Brewing Premium Beers with Simpsons Finest Golden Promise™
The Malt Mashed Around the World!
In a world full of brewing malts, there are few varieties with the longevity, name recognition, and brewers’ adoration of Simpsons Finest Pale Ale Golden Promise™. We all know that storytelling is a key part to brewing (or at least selling) beer, and boy does Golden Promise – or as Surly Brewing Company endearingly refers to it: GoPro – have a story to tell. In this article we look at the backstory of this heritage barley and talk with brewers from Roosters Brewing Company (UK), Surly Brewing Company (Minnesota), and Maui Brewing Company (Hawaii). They share personal love stories about Golden Promise as well as practical advice for its use in your brewhouse.
Golden Promise: Not Fade Away
Golden Promise is a heritage variety of Scottish barley. It was first released in the UK in the 1960s, where it became revered for its distinct brewing and distilling qualities (which we’ll hear more about from modern brewers in this article). You might not know this, but barley varieties tend to have a short lifespan due to constant advancements in plant breeding and technology, and by the 1980s Golden Promise was poised to be phased out of production. But there was something special about the malt, and its flavor characteristics had become essential to popular British beers including the seminal Landlord and Boltmaker ales from Timothy Taylor’s. In fact, the Simpsons website quotes Andy Leman, head brewer at Timothy Taylor & Co, Ltd., as saying, “No other malt gives the same exceptional flavour to our beers that Golden Promise provides, and that’s why we’ve used it for over 40 years.”
With this motivation, Simpsons Malting saw an opportunity to secure the long-term supply of the high-quality variety, and then-chairman and barley farmer Simon Simpson OBE started to grow the barley on his farm. In 2015, seeing the rise in popularity of Golden Promise among American craft brewers, Simpsons committed even further to guarantee the availability and survival of Golden Promise and became the Plant Variety Rights holder. Fast forward another 10 years to 2025 and brewers all over the world turn to Simpsons Golden Promise for a wide variety of beer styles from traditional cask ales to modern hop bombs. We spoke with brewers from across the globe to get their thoughts on this special malt.
Where the Malt is a Source of Pride
Roosters Brewing Company | Harrogate, UK
For Oliver Fozard, brewing with Simpsons Golden Promise is as much about celebrating the beer traditions of the UK as it is about innovating hop-forward flavors of modern American styles. When his family took over the renowned Roosters Brewing Company in 2011 they inherited recipes that had been brewed with 100% Simpsons Golden Promise for more than 20 years. Fozard didn’t have much experience brewing with Golden Promise at that time, but he knew it well from his “gateway beer,” Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. He has since grown to appreciate the variety like no other malt.
“It’s a great malt to project hops onto, especially New World and American hops,” said Fozard. “If you take Cascade as a single hop, and then put a single malt Maris Otter versus a single malt Golden Promise, Golden Promise offers a much sweeter and maltier backbone to the beer that you could then balance bitterness and flavor onto. It became clear to me that Golden Promise is perfectly suited for the Pale Ales and IPAs that Roosters was known for, and we still make today. It does feel almost like there could be 2-3% of a specialty malt present. It is eye-opening what you could achieve with this single malt, especially for beers that are produced for both can/keg and cask.”
Roosters definitely know about hops. The brewery was grown on Yankee Pale Ale, made with 100% Golden Promise and Cascade hops. Their Yorkshire’s Best is a British Bitter built off a blend of Golden Promise and small percentages of Simpsons specialty malts. It features traditional English hops First Gold and Challenger in the boil, with a finishing dose of the old but rediscovered variety Ernest for notes of tropical fruit and sweet candy. Then there’s Baby-Faced Assassin, a rockstar IPA that has driven the brewery’s more recent growth. A SMASH beer with serious oomph, Baby-Faced Assassin features 100% Golden Promise and Citra hops in a 6.1% ABV beer available in cans and kegs, and served on cask at the brewery’s taproom.
“In beers where it’s stand-alone or blended with other lighter specialty malts, the malty sweetness creates a lot of harmony,” said Fozard. “I’ve found with darker beers I didn’t notice as much of a benefit. And, of course, it is a premium malt. If you aren’t going to taste as much of that character, it might not be worth it. Why pay a premium for low-color malt just to cover it with dark malt flavors?”
Over the last few years understanding the historical footprint of Golden Promise has made it even more endearing to Fozard. Especially considering that within a couple hours of leaving his brewery he can be standing in a field of Golden Promise. “It is very unique to where we are,” he said. “This is the first year I’ve gone up to Berwick to visit the maltings. Richard Simpson took the day off to guide me around, which was very nice. Going out to the field, meeting the growers, seeing the trial plots, learning exactly what it means to Simpsons. It gave me a much deeper appreciation and fascination for all that’s been done for this variety.”
