Canada Brand

Canadian Malt

The Essence of Excellence

Brewers call malt "the soul of the beer". Different malts give each beer a particular character and personality, whether it's a dark, rich stout to warm a winter's evening, or a light, friendly lager to cool the heat of a summer's day.

But a beer is only as good as its malt, and every brewer knows that to make the finest brew, you must use the finest malt, which in turn must be made from the very top grades of malting barley. And since Canada's malting barley is second to none, it is easy to understand why so many of the world's top brewers look to Canada for their malt supplies. It's also why Canada is the world's second-largest exporter of malt, with export sales averaging 500,000 tonnes annually.

There are as many different beer styles as there are countries, but because of the unique qualities of Canada's malting barley, Canadian malts can be used to make any type of beer. Our barley's assured varietal purity means that our malts have a more consistent kernel size than barleys from other countries, which means they can be more consistently milled. Brewing with Canadian malt, consequently, offers the brewer great flexibility in designing the brewing process. This makes it much easier to optimize yield and maintain performance, all while ensuring that the beer is of the highest quality.

Commitment to Quality

No Canadian barley is used in malt production unless it has passed rigorous evaluation by our malt producers—in fact, of all the barley grown by Canadian farmers, less than 25 percent is accepted for malting. But our quality control does not stop there. Once the barley is in the malt production process, it is constantly monitored by expert personnel to make sure it has the chemical and physical characteristics desired by the customer. The result is malt that never fails to meet the customer's expectations.

But there's always room for improvement, especially with a product that is so important to Canadian farmers and to the world's brewers. Our breeders are working continuously to develop new malting barleys that are superior in agronomics, disease resistance, and processing qualities to existing varieties.

Experience the Canadian difference

From planting to harvest, and from malt house to brewery, the Canadian malting industry has set its sights on quality, consistency and customer satisfaction.

For further information on our malting industry, please visit:

Government website

• Agri-Food Trade Service, Grains and Oilseeds
  http://www.ats-sea.agr.gc.ca/info/prod-eng.htm#Oilseedscerealsandgrains

Industry website

• The Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC)
  www.cmbtc.com   

Trade Statistics

The following tables represent Canada's total trade in a given export commodity based on Statistics Canada data. The product categories represent HS code groupings and have not been modified. In most cases, statistics have been presented at the 6 or 8 digit level. Statistics are presented in Canadian dollars and are complete through year end 2010.