The Department of Agriculture’s Hamelin malting barley variety has been officially classified as General Malting after two years of commercial malting and brewing trials conducted by the Western Malting Barley Council.

Hamelin was developed by the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia and the GRDC with support from the Western Malting Barley Council.  It has been malted by Joe White Maltings and brewed by the Kirin Brewery in Japan and Carlton and United Breweries’ pilot brewery, performing well at all stages of the malting and brewing process.

Western Malting Barley Council Chairman Steve Tilbrook said it was pleasing to see Hamelin perform so well and the upgrade was timely for growers planning next year’s cropping program. 

“The classification of Hamelin as malting grade is a significant step forward in the development, growth and marketing of high quality barley varieties from WA,” Mr Tilbrook said.

“Delivering premium quality barley which consistently meets the exact specifications demanded by international customers is paramount to successfully placing WA grain into markets.

“The classification of Hamelin as malting grade will open new opportunities and create value for WA growers.  It is expected to be well received by international barley markets, particularly China and Japan.”

Department of Agriculture barley breeder Chengdao Li said the Hamelin variety was a medium maturing barley intended to replace Stirling as a malting barley option in the medium and low rainfall areas of WA’s grainbelt.

“Hamelin is versatile over many growing conditions and produces grain with consistently good size, weight and protein content and has a bright, intact husk, producing an excellent malt product,” Dr Li said.

“Hamelin has shown good brewing performance and the production of good quality, flavour and appearance of packaged beer throughout the malting and brewing trials.

“The successful development of this variety has been made possible by the collaboration of the whole industry working together towards a common goal.

“We look forward to continually working together with industry partners on the research and development into malting barley varieties that meet the changing needs of Western Australian growers and international customers.”