Floor Malted By Blue Ox
Mission
Blue Ox Malthouse seeks to push the possibilities of craft beer and spirits and support Maine agriculture by providing high-quality Maine-made malt. It is our mission to reinvigorate the centuries-old craft of floor malting that, while time consumptive, also strengthens our connection to our product and, therefore, its consistency.
We carefully select farm partners who steward the land with sustainable practices that make for the healthiest soil possible. Grains produced for malting have some of the highest premiums for price for a farmer, which contributes to the revenue-generating potential and overall viability of their farm.
Grains are processed locally to keep money in the community through job creation. That ultimately translates to high-quality, thoughtfully sourced beer and spirits.
At Blue Ox, we believe people should make a living farming, and we do everything we can to support the longevity of local agriculture!
History
Maine has a robust agricultural economy and vibrant craft brewing community, but we needed more infrastructure to connect these two important industries. Enter Blue Ox Malthouse.
In 2013, our Founder, Joel Alex, left his job, apartment, and "9-5" life to create a company with the goal of becoming a catalyst for fostering relationships between farmers, brewers, and other food producers along the grain supply chain.
In January 2014, with two tons of grain from Aroostook County, Joel processed his first pilot batch of malts in Belfast. A year later, in the Spring of 2015, Blue Ox Malthouse found a home in Lisbon Falls. From an empty warehouse to a fully functioning malthouse, Blue Ox began full malt production in the Fall of 2015 and held their Public Grand Opening on January 25th, 2016.
Since then, Blue Ox Malthouse has grown and developed— honing in on quality, increasing the farmers we work with, and expanding our product offerings. Becoming a social force for good is not a “one-and-done” deal. We strive every day to improve the world in which we live.
Malthouse Buildout
Meet the Hard-Working and Dedicated Team Blue Ox
Say hello to the talented and diverse crew at Blue Ox Malthouse.
Floor Malting
Why We Floor Malt:
When we opened in 2015, we were the largest of only a few operations in North America dedicated to the age-old practice of floor malting. Floor Malting is a traditional malting method in which the germination step of malting occurs on malting floors. Each and every kernel of grain is manually hand-raked. Most in the craft malting industry have abandoned this method for mechanized, automated systems that are more “efficient.” This begs the question; Why, then, did we choose traditional floor malting?
Compared to automated techniques, floor malting is gentler on the grain, resulting in the production of a higher quality, consistent product.
It’s an in-your-face, hands-on method requiring our maltsters to interact with the grain daily, tracking its progress and making adjustments to ensure quality at every stage.
That interaction and the additional labor that goes into this method also help us fulfill one of our missions: to provide good jobs for our community that might otherwise be lost to automation.
