At the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Oklahoma Grassroots Rural and Ag Business Accelerators Demo Day, Associate Farm Editor Reagan Calk had the chance to visit with the owner of Cimarron Maltworks, Jeffrey Cole.
The Oklahoma Grassroots Rural & Ag Business Accelerators program is a collaborative rural development initiative from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and national and state-level partners developing Oklahoma-based innovators creating ideas, technologies, and products creating economic Opportunities in rural Oklahoma.
Cimarron Maltworks participated in the Active Oklahoma cohort, which connects rural entrepreneurs and innovators with resources from Oklahoma’s world-class business development community to build an even brighter future for rural Oklahoma. With roots in rural Oklahoma and a mission to help innovators reach new heights, Activate Oklahoma helps local hometown visionaries bring their ideas to life all across our state.
Cimarron Maltworks is an Oklahoma-based malthouse. Malting is the process of converting barley or other cereal grains into malt for use in brewing, distilling, or foods, and takes place in a malting, sometimes called a malthouse or malting floor.
“We buy raw materials, barley mainly, from the farmers, and we take it through a process called malting, so we are basically allowing the seed to germinate, and we halt the germination process while there are pink sugars within that seed, and that is what is called the malting process,” Cole said. “It becomes malt. Malt is the raw material that beer producers and breweries use to make beer.”
Cole said the company’s main goal is to integrate winter malt barley into Oklahoma.
“Spring malt barley is on the decline in the U.S., and what we are looking at is winter malt barley,” Cole said. “We have new varieties of winter malt barley that are popping up all the time and being developed around the world.”
Cole also added that Oklahoma has the perfect climate to grow winter malt barley.
“What we are doing is advocating for those varieties, presenting them to farmers, and asking farmers if they are interested in growing them,” Cole said.
Cole said that one incentive for farmers is extra profits for growing barley.
“We are not paying a commodity price; we are paying over commodities,” Cole said.
For questions and more information about Cimarron Maltworks, contact Jeffery Cole at jeffrey.cole85@gmail.com.
