Annual Craft Malt Cup Awards announced

The 8th annual Craft Malt Competition is now completed and the Craft Malt Cup awards announced.

Overall, 117 malts were entered by 29 craft malt houses in five countries. They competed for a total of 24 gold, silver, and bronze medals.

Entries covered 48 grain varieties from seven grain types (such as 2-row barley, 6-row barley, wheat, corn, millet and rye). Within each of the eight malt competition categories,, judging was conducted, malt by malt, for analytical quality and sensory evaluation. The 61 judges included a wide range of specialists from brewing, distilling, malting, and other industry and university professionals.

The Malt Cup Awards, presented by the Craft Masters Guild, is the only competition for malt in the world.

Geographic diversity of craft malt

One of the most impressive things about the competition was the geographic diversity of the winners. Medalists included U.S. malt houses from Oregon to Maine, Alberta in Canada and two winners from Australia. One of this year’s medal-winning malts was produced pretty close to West Virginia at South Fork Malthouse in northern Kentucky (Cynthiana).

In West Virginia we see pretty much exclusive use of craft malt by Weathered Ground Brewery and Charleston Nano Brewery. Craft maltsters—including Riverbend Malt House, Asheville, NC, and Carolina Malt House, Cleveland, NC— make regular shipments of craft malt to West Virginia brewers.

With the geographic growth of craft maltsters, small independent brewers can now more easily produce beer using locally-sourced ingredients and support local agriculture. This is a big plus.

Best of Show and Medalists

In addition to gold, silver and bronze medals, the competition presents a Best of Show award to the Gold Medal malt that had the highest score through all the three judging rounds. This year, it was snagged by Red Shed Malting for its Parkland Pale Malt.

The 2026 medalists in the 8 malt categories include:

Medal • Malt Name • Grain Variety Name • Malt House • State/Province or Country

DISTILLERS MALT Category – (7 entries)

Gold • Maltese • Brewski • Two Track Malting • ND
Silver • Distillers High Enzyme • LCS Genie • Root Shoot Malting • CO
Bronze • Whiskey Jack • AB Dram • Red Shed Malting • Alberta

LIGHT MUNICH MALT – (9)

Gold • RS M-10 • LCS Odyessey • Root Shoot Malting • CO
Silver • Light Munich • AC Newdale • Blue Ox Malthouse • ME
Bronze • Mjolnir Light Munich • ND Genesis • North Dakota Malting • ND

CARAMEL MALT – (12)

Gold • Cara Rubie C-20 • LCS Genie • Root Shoot Malting • CO
Silver • Caribou Malt C-40 • CDC Churchill • Red Shed Malting • Alberta
Bronze • MOD AFTDRK – C120 • LCS Genie • Troubadour Malting • CO

VIENNA MALT – (13)

Gold • Super Pevec • LCS Genie • Troubadour Maltings • CO
Silver • Vienna • Schooner • Voyager Craft Malt • Australia
Bronze • Keughen Vienna • LCS Genie • Gallatin Valley Malt • MT

WHEAT MALT – (14)

Gold • Wheat Pale • Sadash • 3D Malt • Alberta, Canada
Silver • Wheat Malt • Sour Red Wheat • Rabbit Hill Malt • NJ
Bronze • Wheat Malt• Dyna Grow 9422 • South Fork Malthouse • KY

PALE MALT – (17)

Gold • Parkland Pale • CDC Churchill • Red Shed Malting • Alberta
Silver • Okefenokee • Brewski • Two Track Malting • ND
Bronze • Baronese Pale • Baronese • LINC Malt • WA

PILSEN Malt – (21)

Gold • Pilsner Lake • Maximus • Loam Malt Studio • Australia
Silver • ‘23 Violetta Pils • LCS Violetta • Mitten State Malt • MI
Bronze • Yankee Pils • AC Newdale • Blue Ox Malthouse • ME

UNIQUE Malt – (24)

Gold • Finger Lakes Flaked Corn • #2 Dent • New York Craft Malt • NY
Silver • Golden Triticale • Gainer 154 • Blue Ox Malthouse • ME
Bronze • Frontier Malt • LCS Genie • Gallatin Valley Malt • MT

About the Craft Maltsters Guild

Formed in 2013, the Craft Maltsters Guild’s mission is to promote and sustain the tradition of craft malting in North America, provide services and resources to the Association’s members, and uphold the highest quality and safety standards for Craft Maltsters. Similar in a way to craft brewers, craft maltsters represent the smaller, more boutique end of the U.S. malt production industry.

The 2026 Malt Cup was made possible by generous sponsors Ackermann, Bratney, the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre, the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, the National Barley Growers Association, New Glarus Brewing Co., Promalting, RadCraft, and Yingtai Machinery; as well as AV partner Empowered Streaming. 

Learn more about the Craft Maltsters Guild at the Craft Maltsters Website.