Commercial Malting Equipment for Breweries and Distilleries

Commercial malting equipment is an industrial production system used to convert raw brewing grains — primarily barley but also wheat and rye — into finished malt through a controlled three-stage process: steeping (water activation), germination (enzyme development), and kilning (moisture removal and color/flavor development). It is suitable for craft breweries, commercial breweries, distilleries, and independent malt houses that want to produce their own malt on-site to control raw material quality, achieve recipe-specific malt profiles, and manage long-term ingredient supply chain costs. ZR BREW’s system is available in customizable capacities with full engineering design support.

The system is designed primarily for malting barley — the standard base grain for beer brewing and whiskey distilling — and can also be configured to process wheat malt, rye malt, and other specialty grains used in craft beer recipes and artisan spirit production. Please confirm your target grain type, required malt variety (base malt, crystal malt, roasted malt), and target batch output when requesting a quote so our engineering team can specify the appropriate germination bed size, kilning temperature profile, and control parameters.

Yes. ZR BREW supports complete custom engineering of the malting system, including total batch capacity, steeping tank volume, germination floor or drum dimensions, kilning chamber size, heating method (steam or hot air), and control system type (PLC automatic or PID semi-automatic). Whether you are building a small on-site malting station for a craft brewery or a large-capacity malt production facility for a commercial brewery or distillery, our engineering team will design the system to match your available floor space, production volume, and project budget. 2D and 3D layout drawings are provided.

The malting system supports both PLC automatic and PID semi-automatic control configurations. The PLC automatic system enables programmable control of steeping water exchange cycles, germination temperature and humidity setpoints, turning mechanism intervals, and kilning temperature ramp profiles — allowing operators to run consistent, repeatable production batches with minimal manual intervention. The PID semi-automatic option provides process monitoring and parameter adjustment for buyers who prefer hands-on process management at a lower system cost. Control component brands including Siemens, Schneider, and ABB are available on request.

Before ordering, buyers should confirm the following with ZR BREW’s engineering team: ① target malt production capacity per batch or per day; ② grain type and target malt variety (base malt, specialty malt, roasted malt); ③ available floor space dimensions and ceiling height for layout planning; ④ local power supply voltage and phase standard; ⑤ preferred heating method (steam or hot air) and whether an existing steam supply is available on-site; ⑥ preferred control system type (PLC automatic or PID semi-automatic); ⑦ whether installation and commissioning support is required. Providing these details allows our team to prepare an accurate engineering proposal and equipment quotation.