Western Australian grain growers are reminded this harvest to ensure malting barley is delivered in pure, single-variety lots to satisfy domestic and international malting barley markets.

Department of Agriculture barley industry development officer Alaina Smith said varietal purity needed to be maintained through the growing, storage and shipping phases to produce the best quality malt and beer

Ms Smith said the grain of each malting barley variety had unique levels of enzymes and other chemical properties.

“When malting a particular variety, the maltster will adjust the processing schedule to suit each variety,” she said.

“If a malt batch contains grain from more than one barley variety, the malting process is poorly regulated, over modification of the malt can occur, and beer processing is affected.”

Ms Smith said shipments of domestic and export malting barley could risk being rejected if they contained varietal impurities, and jeopardise the excellent reputation of Western Australian malting barley.

She said it was important for growers to ensure their barley was pure and the correct variety before delivery. Cooperative Bulk Handling and AGWEST Plant Laboratories offer varietal testing and purity analysis which can help with this diagnosis.