CRAFT by Under My Host® Issue No. 17 Made in America: Part II | Page 87

“After three years by the book, we had to throw the book out and exper-
iment.” When Babb left the textbooks behind, her experiments led to
significant changes.
“We made changes to every part of the process. When we focused on
hydration, especially in the steep tanks, we got our first breakthroughs in
quality. Our barley needs a lot of oxygen, everything makes a difference.
The ambient conditions here in Empire are a factor in our process too.
We take a lot of measurements, of the barley and the dew-point as an
example and apply them to the process as needed. The key is balancing
the measurements with the visual and physical feedback from the grain.
It takes a lot of practice. What works here, may not be the answer else-
where.”
All of this personal inspection and interpretation help Babb strive for
what she calls, “The big picture of malting—bringing out the color, roast
and overall flavor in beer.”
Empire’s barley malt has come a long way from those first few years
of trials, and now receives some of the best analytical results for
Conlon barley in the country. Babb, however, remains bullish in
her belief that the new potential from craft malting goes well be-
yond technical analysis. “Craft malts are the gateway to the next level
of brewing. Non-craft breweries talk to their maltster-supplier. Craft
breweries may not have the buying power needed for a direct-line to the
maltster. Craft malt changes this. We talk to our customers often, provide
malt specifications with definitions and are available for support. Service
should be part of the craft malthouse business model. Collaborating helps
us learn more about malt preferences, beer styles, trends, and seasonali-
ty.”
Discussion around the nuances of whether regional flavor exists and
what it is driven by is healthy, and I hope it goes on for the ages. Is
it climate and agricultural conditions? Barley variety and breeding?
Science, mechanical process, the human touch behind the art?
Perhaps the most significant part of this emerging paradigm is that
farmers, maltsters, brewers, distillers and the drinkers who love
them, are in the midst of a new frontier in flavor. There are new ag-
ricultural opportunities, creating higher value in crops and skilled
trades. They are strengthening and connecting farming commu-
nities within a smaller, independent supply chain. An increasingly
diverse collection of barley varieties - selected and bred specifically
for a larger number of unique growing regions, is driving new and
flavorful differentiation for brewers, and it’s happening from the
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