Chesapeake Pilsner
Chesapeake Pilsner is a Pilsner-style base malt made from Violetta 2-row barley grown in Virginia. It came out of Riverbend's custom malt program and took bronze in the Pilsen category at the 2022 Craft Maltsters Guild Malt Cup.
At 1.8 to 2.3 SRM it is pale enough for the lightest lager, but there is more going on than in a commodity Pilsner malt. Bread crumb up front, a floral honeysuckle note, then a crisp green tea finish. That character is the reason to buy a regional craft Pilsner malt instead of an import.
Using Chesapeake Pilsner
- Riverbend publishes 50 to 90% of the grist.
- The floral note carries well in farmhouse ales and hop-forward lagers, so this is not only a traditional Pilsner malt.
- Award-winning: bronze, Pilsen category, 2022 Malt Cup.
- Also used in bourbon and single malt whiskey mashes.
Styles: Pilsner, Helles, hop-forward lagers, IPA, farmhouse ale, bourbon, single malt whiskey
Specifications
| Grain | 2-row barley, Violetta variety |
|---|---|
| Color | 1.8 to 2.3 SRM |
| Max usage rate | 50 to 90% of grist |
| Min extract (FG, dry basis) | 80% |
| Protein | 10.7% |
| S/T ratio | 40 to 45 |
| Min diastatic power | 100 |
| Min alpha amylase | 40 to 45 |
| Grain origin | Virginia |
| Awards | Bronze, Pilsen category, 2022 Craft Maltsters Guild Malt Cup |
| Bag size | 50 lb |
About Riverbend Malt House
Brent Manning and Brian Simpson founded Riverbend in Asheville in 2010, the first craft malt house east of the Mississippi. It is now the first Certified Regenified malt house in the world. Grain comes from family-owned farms inside roughly a 500-mile radius of Asheville, across North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and Florida. They still hand-rake grain on a traditional malting floor alongside modern germination-kiln vessels, and in 2025 they supplied more than 300 breweries and distilleries.