Malting Rice Could Brew New Markets for Arkansas Grain

The Problem

Arkansas produces more rice than any other U.S. state, including about half of the nation’s long-grain rice. However, long-grain rice exports have dropped from 50 percent in 2010 to 43 percent in 2024, creating a need for new domestic markets. Brewers who use rice in beer typically rely on milled rice, which requires additional processing steps and costs.

The Work

Researchers from the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences conducted a cost-feasibility analysis evaluating the use of malted rice in beer brewing. The team included Agricultural Economics Professor and Department Head Lanier Nalley, Assistant Professor of Food Science Scott Lafontaine, and food science graduate student Bernardo P. Guimaraes. They analyzed production costs, brewing potential and market viability for malted rice, building on earlier research that identified long-grain rice varieties with sufficient enzymatic activity for brewing.

The Results

The study found that substituting malted rice for milled rice could reduce beer production costs by 2 to 12% for large-scale brewers. Malted rice also yields more grain per acre than barley while offering equal or greater sugar extract potential, reducing required crop acreage by half or more. All-rice malt beer would be gluten-free and could be produced within a competitive cost range compared to other gluten-free alternatives.

The Value

These results suggest malted rice could give Arkansas growers a more sustainable domestic outlet to offset export losses, while offering brewers a cost-effective ingredient with unique flavor potential. Gluten-free beer producers, in particular, could benefit from a competitively priced malt that avoids flavor defects common in other alternatives. On a global scale, malted rice could serve as a viable brewing material in tropical and subtropical regions that currently import barley.

About the Researchers