(AmsterdamBeer.com)

Denmark’s Royal Unibrew to buy Toronto’s Amsterdam Brewery

Brewer seeks new capacity in North America

Corrected, July 18 — Copenhagen | Reuters –– Danish brewer and beverage maker Royal Unibrew will acquire Toronto craft brewer Amsterdam Brewery in a deal valued at around 250 million Danish crowns (C$44 million), Royal Unibrew said in a statement on Friday. “The acquisition we are doing today is very important for the future growth […] Read more

Canada Malting’s processing plant in Montreal. (CanadaMalting.com)

Canada Malting to join GrainCorp’s global malting spinoff

The Australian owner of Canada’s biggest malt company plans to spin it off, along with its other worldwide malting assets, into a new stand-alone malt industry player. Sydney-based GrainCorp announced Thursday it plans to “demerge” its global malting business from its grains and edible oils business, forming two separate ASX-listed companies: MaltCo and “New GrainCorp.” […] Read more

(Split Second Stock/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada’s malt barley courts two different buyers

CNS Canada — The rising North American craft beer sector and strong demand out of China are both good news stories for Canada’s malt barley sector. However, those two customers have different needs which can also create some challenges, said industry officials speaking Tuesday at the annual Grain World conference in Winnipeg. Lorelle Selinger, North […] Read more

(Rahr.com)

Prairie malt barley prices lower than feed

CNS Canada — With feed barley in tight supply, the tables have flipped with feed prices now sitting higher than those for malt barley in Western Canada. Feed barley prices “make some of these other prices look a bit ridiculous. There’s no demand from the domestic maltsters because they’ve all been plugged up ever since […] Read more

A two-row Bentley base malt. (RedShedMalting.ca)

Growing craft beer sector thirsty for local malt

CNS Canada — Craft breweries are a growing subsector of the Canadian beer industry, but the increased variety of local drink options are not necessarily 100 per cent homegrown, as a lack of domestically produced specialty malts forces brewers to look far afield to meet their needs. “We get our base malt locally, but we […] Read more


Mill Street CEO Irvine Weitzman, Labatt president Jan Craps and Mill Street’s brewmaster Joel Manning and co-founder Steve Abrams (l-r) on Friday announced Labatt has bought the Toronto craft beer company. (CNW Group/Labatt Breweries of Canada)

Labatt buys Toronto craft brewer Mill Street

An award-winning Toronto craft brewer, famed as the biggest certified organic brewer in Canada, is now owned by the makers of Bud and Blue. Labatt Breweries, the Canadian arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev, announced Friday it has bought Mill Street Brewery for an undisclosed sum and will “immediately” invest $10 million in upgrades at Mill Street’s […] Read more

GrainCorp to boost U.S. malt output, target craft beer boom

Sydney | Reuters –– Australian agribusiness GrainCorp plans to nearly double output capacity at one its U.S. malt plants, to capitalize on soaring North American demand for craft beer. Typically produced by small, local brewers, the popularity of craft beers has grown rapidly in recent years in the U.S. as drinkers seek new tastes, with […] Read more