The Buildings of the Malting Industry is a fascinating book on the buildings that have helped make our much loved beer over the centuries. Malt is one of the main ingredients of beer, yet the buildings in which it was and is now produced have received very little attention, although most towns and many villages had their own malthouse and kiln. This is the first book to address the paucity of detail on maltings which historically were to be found in all English counties. Today evidence for a malthouse may just be a name on a building or street. However, where they survive the pyramidal roofs clearly demonstrate the presence of a malthouse as do other less recognisable features. This book gives details of early malt kilns and shows how they changed over the centuries. Early buildings were essentially vernacular ones but by the mid-19th century some firms were using specialist architects. Then in the 20th century there was more engineering input to new maltings, in particular with the development of the pneumatic process. This once widespread industry is now mainly confined to the eastern side of the country. Elsewhere surviving maltings have been converted to other uses and examples of these are given. There are illustrations of the exteriors and interiors of malthouses and kilns which show some of the developments and how some buildings have been reused.

This book gives guidance as to the types of building stock offering greatest potential for conversion, that are likely to be viable and sustainable. Chapters are contributed by key experts in the field.

Covering the history of the architecture of breweries, this account ranges from the country house brewhouse of the 18th century to the great breweries of Georgian and Victorian England, which reached their ornate peak in the 1880s and 1890s. It deals with the practical considerations that brewers' architects and engineers had to take into account, as well as the architectural styles and the decorative features employed. The author has also included a gazetteer of brewery architecture.

The British Malting Industry since 1830 is the first overall account of malting, dealing with the processes, products and sales, owners and employees, and with the evolution of what in 1830 were almost all small, local businesses. The industry provides a good example of the benefits and limitations, so typical of British industry, of family ownership. The modern malt industry has survived a series of crises and powerful foreign competition to become a significant exporter.

James Preston provides an illustraded history on malting and the malthouses in Kent.