Manitowoc declares itself the ‘Specialty Malt Capital of the World’
The Wisconsin city has been a center of malt production and brewing since the 1840s.
When visitors get off the car ferry in downtown Manitowoc, they are often greeted by the sweet and nutty smell of malt wafting through the air with the breeze off Lake Michigan.
It’s a common feature of the east-central Wisconsin city of roughly 34,500 people, which has a long history of malt production and brewing dating back over a century that has led to its being dubbed “Malt City.”
Nestled in Manitowoc’s downtown is a malt production plant, currently owned and operated by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. It produces 45 different kinds of specialty malt used to add flavor and color to beer, such as the dark chocolatey coffee flavors of stouts or the sweet graham cracker notes of a pale ale.
Briess is the world’s leading producer of specialty malt, which it provides to more than half of the country’s roughly 9,500 craft brewers, including the three located in Manitowoc. The city declared itself the “Specialty Malt Capital of the World” on June 11, hoping to put Manitowoc on the map for beer enthusiasts and to honor its longtime brewing history.
“We hope that it really helps make it clear to possible visitors that Manitowoc is a brew capital that they should add on to their travel itinerary,” said Courtney Hansen, the director of tourism for the city.
Manitowoc has been a center of the malt and brewing industry since as early as 1847, when German immigrant William Rahr built the malting plant that remains a feature of the city’s downtown skyline.
The plant has long been a visual reminder for residents of Manitowoc’s brewing history. In 1962, Anheuser-Busch bought the malting plant and eventually painted a mural of Budweiser bottles on its three malting silos that sit at the end of Washington Street, welcoming visitors to downtown.
When Anheuser-Busch decommissioned the plant in 2011, the community was worried. The Budweiser mural faded, and “it felt like a chunk of Manitowoc left,” said lifelong resident Nathan Schroeder.
Briess purchased the plant in 2014, and community members say the company has played a part in reigniting the city’s spark, especially after putting up their own mural on the silos in 2019 with a colorful blue-and-yellow depiction of Manitowoc’s lakefront skyline.
“When Briess came in and put the full color on there, that just livened everything up. Everyone just needed that little bit of rejuvenation,” Schroeder said.
While the city of Manitowoc is no stranger to the brewing industry, the city hopes the new designation as Specialty Malt Capital of the World will help make it more of a destination for beer lovers.
Since Briess moved in, more and more craft breweries have set up shop in Manitowoc.
Andrew Hogan opened Craft Creek Brewing Co. in downtown Manitowoc in 2022, and it uses Briess malt in about 90% of its recipes. He said being able to step outside your brewery and smell the malt you use just a few blocks away is a cool experience. It’s been beneficial having Briess in their backyard, Hogan said, because it feels like they are more accessible.
Craft Creek is currently developing a new hard root beer and has been experimenting with various Briess products, like their caramel and black malts, Hogan said, noting that when the brewery works on new recipes, there is a lot of collaboration with Briess on figuring out which malt is right for the idea.
“It’s pretty cool to have a malting facility right in downtown,” Hogan said. “It’s right smack-dab right there on the water. And then you’ve got the ships coming in with the malt grain, and you see people all just huddle up near the river and watch. It’s something different you don’t see anywhere else.”
Knowing that product made in downtown Manitowoc is filling beer bottles around the world is something to be proud of, Schroeder said.
Manitowoc’s downtown as a whole has gone through a transformation too. When tourists get off the ferry, they deboard right in the heart of downtown to not only the malting plant but also the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, dozens of shops and restaurants, walking paths, artwork, kayaking and paddleboarding, live music, pedal taverns, nightlife, ship watching and more.
“You got a lot of tourism coming right to the heart of downtown, so seeing Briess and the museum and all the storefronts and the murals really adds class and character to the city overall,” Schroeder said.
The city’s growing beer scene, amplified by the new title, will hopefully add to that vibrancy, residents and local leaders said. Hogan said they have a lot of out-of-town patrons, whether it’s visitors from other parts of Wisconsin or tourists from out of state. Signs will soon welcome visitors at the city’s entry points, too, letting them know Manitowoc leads the world in malt production. This year, Briess is hosting its third annual Malt City Brewfest, a tasting event that brings brewers from around Wisconsin to downtown Manitowoc.
“Having more breweries helps everyone, plus it brings people in, they enjoy it, and I think it just draws people in downtown,” Hogan said. “And a lot of people can come in and be like, Oh, I haven’t been to Manitowoc in 20 years, this place has really changed, there’s a lot more to do, there’s lots of fun things to do now.”
