The growth and excellence of Alberta’s craft brewing and distilling industry is a testament to the western entrepreneurial spirit and high-quality barley produced by Alberta farmers working with the land and community for generations.
Red Shed Malting, the first craft malthouse in Alberta and the first malt roaster in Canada, also came from this history of vision and commitment.
It began with the dream of Bernard Hamill and his family, emigrating from Ireland more than 90 years ago to take up farming near Penhold in central Alberta. Today, John Hamill, grandson of the founders, and his wife, Susie, manage Hamill Farms along with their two sons, growing red wheat, canola, oats, peas and barley. In 2014, the fourth generation of Hamills deepened their family’s connection to the business community and started Red Shed Malting to malt the grain they were growing.
“My brother, Joe, was doing some homebrewing when Alberta announced the end of minimum production laws,” said Matt Hamill. “That made it much easier to open a craft brewery in the province. About the same time, Olds College started its Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program, and we recognized an opportunity to get into the industry.”
We can make malt taste like breakfast cereal or give it a nutty, chocolate, coffee or caramel [flavour].
Matt Hamill, Red Shed Malting
The two entrepreneurs toured operating craft breweries and soon learned there were no real options to obtain locally sourced, traceable malt. “Usually, they had to import speciality malts from the U.S. or Europe. So true to our roots, staying within the farm, we started our own malthouse. We researched, talked with industry experts, attended the [Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre] Malt Academy and set up business in a red shed on the farm,” said Matt.
Just as the farm, Red Shed Malting grew as part of a close-knit family. Joe, the younger brother, runs the operations: malting, roasting, testing, cleaning, bagging and product development. Joe’s wife, Daelyn, takes care of marketing, social media and their three mini maltsters. “My brother has been looking after production since Day 1,” said Matt. “I had an outside job for the first seven years, but now I’m full-time in the company.” Matt is also a maltster and is the first point of contact for brewers and distillers who want to learn about Red Shed Malting products.
Almost 30 years ago, John left his “outside” job to farm full-time with his father, taking his part in the family legacy. “Dad [John] runs Hamill Farms, but also helps us in the malt house, especially with setting up the equipment in our recent expansion,” said Matt. “Our mom, Susie, is the office manager, overseeing logistics, shipping and delivery details, as well as accounting.”
The close connection between Hamill Farms and Red Shed Malting ensures access to the high-quality grains for crafting local, sustainable and traceable base and specialty malts – an important consideration for marketing to today’s consumers.
Canada is one of the largest barley-producing countries in the world, and most of the grain comes from the Prairies, with Alberta growing the majority. The land is suited for growing grain with its black chernozemic soil that is particularly good for malt barley. Just far enough north to provide long, warm summer days, soft, cool evenings and the correct number of frost-free days in the growing season, barley grown in the area is of exceptional quality.
Matt is proud to note that Red Shed Malting is helping not only brewers and distillers, but also other Alberta farmers. “Only about 20 per cent of the barley grown in Canada today is selected as high enough quality for malt; the other 80 per cent is used as livestock feed. Certain varieties of barley are better for malting, so through our business, we’re encouraging more farmers to grow those malt varieties that they can sell at a premium.”
The science of malting
It begins with the grain. “On the farm side, the barley growing season goes from spring to the fall harvest when it’s stored in large grain bins,” said Matt. “That’s when we test to determine if it’s good for malting.”
A visual test picks out any discoloured grains, disease, mould or foreign objects. Next, the germination test determines if the grain is “alive” and moisture sensitive. If the grain passes and contains the correct amount of protein, it goes to an off-site cleaning facility. Back at Red Shed Malting, the malting process begins, transforming starches in the grain into enzymes and sugars, making the grain ready for fermentation and adding a particular flavour to the mash.
An interesting new direction we see distillers in Canada and the U.S. taking is adding roasted malt into their whisky, opening up a whole new range of flavours.
Matt Hamill, Red Shed Malting
The first step of the malting process is steeping, soaking the grain to bring it from about 13.5 per cent moisture content to 44 per cent, a process that takes 48 hours with two or three wet cycles and air rests in between. During a wet cycle, the grain absorbs oxygen from the water, helping initiate growth in the kernels. In a rest cycle, carbon dioxide, which can kill the kernels before germination, is removed. Upon reaching the desired moisture level, the grain begins to grow steadily and uniformly.
