Riverbend Malt House expands capacity by 40 percent

Riverbend Malt House announced the successful completion of the first batch of barley malted on its new 10-tonne Germination Kiln Vessel (GKV) unit. This state-of-the-art equipment increases the overall malthouse capacity by 40 percent, enabling Riverbend to meet growing demand for craft malt among breweries and distilleries throughout the Southeast. 

“Our new unit gives us even tighter control over quality, while at the same time increasing productivity,” noted Adam Demchak, Riverbend’s VP of Engineering and Production. “And our employees love it because the cleaning and maintenance procedures are more efficient.”

 The new equipment comes in response to growing consumer demand over the past 12 months. “As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that local and quality factors are even more important in consumer decision making, and we need additional capacity to meet the resulting surge in demand for craft malt,” commented Riverbend Malt House CEO Scott Hickman. 

An essential part of Riverbend’s mission is its commitment to its local partnerships with local farmers, craft brewers, and artisan spirits distillers. Consistent with this mission, Riverbend’s new equipment was designed, manufactured, and installed by American manufacturers, contractors and software developers.