Olds (Rural Roots Canada) – Crop research organization Western Crop Innovations (WCI) is increasing its ability to test the quality of malts with the recent addition of a micro-malt plant, which includes a germinator and kiln.

Lori Oatway is the research scientist for crop quality for WCI.

She says they are excited to have a custom-built micro-malt unit installed at the Olds College Brewery. This will allow them to take advantage of the college’s brewing and create an opportunity for students to interact with our program.

“Currently, we are one of the only breeding programs in Canada that can do everything from an initial cross to a final beer production, which allows us to do sensory and some advanced testing before it goes into the marketplace,” says Oatway.

Oatway says the mico-malt unit consists of a steepened germination chamber and a kiln.

“It takes the barley grain, or actually whatever grain that we want to malt, and it increases the moisture content from dry and a stable stasis, I guess, into about 40, 45 per cent moisture.”

READ MORE: Canadian Farmland Values Rise in First Half of 2024: FCC

At that point, the seed starts to germinate, and it continues to germinate in moist air with the occasional rotation of the sample so that they don’t become root-bound.

After four to five days, it is transferred to a kiln, which dries the sample and gives it some caramelization, depending on the malt they make.

“This machine is unique in that we have to transfer it from a steep germination chamber into a kiln. A lot of the other micro-multers are just all in one. But moving it to this kiln gives us an advantage because it forces the air right through the sample and gives us a better representation of a true kilning in a commercial operation.”

Oatway says this unique, custom-built unit will cut the time in the kiln by almost half compared to other units, meaning they will be able to run more samples for a breeding program.