Valley Malt Featured Farm: Thrall Family Malt

Thrall Family Malt traces its origins back to 1647, when William Thrall first began farming in Windsor, CT. For much of the farm’s history, the Thralls primarily grew tobacco. But about 8 years ago, Spencer Thrall knew it was time to diversify. “We were looking towards the future,” he says, “and trying to find other crops we could grow for the foreseeable future, and maybe the next generation could continue growing.”

The farm had already been growing grains, but only as a cover crop to maintain the fertility and structure of the tobacco fields. When Spencer began researching new crops, he connected with a number of brewers who were interested in locally grown grains and malts.

Thrall opened a malthouse in 2017, and now grows and malts winter barley, spring barley, winter wheat, spelt, emmer, oats, rye, triticale, and buckwheat. “Anything brewers need,” says Spencer. They began selling grains to Valley Malt in 2022, and in 2023 they purchased a farm in New Hampshire to begin expanding their grain production further. Their first NH-grown crops will be harvested in 2024.

In speaking with Spencer, farming for the future is a recurring theme. “Farming is what I’ve always done, and our family would like to continue doing it, and pass it along to the next generation.”

Valley Malt is proud to collaborate with Thrall Family Malt in building a sustainable and innovative Northeast grain economy that will support future generations of farmers. To learn more about all the farmers we work with, see our 2023 Crop Report.