St Austell Brewery has been working with Cornish farmers for almost a quarter of a century to grow a portion of the barley which goes into its beers.
St Austell brewing director Georgina Young with farmers and suppliers as the Cornish barley is harvested
This year’s Cornish barley yield saw around 2,000 tonnes of barley harvested from 19 farms which the brewery has partnered with across Cornwall. The local harvest will be used to create around 24 million pints of St Austell Brewery’s flagship beers.
Each year, the brewers head out to the fields — with some as close as three miles away from the brewery — to see how the crop has fared.
The brewery also invited partners along, including B-Corp certified Simpsons Malt, the maltsters who make the malt from the barley, as well as seed suppliers and the farmers.
The barley varieties harvested were Maris Otter (winter barley) and Laureate (spring barley). Laureate is processed and turned into Cornish Gold, a malt exclusively made for and used by St Austell Brewery.
Poor weather
“Sunshine, especially during ripening, is critical for barley quality and yield,” said brewing director Georgina Young. “The weather this year has been some of the worst, wettest, most sunless and grey months, and the winter barley harvest across the country has been indifferent at best, with a massive range of both quality and yield.
“So, our hopes for the crop weren’t high, but all fears were allayed as we zigzagged through the golden swaying fields of winter barley, which has done extremely well despite the weather conditions. The quality has been excellent.”
St Austell sources as much Cornish barley as they can from the West Country, with any additional barley coming from East Anglia.
The Cornwall Maris Otter Partnership was set up in 2002 and is still going strong. Its aim was to reintroduce the variety as a staple crop in the county and form long-lasting relationships with farmers, to ensure a ready supply for the brewery.
In total, almost 900 acres of Cornish farmland has been cultivated to grow Maris Otter barley exclusively for the brewery. The partnership is one of St Austell Brewery’s key initiatives in supporting the local economy and cutting transport mileage.
