Grainswest - Spring 2022

Spring 2022 grainswest.com 29 harvest fell through in part because the crop lodged and wasn’t of the quality Keith was after. The system was ready to go and the crop a winner in fall of 2019. The one-tonne capacity system wasn’t as efficient as he initially hoped and its first run produced just half a tonne of malt, but the quality was there. “The dairy drum worked really well, and we ended up with a very uniform product,” he said. The malthouse does double duty as the farm shop, and Keith built the first iteration of the malting rig on wheels so it could be moved around the space as needed. He continued with the small system for 18 months, but demand rapidly outgrew supply as Hammer took on new clientele. In the summer of 2021, Keith rebuilt the system around that second, larger dairy tank with its four-tonne capacity. Hammer’s 15-tonne annual output jumped to 25, with the goal to produce more than 60 tonnes in 2022. PRODUCT DEMAND Most Hammer clients are located within a one-hour drive of the malthouse. In keeping with the preferences of the craft sector, the Woynorowskis promote their malt as local, high-quality and exceptionally free of chaff. Derived from AAC Synergy, it is low in glycosidic nitrile, which also makes it desirable for whisky distillers. “We treat it like we are seed growers and only collect the best of the crop,” said Keith. “This increases the chances of producing a high-end malt tenfold.” The Woynorowski family grows malting barley entirely without the use of glyphosate. Though not an organic operation, aside from some recent flea beetle control in the farm’s canola acres, they typically don’t apply pesticides, period. The two quarters that supply the farm’s raw grain are worked as sustainably as possible, with limited nitrogen application and minimal equipment passes. Interestingly, these agronomic practices have not proven key sales features. While buyers certainly appreciate them, field traceability has been a somewhat bigger draw, said Keith. However, he has found simply opening a bag for a potential client, its apparent high quality clinches sales. Its performance in the malting and brewing processes have subsequently earned customer loyalty. “I never thought I would have to learn to write ladder logic [PLC software], but you do what you need to when you are running things on your own.” —KeithWoynorowski The expanding Hammer Malt product line includes base and specialty malts, with pale and Pilsner styles being bestsellers. Hammer also produces wood-fired special roast malts and peat-smoked malts. Similar to a coffee roaster, Keith built a wood-fired, drum- style roaster. Situated outside the malthouse, it imparts a subtle campfire quality that stops short of smokiness. “It’s like when you cook dinner over a campfire,” said Keith. “It just has that full-bodied flavour. It’s definitely unique.” He believes the malthouse is the only Canadian maltster to produce such products, as most use commercially available gas-fired systems. Yet another homemade rig, Keith also utilizes a smoker to produce peat and wood-smoked malts. The invention of this unit was particularly challenging, as it was tough to get the peat to burn at a continuous rate. With a great deal of time and effort, he devised an efficient proprietary system. He believes it is the only unit of its kind in Western Canada, and demand has multiplied. While the device has limited capacity, he has devised a means to smoke three tonnes of malt at a time in the large dairy tank. The Hammer Malt computer system, which Keith programmed, monitors and controls malthouse functions and allows him to focus on other farming duties.