Our Finest Maris Otter® Ale Malt is prized all over the world for the incredibly rich and moreish ales it helps to create. Our brewers tell us it is always flavourful, easy to brew with and returns that characteristic malt body that has made it famous over more than 50 years of barley cultivation.

Bred at PBI in Cambridge by Dr GDH Bell, Maris Otter® is a cross-breed of Pioneer, a winter barley variety, and Proctor, a spring variety. Dr GDH Bell would have been hoping for a fine malting barley when he put the two together, but even he might have been surprised to know his legacy’s extent. This barley variety was taken up by Crisp Malt farmers from the very beginning, since the barley thrives in the chalk soils and moist sea air of the North Norfolk coast where original maltings are located. 

Tony Bambridge has been farming Maris Otter® barley on four hundred acres of North Norfolk land for 40 years, just 18 miles from our Great Ryburgh maltings. Find out more about why our part of the world is so special in the growing of this heritage Maris Otter® barley.