Thracian Malt

Thracian Malt is a Greek malt brand produced by Macedonian Thrace Brewery S.A., the Komotini-based brewer best known for its Vergina beer. The brand represents the company's move into vertical integration: rather than buying malt on the open market, the brewery built its own malting plant so that it could control the supply and quality of its basic raw material. The malting facility was developed in two phases, with phase one completed in 2014 and phase two, which doubled production capacity, completed in 2017. It is described by the company as Greece's first Greek-owned malting facility and one of the world's most technologically advanced. Thracian Malt is made from barley and water without additives or plant hormones, under strictly controlled temperature, humidity and ventilation conditions. The company positions it as suitable for breweries that adhere to the traditional German Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot). The malting plant is located in the centre of the cultivable land of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with 25,000 acres of barley cultivation reported for 2018. The company states that the strategic location and energy- and water-saving measures at all production stages have reduced CO2 emissions, reduced inputs and minimised environmental residuals, supported by integrated management systems (Agro 2.1, 2.2). The brand supplies dozens of independent breweries throughout Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. It is part of the wider Macedonian Thrace Brewery story: the company was established in 1996 by Demetri Politopoulos, an Athens-born chemical engineer and brewing specialist, and launched Vergina Premium Lager in 1998. The creation of Thracian Malt supported the company's aim of producing a 100% authentic Greek beer made with Greek raw materials, and it has become a supplier to other brewers as well as to its own parent company. Thracian Malt is a business-to-business ingredient brand rather than a consumer-facing beer brand. Its customers are breweries, and its offer includes bespoke malt solutions, competitive prices and long-term relationships. The brand is closely tied to the agricultural economy of Thrace and to the idea of Greek self-sufficiency in brewing raw materials.

Thracian Malt is the malt brand of Macedonian Thrace Brewery S.A., a Greek brewing company founded in 1996 by Demetri Politopoulos. Politopoulos, born in Athens, studied chemical engineering and earned an MBA from Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, USA, before specialising in brewing with a Brewing Technology Diploma from the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago. He chose Komotini, in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, for the brewery because of the high-quality water from the Rhodope mountain range and the region's strategic position close to European and Asian markets. The company launched Vergina Premium Lager in 1998. The decision to create Thracian Malt grew out of the brewery's desire to be self-sufficient and to control the supply and quality of its basic raw material. The company established its own malting plant, described as Greece's first Greek-owned malting facility and one of the world's most technologically advanced. Phase one of the plant was completed in 2014, and phase two, which doubled production capacity, was completed in 2017. The malting plant uses only water and barley, without additives or plant hormones, under strictly controlled temperature, humidity and ventilation conditions. The resulting Thracian Malt is supplied to dozens of independent breweries throughout Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. The plant's location in the centre of the cultivable land of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with 25,000 acres of barley cultivation reported for 2018, supports the brand's connection to Greek agriculture. The company states that energy and water savings at all production stages have reduced CO2 emissions, reduced inputs and minimised environmental contaminant residuals, through integrated management systems (Agro 2.1, 2.2). The brand forms part of Macedonian Thrace Brewery's broader goal of creating a 100% authentic Greek beer brewed in Greece by a company of Greek interests and made with Greek raw materials. Through vertical integration, the company extended its activity from brewing into malting, and Thracian Malt became both an input for its own beers and a product sold to other brewers. The brand offers bespoke solutions, competitive prices and long-term relationships with customers.

• 2018

  The company reports 25,000 acres of barley cultivation for Thracian Malt.

• 2017

  Phase two of the malting plant is completed, doubling production capacity.

• 2014

  Phase one of the company's malting plant is completed, producing Thracian Malt.

• 1998

  Vergina Premium Lager is brewed, marking the launch of the company's first beer.

• 1996

  Macedonian Thrace Brewery is established by Demetri Politopoulos in Komotini, Greece.

Greek-made, additive-free malt for breweries adhering to the Reinheitsgebot, produced with vertical integration and environmental management.

• Thracian Malt

  Greek barley malt made from water and barley without additives or plant hormones, supplied to independent breweries.

1. 1Malts - Vergina Beerverginabeer.com
2. 2History - Vergina Beerverginabeer.com
3. 3Thracian Malt - Wikidatawikidata.org