Maltings in England - English Heritage

PART ONE
MALT PRODUCTION AND THE BREWING INDUSTRY
Malt is artificially germinated grain, usually barley, with germination arrested at the critical point
by kilning. It is a prime ingredient in the production of beer and whisky. It is also used in the
food industry for a range of products, including biscuits, breakfast food, vinegar and bread, and
dark malts are used for colouring in the manufacture of food. There are references to malt
being produced in England since the eleventh century, but early production was possibly in
barns and the kilning may have been done in domestic ovens. However, for at least the last 500
years it has also been made in purpose built malthouses with kilns specially designed to cure
the green malt. These buildings are known as floor maltings because the germinating barley
was spread out to grow on a floor. Inevitably as a successful industry the production of malt was
seen as a generator of government revenue. From 1644 onwards a tax was imposed on malt
with the rigorous period of enforcement being from 1827 to 1880 when the tax was finally
repealed. Although a pneumatic system of malting had been introduced in 1878 it was not until
the malt tax was repealed that it could be more easily implemented in the form of Saladin’s box
system and Galland’s drum system. Both these systems were also fully mechanised.
Beer was the staple drink before the introduction of
tea and coffee and it remained so for those who
could not afford the latter. In consequence not only
was the brewing industry substantial & ubiquitous,
but also the malting industry, although the latter is
less well documented. There have always been
significant differences in the organisation of the
malting and brewing industries. Prior to the 18 th
century both the malting industry and the brewing
industry were generally small scale. But while the
brewing industry was small scale it was also often
domestic. In the mid-18 th century some sixty per cent
of beer production was private, and much of the rest
was brewed by retail brewers operating from inns.
Up to that time, the common brewers as commercial
brewers were known, only accounted for a small
proportion of the national production, while retail
brewers, those that brewed their own beer for sale
on the premises were, with the exception of London,
of much greater significance.
1. Beer - The End Product
In contrast, in the malting industry, although the production of malt may have been small scale it
was not domestic in the same way as the brewing industry. It was in the hands of specialist
© ENGLISH HERITAGE MALTINGS IN ENGLAND 4