On the heels of an expansion that established Blue Ox Malthouse as the world’s largest floor maltster outside of Europe, the Lisbon Falls, Maine-based malthouse was recently awarded two gold medals and Best of Show at the 2025 Malt Cup Awards.
Malt Cup, the seven-year-old international malt quality competition hosted by the Craft Maltsters Guild in collaboration with the Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab, is the only competition of its kind. Entries undergo three vigorous, points-based rounds of blind judging in specific malt style categories. In 2025, 34 malthouses from seven countries submitted 112 malt samples to the Malt Cup– the most entries ever for the competition.
The judges awarded Blue Ox with gold medals in the Light Munich and Caramel Malt categories for the floor malted Light Munich and Caramel 60 malts, respectively. Light Munich, which won bronze at this competition in 2023, is a character building malt for many beer styles that yields notes of lightly toasted bread crust rounded by a deep biscuity sweetness. Caramel 60 is Blue Ox’s darkest kilned malt, with notes of molasses, tobacco, and raisins.
Among the gold medalists, the Light Munich malt went on to win the Best In Show title for 2025 after the points scored in judging rounds superseded all other gold medalists. The team returned home to Maine with the traveling Malt Cup that’s prominently displayed at the malthouse alongside their now six total Malt Cup awards. Blue Ox has won two Malt Cup awards each year for the past three years, also scoring medals for their floor malted Caramel 20, Pale Malt, and Yankee Pilsner.
“This recognition is validation that we can craft world-class ingredients with Maine-grown grains, which elevate our customers’ products, our farmers’ hard work, and our community at large,” says Joel Alex, founder and CEO of Blue Ox Malthouse. “I am especially proud of the team at Blue Ox who kept our quality consistent amid a complex expansion. We look forward to competing again next year with new, innovative products!”
The Blue Ox team honors their partners at Porter Farms, Aurora Mills, & Farms, and other regional farmers for providing the foundation of their high quality products, and their hard working team whose commitment to consistent excellence makes these accolades possible.
Purchase Blue Ox’s award winning floor malted products by contacting orders@blueoxmalthouse.com.