Page 14 - RealDirtENG2020

DID YOU KNOW?
Ice wine is a dessert wine made from grapes that have naturally frozen on the vine before being harvested? Canada is known around the world for having some of the best ice wine, as well as being the largest producer of the sweet drink.
Ice wine grapes on the vine
Wines, beers and other craft beverages
Some crops aren’t just consumed as food; they make excellent drinks too! Canada’s main wine-producing regions are in Ontario, British Columbia, Québec, and Nova Scotia, with over 600 wineries and growing47.
Cider, a fermented beverage made from apple or pear juice, is quickly becoming popular with Canadians, and many of Canada’s new craft cideries use North American apple varieties like McIntosh, Ida Red, Northern Spy, Gala and Russet in their products.
Craft beer is also popular, and there are farmers who grow specialty grain and hop varieties to help craft brewers to create unique types of local beer. In 2019, there were more breweries in Canada than ever before—and most are small, local businesses48.
A growing number of Canadian distilleries are now making specialty spirits, and even using milk to make vodka! And non-alcoholic craft beverages are emerging too, like kombucha breweries in Atlantic Canada. Kombucha is a zzy drink made using sweetened tea, fermented with bacteria and yeast, and contains antioxidants and probiotics, with potential health bene ts49.
Mike Pohorly/Grape Growers of Ontario
Career Pro le
Research Scientist
Dr. Alex Speers
The science behind the suds: Canada’s craft brewing boom has vastly expanded available beer choices for consumers. A good brew doesn’t happen by accident, however. In fact, it’s often the result of research by someone like Dr. Alex Speers.
Speers is a professor at Dalhousie University and one of Canada’s few scientists who specializes in brewing. In one of his current projects, he is piloting the suitability of different Canadian barley varieties to oor malting, the traditional and labour-intensive way barley was malted before the process became automated.
There is renewed interest in this ancient art from craft breweries and maltsters looking to create unique products, but according to Speers, there is little documented scienti c information about the process, and how it impacts fermentation, product quality and safety.
“Many craft breweries want to specialize in local production, so they want to source and process their barley locally, but local craft oor malting operations are limited and don’t have the resources or capacity that large maltsters do,” he explains. “Our goal is to provide the information and resources that will help craft brewers and maltsters succeed.”
Photo courtesy of Danny Abriel/Dalhousie University
DID YOU KNOW?
During the coronavirus pandemic, many of Canada’s distilleries quickly switched to producing much-needed hand sanitizer for local hospitals, businesses and other organizations.
QUICK
FACT
Cider was the rst alcoholic beverage produced and consumed in North America, arriving with the rst settlers in the 1600s50.
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The Real Dirt on Farming
Nancy French Photography