From Barley to Beer

It's always nice to see the end result of hard work.  Or, in this case, to taste it!

Last Friday, while at the brew fest in Bozeman, Jeff sampled some beer from Red Lodge Ales.  Red Lodge Ales is a Montana microbrewery located in Red Lodge, MT.  Their beer is pretty good, and who doesn't love a beer that's at least pretty good?  But what we noticed about the man who served Jeff his sample was the Malteurop logo on the shirt he wore under his lederhosen.

Malteurop is the world's third largest malt barley processor and distributor.  They have three malting facilities in the United States, located in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Great Falls, MT.  Barley farmers who raise malt-quality barley crop can sell their barley to Malteurop, who processes the barley into malt at their facilities.  Then, Malteurop sells the malt to brewers all around the world.

Malteurop also sells malt to small, local brewers... like Red Lodge Ales.  According to their website, they take pride in locating their malting facilities in prime barley farming areas, and selling to local brewers, thereby reducing the environmental impact of transportation.

For the past seven years or so, Tom has contracted his barley to Malteurop.  So, our barley is taken to the plant in Great Falls, where it is processed into malt, then sold to beer companies from Coors to Red Lodge Ales.  Next time you drink a Coors or a Bent Nail IPA, think of us, and raise your glass!