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The Story Behind Horton Ridge

Bringing Craft Beer back to its Roots

Horton Ridge is a unique business in Nova Scotia.  We are the only malt house in the province, and the only brewery that makes beers exclusively from malt that we make ourselves.  Malt is made from grain which, of course is grown on farms.  Horton Ridge is nestled among farms in the Annapolis Valley.  The steps from Grain to Glass are very short at Horton Ridge.

malt is the soul of beer

the malt house band plays every saturday

2504 Ridge Road Hortonville Nova Scotia

Our taproom is currently closed for a sit down pint.  We are open for the following times for take away can sales:

Mon-Sat: 10am - 5pm

Sun: closed

See ya for a pint when we have flattened the curve

What is Malt?

Malt contains the fermentable sugars necessary to make beer. Without malt there is no beer. Malt is made from grain, the most common being barley; however rye and wheat can be malted as well. Malting is essentially the process of germinating the grain, which triggers the conversion of starch to sugar. Malting has three main steps:

Steeping

The grain is placed in a Steep Tank and immersed in water for a period of time.  The water is then drained away allowing the grain to "air rest", and the grain is re-immersed, then drained again. Malsters performs as many immersion/air rest cycles as necessary to get the moisture of the grain to about 45%, while keeping the kernals viable.

Germination

The grain is placed in a Steep Tank and immersed in water for a period of time.  The water is then drained away allowing the grain to "air rest", and the grain is re-immersed, then drained again. Malsters performs as many immersion/air rest cycles as necessary to get the moisture of the grain to about 45%, while keeping the kernals viable.

Kilning

The green malt is placed in a Malt Kiln. The malt is then heated to drive off the free moisture for a period of about 24 hours.  Depending on the type (and colour) of malt desired, the temperature of the Malt Kiln is increased and the malt is further dried.  After the moisture of the malt has been reduced to less than 5% and the desired characteristics of the malt have been developed, the malt is cooled and bagged.

... and now we can make Beer

After the maltster has done his/her work, the malt gets shipped to the brewery.  (In our case, the that is a short trip, across the hall) The brewer coarsely grinds the malt, adds water creating wort, then "mashes in".  During the mashing process, more sugars are formed, and fermentation can occur.  Most of our beers are only lightly hopped, we want you to taste the unique flavours of our malts.  CHEERS!