Now in its 6th year, Ringwood Brewery are continuing their sponsorship of the Maris Otter Malting Barley competition. As users of Maris malt in their award winning beers the brewery are keen to get closer to the farmers who are growing Maris Otter on contract. To this effect the brewery use locally grown and malted Maris Otter and sponsor the competition which involves judging the fields of barley pre-harvest and then the harvested barley sample.
The final judging takes place at Warminster Maltings in Wiltshire with the winners and runner up being announced soon after. The winner receives a weekend away for two and holds the trophy for the year and the runners up get a selection of Ringwood beers.
Maris Otter is the only winter barley now grown specifically for the real ale sector and the only barley ever to have been bred for its flavour charactersistics, now in its 43rd year it is grown by a dedicated group of highly professional growers who farm on traditional malting barley soils such as the chalk downlands of southern England.
Last Updated: 17 November 2009 15:51