ADC Conference & Trade Show: Highlights
Matt Hamill of Red Shed Malting.
Matt Hamill, maltster at Red Shed Malting in Penhold, Alberta, spoke on the topic of distillers growing their expertise in local and heritage grains.
First, he encouraged distillers to "think like a farmer," describing the issues that farmers will consider if you approach them to grow distiller's malt or other local grains for you. For instance, concerns such as considering the economics of growing barley for malting (versus for feed, or other crops), what the local climate will allow, crop rotations (wheat, barley and rye all make good rotation crops, and rye is often used for wintering over in regenerative agriculture) and managing risk (such as whether you have to pay if the grain doesn't meet your specifications).
Hamill also enumerated the benefits of working with a local farm that has history and credibility, operates with traceability and can help you and your products get exposure in the vast national farm media.
Hamill also spoke in detail about varieties of wheat and barley for malting, and resources such as "cheatsheets" on various websites that included resources for grain testing, links to Canadian crop reports and production estimates, grain prices, regional grain varieties and more.
Finally, Hamill spoke about kiln profile and resources for custom malting, including his own company's capability for doing custom distillers' roasted malts.
Conference attendees have access to many full password-protected presentations from the conference (password protected).