Perth

Perth Maltings is located in Welshpool, an inner southeastern suburb of Perth, which is a major hub of industry in Western Australia.

Situated approximately 13km southeast of the Perth CBD, Perth Maltings was first commissioned in 1978. Now solely under the control of Barrett Burston Malting (GrainCorp Malt), the malt house has an annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes.

Perth Maltings comprises two floors of 7x cylindro-conical steeping vessels, 4x Saladin box germination vessels, and a two-floor circular kiln. Perth Maltings also has the capacity to store 12,000 tonnes of malt, and 10,000 tonnes of barley, a percentage of which is purchased directly from local farmers.

State-of-the-art computer control from barley intake through to barley cleaning, processing, storage and outloading of the finished malt, ensure that precise processing parameters are achieved to give a consistent, quality product.


Plant Manager – Michael Ryan

Production Capabilities

Barley intake is conducted through road train deliveries, via either grain suppliers, or purchased direct off farmers by the Raw Materials department of Barrett Burston Malting.

At Perth Maltings, the conversion of barley into malt begins at the steeping vessels where cleaned barley is subjected to steeping programs of up to 19 hours. At the completion of the steeping program, the batch is conveyed to one of the four conventional germination boxes where it remains for four days of germination. Kilning completes the process and is carried out over 37 hours across the two floor circular kiln.

The entire plant is computer monitored and is designed for maximum economy in the utilization of all resources.

  • Batch size 155T.
  • On-site malt storage 12,000T.
  • Two on-site weighbridges.
  • Two floor circular kiln.
Barley Receival
Strict control is applied to all incoming barley. Raw material quality control encompassing varietal purity, appearance, protein content, moisture and screenings content is closely monitored for adherence to our malting barley specification.

Prior to the barley being used in process, it is cleaned via a shaking/vibrating screen and indent cylinder separation. The incoming barley is also tested for its germinative energy and capacity

Steeps
Batch size is 155 tonnes with a 19hr maximum steeping cycle.

Steeping configuration incorporates 7 x 22.2 tonnes capacity conical steeping tanks with multiple immersion steeping, aeration and CO2 extraction across two floors. The steeping program and steep temperatures are monitored continuously and controlled via the Citect computing system.

Steeped grain is dry transferred to the germination boxes by a series of belt conveyors.

Germination
The plant runs four Saladin germination boxes with up-draught ventilation, each box holding one batch. Temperature control is maintained through a chilled water cooling system with a warm air recirculation facility. The germination phase of the process is typically four days in length.
Kilning
After germination the malt is transferred to the kilning stage of the process via a drag chain conveying system. One batch is kilned in the upper floor of the kiln for 18 hours to remove the free moisture from the malt, before being discharged to the lower floor for a further 18 hours of kilning to remove bound moisture and development of colour and flavor characteristics of the malt. Direct fire low NOx natural gas burners are used to fire the kiln and are strictly monitored and controlled by digital programmable controllers. Total kilning time is typically 36 hours.
Storage
Onsite bulk malt storage capacity is approximately 12,000 tonnes via gas tight concrete silos and metal holding bins.
    Address

47 McDowell St
Welshpool WA 6106

    GPS Coordinates

South: 31° 59′ 41.449”
East: 115° 58′ 6.502”