Grainswest - Spring 2023

Spring 2023 Grains West 36 FEATURE “They add colour and character to dark beers.” They will soon introduce malted oats to the product line, which adds coveted haziness and body to New England IPAs. Each month they deliver 25-kilogram bags and 250-kilogram totes to Edmonton and visit Calgary twice. The Establishment is their biggest client, but new customers have come onboard in recent months. “Everything’s growing faster and faster,” said Aaron. “We’re a small malthouse. We’re not trying to become millionaires. There are better business ideas for that,” said Aaron. While they know their business is not a get-rich-quick scheme, the Hogarths are keenly aware of the inherent lifestyle strengths it provides. Their malthouse is a stone’s throw from their home, and extended family members on both sides live nearby. Connected to their community, they donate a portion of sales to local charities. On the economic side, they produce a premium product for a sector that demands the best kind of creative self- indulgence. It’s hard work to produce this high-quality malt, but the job satisfaction is built in. This was obvious as Aaron and Alex sat and discussed their operation over beer from their own taps. They laughed often, gently chided each other over differences of opinion and finished each other’s sentences. Both Aaron and Alex perform most malting duties, though Aaron handles more of the lab tests, such as germ viability and grain moisture content, and Alex takes on the greater share of paperwork. “We’re salespeople, delivery people, maltsters and lab geeks,” said Aaron. The couple’s three school-aged children are also slowly learning to perform malting tasks. Aaron grew up in Lac la Biche near his family's Wainwright farm. Several years ago, while he worked in Edgerton as a master brewer at Ribstone Creek Brewery, which won several Canadian Brewing Awards, he often spoke with A maltster and master brewer, Aaron Hogarth handles much of the lab analysis necessary to produce the business's malt products.