It then goes into the germination drum where it begins to grow as complex sugars break down inside the kernel cell walls. Over the next four days, enzymes needed for the brewing process increase while others that are less beneficial are reduced. Steady airflow and moisture levels are carefully maintained, which is critical to ensuring an even growth rate. Rootlets emerge, and to avoid tangling and inhibiting even airflow, the germination drum gently rotates, mixing and stirring the malt. Once the acrospire (the grain sprout) reaches three-quarters the length of the kernel, the kilning process begins.
Over the next 24 hours, the grain is dried with warm air to halt the process and make it shelf stable. It is at the end of this kilning cycle when different flavours and colours of malt are developed through manipulating temperature and airflow to bring the malt to the desired finished product.
The art of malting
For the darker malts – the chocolate, caramel, coffee flavours and aromas – the base malt undergoes one more session in the drum roaster. Small batches are loaded into the roaster as it rotates to prevent scorching on the hot metal shell. Red Shed Malting has developed its range of flavours by playing with temperatures and time – a delicate balance of science and art. At the correct moment, the malt is pulled from the drum to the cooling tray.
“In a typical beer recipe, 80 to 90 per cent will be base malt and the rest specialty malt,” said Matt. “Base malt provides the sugar that is fermented into alcohol; specialty malt has a greater impact on flavour and colour. We can make malt taste like breakfast cereal or give it a nutty, chocolate, coffee or caramel [flavour]. We’re currently making 15 types of malt, but also provide custom roasted malts as requested. For example, we work with Blindman Brewing in Lacombe, and do a couple of special roasts for them. One adds a certain flavour to one of their core beers and another recreates a historical malt style for a specific beer.”
Red Shed Malting recently finished a major equipment expansion to meet their growing customer base. “We’ve put in a whole new malting system that allows us to offer a fuller range of specialty malts so brewers and distillers can make 100 per cent Canadian options. We are tilted a bit more towards brewers at the moment, but do have some distiller customers and that’s an area we’re looking to expand into – distillers making single malt whisky.”
Barley and beyond
Aside from the different flavours and aromas that are fine-tuned through the malting process, different barley varieties have unique characteristics as well. Red Shed Malting will help customers taste and experiment to discover what barley variety will work best for their product. “An interesting new direction we see distillers in Canada and the U.S. taking is adding roasted malt into their whisky, opening up a whole new range of flavours,” said Matt.
Barley isn’t the only grain that Red Shed Malting works with. “Because Alberta has a rich history in rye whisky and a number of brewers use rye in some products, we plan to have malted rye available in the first half of 2023,” said Matt. “Wheat and oats are other grains we’re working with. Brewers and distillers buy oats as it’s a grain that changes the mouth feel of a product.”
We’ve put in a whole new malting system that allows us to offer a fuller range of specialty malts so brewers and distillers can make 100 per cent Canadian options.
Matt Hamill, Red Shed Malting
Custom malt/toll malt is available to accommodate those breweries and distilleries that already have a close relationship with a farmer in their area with Red Shed Malting playing the connector and assisting with lining up testing to ensure the grains meet the exact standards for malting. Most of the malt is packed into 50-pound bags, sometimes a one-ton tote if requested, loaded onto pallets and trucked to a brewery.
Matt said, “Ninety per cent of our malt goes to Alberta, but we are shipping more and more to B.C., Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and we have a surprising amount going north into Whitehorse in the Yukon.”
Coming back to the land and the community
Environmental sustainability measures begin at the source and at Red Shed Malting that means on the farm where they rotate through the crops in each field to help reduce disease pressure, improve weed control and soil health. Sustainability is also built into the malting process.
“Our new equipment substantially decreases the amount of water we’re using,” said Matt. “On comparable products, we can do one less wet cycle during the steeping process, which really cuts down on water usage. During transfer from steeping to germination, we recirculate some of the water to help push malt through as a slurry and that also saves water.”
Another by-product of malting benefits local livestock farmers. Malt rootlets are very high in protein, which is useful to local farmers for feed. Also, brewers and distillers usually take their spent grain and give it to farmers for feed. Hard work and making the most of what you have is the foundation of the farming mentality, and Red Shed Malting has grown out of Hamill Farms’ continuing commitment to the land and its community, working together to build a strong future.
