Matís and Þoran ehf will hold an introductory meeting for master brewers and other enthusiasts about malting and brewing on Wednesday 9 March at Matís' headquarters on Vínlandsleið 12 and the meeting will take place from 15:00 to 16:15.
Matís currently manages a project on the utilization of grain for food production, which is funded by the Northern Periphery and Arctic Program. The company Þoran is a member of the project. Participants come from the countries of the North Atlantic; Iceland, Norway, the Faroe Islands, Orkney and Newfoundland in Canada. The first period of the project has now ended and information and plans were gathered at a conference in Orkney at the end of last year. The main role of the project is the transfer of knowledge between countries and the strengthening of the economy in the Arctic. Among the participants, Orkneyingar is at the forefront of using grain from the Arctic for the production of alcoholic beverages, and at the conference they shared that knowledge, ie. cultivation of barley and its malting for the production of whiskey and beer. Matís' role is to disseminate this knowledge to companies in Iceland. At the meeting, instructions from the Orkneys will be presented, as well as possibilities for obtaining information from experts in the Orkneys. It is worth mentioning that Þoran's representative attended the conference in Orkney and received vocational training from a malting and whiskey producer, and he will talk about his presence there at the meeting.
In many countries, interest in regional foods has grown significantly. The increase in tourists is also important in this regard. In Iceland, there is interest in using these factors to increase income from the production of alcoholic beverages. It is also important how and whether malt can be produced from Icelandic barley. There is also reason to focus on hops, as Norwegians have been researching varieties of hops suitable for northern conditions for years, and they have also studied herbs that can be used to give new beers a specialty. The Norwegians' results will be presented at the educational meeting.
Cereal cultivation and beverage production in the Orkney Islands have deep roots. Orkney grain farming can be traced back to 3000 BC. The beverage industry is now very important for the islands' finances. Two companies that produce whiskey are very well known internationally: Highland Park Distillery and Scapa Distillery. Orkney Brewery and Swannay Brewery also operate in Orkney. There is a lot of interest in using the ancient barley variety Bere to give products a strong image uniqueness. The Bruichladdich whiskey producer has been producing whiskey from Bere barley with good results for several years, and bottles of it can currently be found at Keflavík Airport, among other places. The Arran whiskey producer has also got Bere barley from the Orkney Islands to brew. In the Shetland Islands north of Orkney is Valhalla Brewery which produces the beer Island Bere. Orkney's marketing is often based on the Vikings' heritage and is an example of very successful marketing.
For further information Ólafur Reykdal at Matís.