Aggressive Beer Built on a Foundation of Golden Promise
Surly Brewing Company | Minneapolis, MN
Surly Brewing Company may love Golden Promise more than anyone. The brewery has a dedicated bulk silo for the malt, and VP of Brewing Operations / Head Brewer Ben Smith refers to it intimately as “GoPro.” As Surly prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2026, Smith tells us GoPro is as important to the foundation of the brewery as anything else. “It started with my predecessor Todd Haug, who’s a big fan of Simpsons Golden Promise and other heritage barleys. Back In 2006, it was a point of differentiation from other regional breweries. There’s also a sense of pedigree to that malt. I think Todd’s mindset at the time was: We’re using quality imported UK malt. We’re not taking the easiest or cheapest route. We want to do something that sets us apart.”
Ultimately, Smith says, it’s about what fits the beer. Furious and Bender were the first two beers to come out of Surly’s brewhouse. Bender being an Oatmeal Brown Ale and Furious being whatever Furious is. (Is it a mega-hopped Amber Ale? Red IPA? Midwest IPA? It still defies style to this day.) In 2006, those beers were considered fairly aggressive, both in bitterness and hop-forward flavor. Surly chose a base malt that could stand up to that, and give the same mouthfeel and impact that the hops provide, for true balance to the hop-heavy beers.
Over twenty years, the malt has become a cornerstone for Surly beers – some hoppy, some not so much – including the year-round favorite Axe Man IPA, the cult-favorite Darkness Russian Imperial Stout, and many other styles and one-offs like Chai Caramba! Chai Latte Milk Stout, Galactic Descent Hazy IPA, and Whalezbrah! Funky Wheat Ale. And, of course, the 4% ABV Simpsons Scottish Ale, which Surly was tapped directly by Simpsons Malting Company to brew in collaboration with RahrBSG to showcase the debut of Simpsons’ DRC® (Double Roast Crystal) malt at the 2015 Craft Brewers Conference in Portland, Oregon.
“I used Golden Promise a lot as a homebrewer,” said Smith. “I’ve always liked the malt. It’s flavorful without being too intense. You get a good mouthfeel, nice barley flavors, a bit of biscuit-y note. Coming to Surly and growing into the role I’m in now, I truly fell in love with it. It’s so versatile and easy to use. And, if you’re doing lower ABV beers it helps with body. Most 4% ABV beers are going to run into issues with being too light on the palate. GoPro can boost that. I don’t know if it’s the protein characteristics or what, but the mouthfeel on GoPro seems to be more present than if you’re using 2-Row.”
A Premium Product for Premium Beer (and Whiskey!)
Maui Brewing Company | Maui, Hawaii
Meanwhile, on almost the other side of the world from Simpsons Malting HQ, James Newman jokes, “If I could use Golden Promise 100% of the time I would, but my boss won’t let me. That’s just the cost of brewing in the middle of an ocean!” Newman is Brewing Manager at Maui Brewing Company on the Hawaiian island of Maui where, as you can imagine, getting malt from the UK comes with its logistical and budgetary hurdles. He’d never brewed with the malt much before coming to Maui Brewing in 2020, but has since become a big fan of the malt. While Maui doesn’t use it in every beer, the recipes it does land in are often special releases well-suited for the premium product. (Fun fact: the brewery’s sister distillery Kupu Spirits also uses Simpsons Golden Promise in the production of its award-winning whiskey.)
“It’s hard to make a bad beer with Golden Promise,” said Newman. I consider it more like a pale ale malt opposed to Rahr The Brewer’s Standard 2-Row. It gives you a fuller flavor and [more] character without being overbearing. We use it when we want to add more backbone to a beer and accentuate maltiness. We’ve done a lot of collaboration IPAs over the years with different hop vendors and farms to feature specific hop varieties. That’s where I most enjoy using Golden Promise, at about 50% of the malt bill. It works well with American hops from the Pacific Northwest, which are robust and can be pretty strong. Golden Promise holds up to them and balances the assertive hops with a maltier backbone.”
When it comes to use in darker, more malt-forward beers such as the brewery’s in-state exclusive Imperial Coconut Porter, Newman says Golden Promise provides not only malt complexity, but more roundth – not cloying, just the right amount of body. [Ed. note: Yes, this man just dropped the term roundth and we totally get what he’s saying!] “While chocolate is typically the most roasty malt we use at Maui,” Newman said, “I do think Golden Promise would work well with even more roasty malts to help them come off a bit less aggressive, smooth them out a bit.”
Imperial Coconut Porter is brewed with Golden Promise alongside brown, chocolate, and crystal malts, and then infused in the brite tank with upwards of 1,000 lbs per batch of coconut exported from the Philippines for a decadent 9% ABV sipper of a beer. The brewery even makes adult ice cream floats using the beer at the brewery. Sounds good? Book your flight now!
When we asked Newman if he had any parting words of advice for brewers new to using Simpsons Golden Promise, his mind went back to the beginning of the brewing process. “Make sure you adjust your mill before using it. The kernels are slightly bigger than your standard 2-Row. If you’re not on top of it, you might have some jams in the mill and a few headaches.”
We’re always excited to talk with brewers about unique heritage malts like Simpsons Finest Golden Promise™. Tag RahrBSG in your Golden Promise brew day pics and videos. To add the malt to your next order, contact your RahrBSG Sales Rep. Cheers, and stay golden!
Learn More
Golden Promise: The Complete Story of This Heritage Malt (Simpsons Malt)