Malthouse

The original Rolnická akciová sladovna (Farmers’ Joint-stock Malthouse) launched its operations in 1872. After a fire in 1919, it was bought by Moravia, a company that successfully continued producing malt until another fire destroyed the building at the end of World War II. Production was renewed in 1951.

The Bernard Family Brewery bought the malthouse in September 2000. The brewery is also its biggest customer. The malt from Rajhrad is also supplied to Czech microbreweries and other foreign customers.

Our malthouse is one of the last in the Czech Republic to use the floor malting method. It is also the biggest malthouse of its kind in the world.

Annual production is around six thousand tonnes of traditional Czech malt. The best malt barley grown around Brno and the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands is used in the production.

Malt is one of the most important ingredients in making beer. The traditional floor malting method is expensive and time consuming, but creates the best malt for typical Czech lager. That is why the Bernard Family Brewery uses it.

Malting is a process that takes several days. First the barley is steeped in water to absorb the moisture it needs to germinate. Then it is spread on the floor in cool and dark rooms. Here the grain is allowed to sprout for several days.

The sprouted grain is then moved to a kilning room. The air temperature and drying duration affect the colour and other properties of the malt.

After kilning, the culms (rootlets) of the malt are removed. The culms are then sold as animal feed. The malt is then stored and prepared for transport to the brewery.