to the season and the maltster's practice. It was then spread out on the growing floor, the depth dictated by the temperature, but sufficiently deep to encourage vegetation. It was turned at intervals to achieve even growth and over the next fourteen days or so it is turned and moved towards the
kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
. The temperature was also controlled by ventilation. A day or two after the grain was turned out on to the floor, an agreeable smell was given off, and roots soon began to appear. A day or so later the future stem began to swell, and the kernel became friable and sweet-tasting. As the germination proceeded the grain was spread thinner on the floor. The process was halted before the stem burst the husk. At this stage much of the starch in the grain had been converted to
maltose } Maltose ( or ), also known as maltobiose or malt sugar, is a disaccharide formed from two units of glucose joined with an α(1→4) bond. In the isomer isomaltose, the two glucose molecules are joined with an α(1→6) bond. Maltose is the two- ...
and the grain was left on the floor to dry. The art of malting depends on the proper regulation of these changes in the grain. Maltsters varied in their manner of working, and adapted to changes in climatic conditions. The grain was then moved into the kiln, , for between two and four days, depending on whether a light or dark malt was required. A slow fire was used to start, and then gradually raised to suit the purpose of the malt and the desired colour. The barley was then sieved to remove the shoots and stored for a few months to develop flavour.


Saladin malting

The Saladin system of mechanical and pneumatic malting was designed for a high performance process. The inventor Charles Saladin was a French engineer. The barley is soaked for an hour to remove swimming barley. This is followed by two hours of soaking to remove attached particles and dust. The next step is a prewashing by water circulation for 30 minutes followed by washing with fresh water and removing the overfall. A dry soak with exhaustion during 4 hours follows. Several dry and wet soaking steps are to follow. The last step is the transfer to the
saladin box A Saladin box is an instrument used for malting barley. It consists of a large rectangular container about 50 meters in length, and a set of vertical screws attached to a crossbar. The crossbar moves horizontally across the length of the container ...
.


Steep, germinate and kilning vessel

While in the traditional malt houses the product flow is horizontal, the flow in the ''Steep, Germinate and Kilning Vessel'' is vertical. Due to high capital costs this process is used only in industrial maltings for beer malt.


In the United Kingdom

Many villages had a malt house in the eighteenth century, supplying the needs of local publicans, estates and home brewers. Malt houses are typically long, low buildings, no more than two storeys high, in a
vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
style. The germination of barley is hindered by high temperatures, so many malt houses only operated in the winter. This provided employment for agricultural workers whose labour was not much in demand during the winter months. During the nineteenth century many small breweries disappeared. Improved techniques allowed larger breweries and specialist maltsters to build their own maltings and operate year-round. These were often housed in multi-storey buildings. It was also more efficient to transport malt than barley to the brewery, so many large breweries set up their own maltings near railways in the barley growing districts of eastern England. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, pneumatic malting was introduced, in which the barley is aerated and the temperature carefully controlled, accelerating the germination. Large malting floors were no longer necessary, but power consumption was high, so floor malting held on well into the twentieth century. Only a handful of traditional malting floors are still in use.


