First came the breweries. Then came hops. Next comes – malt?

Inspired by the region’s booming craft beer scene, partners Jeff Malkiewicz and Mike Chereskin have opened northern Michigan’s first malt house in Traverse City. Located at 3025 Cass Road, Great Lakes Malting Company aims to offer the last crucial ingredient in the brewing process not available locally: malted grain.

Malkiewicz, a Dearborn native who recently relocated to the Traverse City area from California with his wife, says he was touring Grand Traverse Distillery when owner Kent Rabish shared his pride “in sourcing grains locally. But he mentioned they weren’t able to get malted barley for their whiskey. I thought that was interesting and started doing research…that was the rabbit hole that led me to realize this could be a viable business.”

Malkiewicz discovered Michigan State University was already conducting trials to determine the best types of malting barley varietals that could grow in Michigan’s climate. Armed with their research, Malkiewicz and Chereskin partnered with area farmers in early 2015 to begin planting barley. Their first harvest came in that summer; in October 2015, they signed a lease for an industrial warehouse on Cass and spent the next year redesigning the space and installing equipment to convert it into a malting operation.

Along with water, hops and yeast, malt is the fourth essential ingredient in beer. Producing malt is a “three-stage process,” explains Malkiewicz. “It’s broken into steeping, germination and kilning.” Raw grains – traditionally barley, though wheat and rye are also common – are first soaked in water tanks to wash the grains and allow them to soak up moisture. The grains are then stored in a climate-controlled container that provides cool, moist conditions, causing the grains to germinate.

Depending on the recipe or beer style, germination is halted at a certain stage, at which point the grains must be dried. The final kilning stage is where the malt’s color and flavor profiles are developed, which in turn dictate the color and flavor of the beer. The same base grain can end up producing a wide variety of malts – ranging from pale to caramel to dark – depending on the kilning process, Malkiewicz explains.

Great Lakes Malting Company began making their first test batches of malt in early November. One batch contains two tons of malt and takes one week to produce; the company can make up to two batches per week. “Our output on an annual scale at this point is 150 to 175 tons,” says Malkiewicz. “One barrel of beer – or two kegs – uses anywhere from 50 to 100 pounds of malt.”

Great Lakes Malting Company plans to focus initially on producing barley malt, though the company will also eventually offer wheat, rye and other grain varietals (which are popular in distilling as well as brewing). In terms of getting their products into the local marketplace, “our focus is on the brewpubs, and maybe a smaller seasonal release of something packaged (for distribution),” says Malkiewicz. “Our goal is to start small and make sure (the malt) is going to produce a high-quality beer that meets the standards of the local breweries.”

One brewery has already signed on to use Great Lakes Malting Company’s product. The Filling Station Microbrewery will debut a new beer this month called TC Micropolitan Pale Ale featuring the company’s pale malt. Filling Station General Manager Todd Klepper says he hopes to have the brew on tap December 23.

“It’s a smash brew – a beer that’s made with a single malt and a single hop,” Klepper says. “It’s a great way to bring out the flavors of those ingredients and really showcase them.” 

Great Lakes Malting Company is the latest player to come out of Traverse City’s rapidly growing craft beer scene, which over the last decade has spun off new industries including festivals and events, brewery tours, merchandising and agricultural products. Klepper says it’s “exciting that the strength of the brewing industry is creating opportunities for other new businesses and job growth,” but says those industries also benefit his business in turn.

“With so many good breweries out there right now, everybody knows they have to step up their game,” he says. “One of the ways to do that is by having the freshest ingredients possible to put in your beer. If you can have fresh hops and fresh malt, it makes the beer that much better. So it’s a win-win for everybody.”

Taste The Local Difference Operations Director Tricia Phelps agrees. She says the microbrewery trend has created an “exciting opportunity for the local agricultural community in terms of hops and malt and barley.”

“It’s awesome we now have local people taking that on and investing in these types of ventures,” she says. “And also, that the microbrewery community is embracing that and signing on and incorporating as much local product as they can.”

Pictured: Jeff Malkiewicz and Mike Chereskin of Great Lakes Malting Company