Like all food processing, slower is better. Warminster Maltings follows gentle procedures designed to allow the optimum expression of the barley’s properties. Our germination floors are the perfect environment to optimize the ‘modification’ of the barley’s starch into the sugary substance called maltose.

Water comes from our own well, sunk deep below the malthouse into the chalk substrata. The temperature of this water is a stable 52F, winter and summer alike, perfect for the first stage of the malting process. Steeping the barley in water over 3 days is critical to triggering germination, the next stage in the process.

Ventilation and temperature control of the germination floors is vital to the ‘modification’ of the ‘green malt’. We work with the ambient temperatures, closing the window shutters when it is cold, and opening them when it is warm. The layout of the malthouses with its central wedge-shaped courtyard is a blueprint of the classic Victorian maltings. The complex was intentionally designed, utilizing the elements of nature.

Passage of the green malt through the process still depends more on manpower than on fossil fuels. The maltsters wield a malt shovel throughout the process, from steep to kiln. Other hand tools like malt ploughs, turners, and levellers complete the inventory of processing aids. At Warminster, manpower is one of our most valuable, versatile and sustainable resources. It is why our customers refer to our team as “the Malt-Stars of Warminster”.