Images Dated 17th September 2009

Maltings, Stowmarket MF98_01576_08

The Maltings, Station Road, Stowmarket, Suffolk. Interior view. Malt, the first process in the making of beer, is traditionally made in a floor maltings. The grain, usually barley, is first soaked in water in big tanks or steeps and is then spread out at a depth of about 30cm over the malthouse floors. When it begins to sprout it is transferred to a kiln where it is heated to stop it growing. Once nearly every town and village in England had a traditional malthouse: today fewer than ten are still in use. Photographed by Hallam Ashley in September 1970

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