WHEN farmer Angus McDowall was looking for an efficient way to crush his malted grains for his micro brewer customers, he took the advice of a friend... and bought a genuine Swiss Army mobile flour mill.

And when the mobile unit was delivered, he set about creating a unique mill which can be used to create both malt for breweries and also flour.

Angus, whose family have been farming Mungoswells, just outside Drem, for nearly 100 years, began looking into creating a maltings a few years ago.

He said: “We had a grain bruiser but when we switched it on the whole place shook.

“A friend of mine in Fife suggested the Swiss Army mill and at first I thought it was a joke, and asked, ‘Is that a real thing?’ “It turned out it was and I found a man in Dubai who dealt in army surplus and was selling one.” The mobile unit, which was built in 1977, was originally designed to go out in the field with the soldiers and provide them with flour to make bread and feed them during missions.

When it arrived at Mungoswells, Angus began designing a system of pipes and screens to hook it up, first for the maltings and then more recently for flour.

He said: “A lot of thought and design went into installing it and there was quite a bit of trial and error.

“Once we had the maltings going, we thought, well, it is a flour mill and began producing flour as well.

“It came in pristine condition with two of everything – even two brooms.” Mungoswells has 550 acres, of which 160 acres are organic.

Over the years, the McDowall family have grown a range of crops, from organic broccoli to spinach seeds; however, Angus decided to focus on the grains and maltings following a particularly wet summer in 2012.

He said: “It is a difficult industry and most farmers are thinking about diversification; I needed to think about diversifying into something different, that not everyone else was doing.” Mungoswells now has a list of customers, such as micro breweries who buy their malted grains, as few have the facilities to make their own.

Tirril – The Lakeland Brewery, based in Cumbria, recently gave the farm praise after driving across the Border to collect their malt.

They said they saw the maltings in operation, with barley going from field to bag in less than two miles, adding: “Now that’s what you call carbon neutral.” The farm started producing its first flours in October last year and brought them to Haddington Farmers’ Market for the first time last month.

Angus said: “One of the real appeals of our products is the fact we know exactly where the grains were grown and are able to process them on site, so it really is all done within the farm and our customers know where it comes from.

“It is an exciting venture and a new one and we are learning as we go.” Despite the Swiss Army mill still being on its wheels, Angus said there are no plans to move it again.

He said: “I did it once, bringing it here; now it is permanently installed and will not be going anywhere.” To find out more about Mungoswells products, go to www.mungoswells.co.uk Angus and his assistant Alison will be at Haddington Farmers’ Market tomorrow (Saturday).