Excerpt:

When it comes to beer ingredients, malt is often forgotten or dismissed, much like the old saying about winnowing chaff from grain. But Ron Silberstein, owner and founder of Thirsty Bear Organic Brewery, is putting his money on malt — and in a big way, by opening a first-of-its-kind local malting facility right here in Alameda.

This month, Silberstein will launch Admiral Maltings on the island’s former naval base. His goal is to produce 1,440 tons of malt in its first year of operations for independent brewers, which means enough for approximately 65,000 barrels of beer.

What’s truly fascinating is that Admiral is entering a malting industry that’s dominated by a handful of multinational companies. Also a factor is that the brewing industry is often more enamored with imported, experimental hops or funky, new yeast strains, not malt.