GrainsWest Summer 2018

The Food Issue 2018 grainswest.com 35 beers were brewed with our own malt grown on our own farm. They are a direct reflection of the team we built, of the people who work here and call this place their own.” GENERATIONS IN THE MAKING The Hilton family has been growing high-quality malting barley for more than 40 years, but they’ve been working at the cutting edge of farming since emigrating from England more than a century ago. The multi-family farm is now owned and operated as Hilton Ventures by Spencer and Lynne, Meleah’s parents, as well as her brother Dane, uncle Sterling and his wife, Lianna. Together they carry on in the notable footsteps of Meleah’s now-retired grandfather Gordon, widely respected as a pioneer of no-till farming. Reducing soil erosion, the practice also increases the soil’s fertility as well as its ability to retain moisture and sequester carbon. Gordon is an inductee of both the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame and the Soil Conservation Council of Canada Conservation Hall of Fame. Carrying on this forward-thinking tradition, Spencer trained as an agronomist and continues to advance sustainability efforts and soil conservation on the farm. Having grown up on the farm, Meleah left to study animal Taking an innovative field-to-glass approach, the Hiltons and Geeraerts are growing andmalting barley for the craft brewing industry as well as brewing their own beers and operating a very busy rural taproom. Bags of Origin malt are stacked and ready for delivery to craft brewers across Alberta.