Notable buildings

All the following are
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
buildings, unless otherwise noted. *Ye Old Corner Cupboard in
Winchcombe Winchcombe () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, it is 6 miles north-east of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census and estimated at 5,347 in ...
, Gloucestershire. Formerly a farmhouse, now an inn, 1872, with a 19th-century malthouse along one wing. *The Malt House in
Alton, Staffordshire Alton ( ) is a village in Staffordshire, England. It is noted for the theme park Alton Towers, built around the site of Alton Mansion, which was owned by the Earls of Shrewsbury, and designed by Augustus Pugin. In the 1914 map by Whiston, there ...
. House with attached granary, and underground maltkiln and cellars. Late 17th-century. Under the house, a stone barrel vaulted cellar, with inserted floor, 19th-century, forming a maltkiln. *Great Cliff Malt House in
Chevet, West Yorkshire Chevet is a civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population in 2001 of 66. In the 2011 Census this civil parish was included in the ward of Wakefield South. Chevet Hall was a country house which stood in an ...
. Early-mid 17th-century. Attached kiln house. The malt house is a single vessel with heavy beams and chamfered purlins supporting a lime-ash floor. *
Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...
Maltings in Wiltshire, 18th-century, rebuilt 1879. Group tours offered. *Tuckers Maltings in
Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...
, Devon, built 1900; Grade II listed. Open to the public for guided tours. *
Great Ryburgh Great Ryburgh is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ryburgh, in the North Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. In 1961 the parish had a population of 484. On 1 April 1987 the parish was abolished and merged w ...
maltings (not a listed building) in Norfolk has been producing malt on traditional malting floors for two centuries. The oldest remaining building was built in the 1890s and has three working floors where a staff of three make about 3,000 tonnes of malt per year. In 2004, modern plant on the site produced some 112,000 tonnes. *Dereham Maltings (1881, Grade II listed) in
Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of the England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city ...
, Norfolk, was converted into flats after production moved to Great Ryburgh. *
Ditherington Flax Mill Ditherington Flax Mill (promoted as the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings), a flax mill located in Ditherington, a suburb of Shrewsbury, England, is the first iron-framed building in the world, and described as "the grandfather of skyscrapers",
, a former
flax mill Flax mills are mills which process flax. The earliest mills were developed for spinning yarn for the linen industry. John Kendrew (an optician) and Thomas Porthouse (a clockmaker), both of Darlington developed the process from Richard Arkwrigh ...
in
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
, Shropshire, was converted to maltings in 1898. Grade I listed for its innovative construction. * Bass Maltings form an industrial complex in the Lincolnshire market town of
Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...
, disused since 1959. Constructed between 1901 and 1907 to Herbert A. Couchman's design for the
Bass brewery The Bass Brewery () was founded in 1777 by William Bass in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The main brand was Bass Pale Ale, once the highest-selling beer in the UK. By 1877, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with ...
, the maltings are the largest complex of their kind in England.


Malt tax

The malt tax was introduced in Britain in 1697, and was repealed in 1880. The rate for malted barley was 6d. per
bushel A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricult ...
in 1697 and had risen to 2s. 7d. in 1834. In 1789 the malt tax raised £ million, 11.5% of all taxes. In 1802 the malt duty rose from 1s. 4d. a bushel to 2s. 5d., then to 4s. 5d. in 1804, driven upwards by the need to finance the
French Wars French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
of 1793–1815. In 1865 the total revenue was reported to be six million sterling a year. There were also numerous regulations in place regarding the malting process. The cistern and the couch-frame had to be constructed in a particular manner, to permit the excise officer to gauge the grain. The maltster had to give notice before wetting any grain; 24 hours in the city or market-town, 48 hours elsewhere. The grain had to be kept covered with water for 48 hours, excepting one hour for changing the water. Grain could only be put in the cistern between 8am and 2pm, and taken out between 7am and 4pm. It had to remain in the couch frame for at least 26 hours. Once thrown out of the cistern, it could not be sprinkled for 12 days. A survey book or ledger had to be kept to record the process and the gauging of the grain in the cistern, the couch, and on the floor. The volume of the grain was carefully measured, based upon the mean width, length and height, and calculated by
mental arithmetic Mental calculation consists of arithmetical calculations using only the human brain, with no help from any supplies (such as pencil and paper) or devices such as a calculator. People may use mental calculation when computing tools are not availab ...
, pen and paper, or
slide rule The slide rule is a mechanical analog computer which is used primarily for multiplication and division, and for functions such as exponents, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry. It is not typically designed for addition or subtraction, which is ...
. The duty to be charged was based upon the largest gauge of either the cistern, couch or floor after a multiplying factor of 1.6 was applied to the larger of the cistern or couch gauges.


See also

*
Oast house An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas and are often good examples of vernacular architecture. Many re ...
– another type of building used in beer manufacture for drying hops, which is topped by a similar cowl structure


References


Further reading

* {{Authority control Agricultural buildings Vernacular architecture
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...