Malt & Grain

Barley grows in Canada mainly in the prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, not in Ontario itself. So when you drink a beer in Toronto, you're usually tasting malt that traveled a long way before sprouting in the malthouse and landing in the brewhouse. Ontario, by contrast, grows a lot of corn and wheat, and both grains show up in the province's recipes.

Malting means soaking the grain, letting it sprout briefly, then drying it in the kiln so the starch turns into sugar later during mashing. The higher the kilning temperature, the darker and toastier the malt. A pale Pilsner malt is kilned gently and tastes of crackers and fresh bread, while caramel malt brings sweetness and color.

Muskoka Cream Ale shows the other side of the coin. According to the BJCP, a Cream Ale is a clean, pale American-style beer in which brewers often use corn or rice alongside barley malt. That lightens the body and softens the flavor, without roasted notes.

Between barley and glass in Ontario also lies the question of scale. A corporation like Labatt buys malt in enormous quantities and blends it into a consistent base. Small breweries like Muskoka work with smaller batches and more often select their malt deliberately by variety, a difference you can really taste between lager and ale.

The mashing process itself is the same for everyone. The crushed malt is mixed with warm water, enzymes in the grain break down starch into fermentable sugar, and the clear, sweet liquid that drains off afterward is called wort. With corn in the mix, it stays pale; with roasted malt, it turns brown to black.