DisplayTitle

​151. 5% > extract and more $ for brewers—Hulless barley malt a dramatic difference

Brian G Rossnagel, University of Saskatchewan

 

ABSTRACT: Hulless barley development has been a significant segment of western Canadian barley breeding and research programs at the Crop Development Centre (CDC), University of Saskatchewan; the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Brandon Research Centre; and the Grain Research Lab, Canadian Grain Commission for more than three decades. Since the CDC’s release of the first hulless Canadian variety Scout (a feed variety) in 1982, program emphasis has shifted to hulless barley for food and malting/brewing. The high performing, agronomically superior variety CDC McGwire (released in 1999) set the stage for and provided the baseline for further hulless malting barley variety development. CDC ExPlus and Taylor, with improved malting quality, were released in 2009 specifically as hulless malting varieties. These have been followed by CDC Clear (released in 2012), which demonstrates agronomic improvement versus the agronomic standard CDC McGwire and malting quality advantages versus CDC ExPlus and Taylor, having lower grain protein, lower malt beta-glucan, and increased malt enzyme activity. Malting and brewing research with other hulless malting prototypes and these varieties consistently demonstrates a dramatic improvement in malt extract. Even a 50% replacement of hulled malt can provide effective filtration results in a >2% extract increase. Combined with less spent grain and lower freight cost for barley and malt, these factors should catch the attention of cost-conscious brewers.