Spring
2016
grainswest.com
33
of Beer Canada. “With all of the interest in beer today, the
opportunity is there for brewers to trumpet the significant
benefits a successful beer category brings to communities
across the country.”
In an industry where international brewing companies
dominate production, distribution and marketing, the growing
demand for craft beer is persistent and disruptive. A 2015
report on liquor sales in Canadian restaurants found that,
while overall beer consumption declined by six per cent, craft
beer servings increased by seven per cent. Furthermore, craft
and microbrew beers now account for 17 per cent of all beer
at casual dining restaurants, according to market research
company NPD Group.
“Craft breweries raise the bar for beer,” Sherman said. “Once
you start down the path of enjoying craft beer, it’s an awakening
to what the possibilities are. You want more—more exciting,
more interesting beers—and never turn back.”
The unique flavour profiles and small-batch brewing that
characterize craft beer are difficult for the established large
breweries to reproduce.
“Not only is the average palate of beer drinkers becoming
more sophisticated, but the big breweries realize that there’s no
way for them to try to produce the same level of product in their
huge systems,” Sherman said. “The only other option for them
is to buy the craft breweries because every day they are losing
market share to craft beer.”
DIFFERENT PROCESS, DIFFERENT MALT PROFILE
The Crop Development Centre at the University of
Saskatchewan has been involved in malt barley breeding for
the past four decades. Over the years, it has targeted different
markets, including a significant focus on malting profiles catered
to larger brewers.
According to Aaron Beattie, oat and barley breeder at the
Crop Development Centre, he and his team have recently
started to focus more on the needs of the craft industry.
“Typically, the biggest difference between the larger brewers
and the craft industry is that craft brewers are making all-malt
beer where the barley malt is the only contributor to alcohol
content of that beer, as opposed to other sources of starch like
rice or corn,” Beattie explained.
“Where the enzymes in barley are responsible for breaking
down the starch into simple sugars in other grains, it means the
enzyme level in the barley malt has to be quite high. If all you are
using is barley malt, the enzyme levels don’t have to be that high.”
Canadian brewers source more than 300,000 metric tonnes
of malting barley fromWestern Canada annually. While craft
brewers only produce six per cent of the total volume of beer
nationally, they can use up to 25 per cent of domestic malt
barley in their brews. Craft brewers may not be a major driver in
new variety development yet, but their willingness to work with
new varieties could help create a market for them.
In 2015, AC Metcalfe and CDC Copeland accounted for 74
per cent of the total seeded acres of malt barley planted on
the Prairies.
“One good thing about the barley industry in general is there
is good communication between brewers, maltsters, growers
and breeders,” Beattie said. “Growers are looking for a change
in the varieties to get off of Copeland and Metcalfe, but they are
looking for a consistent signal that some of the new varieties will
be bought.”
From an agronomic perspective, Beattie is aiming for the
same set of traits across the board—increased yield, good
lodging tolerance, and resistance to fusarium head blight and
leaf diseases like scald, spot blotch and net blotch.
“AAC Synergy, CDC Kindersley and CDCMeredith are
HOW THE SAUSAGE GETS MADE:
At Tool Shed, you can enjoy a frosty pint in the brewery’s tasting room while you watch Alberta malt become
beer right before your eyes—emphasizing the connection between the ingredients and the final product.
