Cornish beers, Cornish malt

July 20, 2006: Cornish brewer Skinner's has given another vote of confidence for locally-grown barley with the addition of two more farms in an exclusive supply arrangement to help meet soaring demand.

Until last year, the brewery had used barley from a number of Westcountry farms sourced through its maltsters, Tuckers Maltings, of Newton Abbot.

Skinner's had always specified that Cornish barley should be used whenever possible, with an increasing amount being sourced in this way from Colwyn Farm, near Truro.

It led to an exclusive deal direct with the farm, owned by F G Pryor and Son, for around 550 tons of barley to be used via Tuckers in the brewing of all their beers in 2006.

Now Skinners have struck another blow for Cornish barley by tying Restronguet Barton, near Falmouth, and Coswarth Farm, near Newquay, into the same arrangement. This will help meet an anticipated big rise in Skinner's production over the next 12 months.

Colwyn Farm, owned by F G Pryor and Son, is supplying around 550 tons of barley this year to be used via Tuckers in the brewing of all Skinners’ beers. The Falmouth and Newquay farms will add around another 400 tons in this way.

“We were so impressed by the quality of the barley grown so close to home that we reached the point where we really wanted no other,” said managing director Steve Skinner.

“Now our beers are more Cornish than ever! Working with farms so close to our base is a huge bonus - we can literally watch it grow and there is no better method of quality control. We are in the midst of a vigorous expansion phase and are delighted to be able to help other Cornish businesses in the process.”

The Restronguet Barton involvement is borne of a friendship begun nine years ago when Steve met Matthew Dale on the Cornish surfing circuit.

The Dale family had grown malting barley for some 30 years before calling a halt around a decade ago when it was no longer viable.

Matthew explains: “In years gone by, Cornish farms traditionally grew thousands of tons of malting barley - there is something about the maritime climate that favours good quality malt - but market conditions gradually made it no longer worthwhile.

“So we are delighted with this development. We are supplying a regional maltster and growing it for an end user - a local brewery - rather than being at the mercy of the world market place, and because it is all so close we are cutting down on transport costs and making the whole operation viable again.”