ABM Wallingford & Abingdon. Brewing School visits 1968 to 1969
Associated British Maltsters - Wallingford and Abingdon
Visit by Brewing School students – 26 Feb 1969
Wallingford maltings
Built in 1961 it is one of the largest of ABM’s maltings. There are six Saladin boxes with two Wanderhaufen turners. Not all grain being malted was for the brewing industry, some lower grade malt was produced. Some malt is exported in sack but for the home market it is dispatched in sack or bulk. Generally a poor harvest this year nitrogen percentage up to 1.9-2.0%, brewers will not accept above 1.62%.
Steeping for approximately 48 hours with air rests, 12 hours wet, 8 hours dry, 14 hours wet and 10 hours dry. The grain in the cisterns appeared to be of lower quality due to the presence of non-cereal material. Three rows of aeration pipes are fitted, choice of much aeration or channelling the same amount of air through fewer but larger holes to increase agitation.
Pieces in boxes are moved by the turner, the actual transfer of the grain from place to place allows very good aeration. Additives are used and added to well drained grain so that the grain takes most of it up. Potassium bromate around 100ppm and GA 0.2ppm used. Germination takes 108 hours, the product was perhaps slightly under modified. Water is sprayed after 24 hours to keep moisture to 42%.
Kilning for 27 to 28 hours, operators do moisture analysis to assess kilning period. Temperature reaches 200oF. Final moisture is 1.8 to 2% but that soon increases before reaching the silos. Burners are coal fired and the coal has quite a high sulphur content giving a clean looking malt without the need to burn sulphur under the kiln. The entire system is limited and inflexible considering the capital tied up. The next overhaul of the Wanderhaufen turners presents a major programming problem. These turners have tended to crack the concrete of the boxes and require a good deal of manpower to change lanes. British Rail is used for some traffic mainly for Guinness but there were reports of poor service and indifference on the part of the railway.
Abingdon maltings
Abingdon is a drum type maltings adjoining an old floor maltings which burnt down last November following an electrical fault. The same number of men now operate only the drum side. They allow 60 hours steep time plus 120 hours germination but usually this full-time is not taken up. 150 quarter drums (four in total) are each fed from two cisterns. Turning every 12 hours when moist when the maltster thinks necessary. Drums are discharged through a single central port. Drum malting is favoured by ABM and further plants will be of this type.