Fargo, North Dakota
May 8, 2008
An unfortunate truth that
producers know all too well is that not all barley makes good
malt and beer.
Although environment plays a large role in the production of
high-quality barley, starting with a good variety is essential
to producing a quality crop, barley breeders say. Producers
depend on existing varieties, but new varieties are needed for
various reasons: New diseases develop, environmental conditions
change, growing areas shift and new products are developed as
consumer habits change.
Yield is important to producers, while quality and homogeneity
of supply are important to end users. Regardless of the reasons
for developing new varieties, barley breeding is necessary to
ensure quality grain, malt and beer, breeders say.
Malting barley is essential to the brewing industry and all
stakeholders in the chain from barley to beer cooperate in the
breeding and testing processes. In the U.S., most programs
dealing with the development of malting barley are public and
associated with state universities or the USDA-Agricultural
Research Service (ARS). However, Anheuser Busch and Coors do
operate private programs.
The steps to develop a new malting barley variety can take up to
12 years to complete.
"Cooperation between stakeholder groups occurs in several ways,"
says Karen Hertsgaard, North
Dakota State University Institute of Barley and Malt
Sciences information specialist. "Financial support for breeding
efforts comes from industry and grower organizations. Evaluation
of field and processing performance is done by both public and
private organizations. All provide input on the release of new
malting barley varieties."
The federal government also supports aspects of barley breeding.
Examples include the USDA -- Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service-funded barley Coordinated
Agricultural Project (CAP) and the USDA-ARS- funded U.S. Wheat
and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI).
The barley CAP seeks to integrate and utilize state-of-the-art
genomic tools and approaches in 19 different plant breeding
programs throughout the U.S. The focus of CAP research is the
identification of molecular markers that will speed up barley
breeding efforts dramatically.
The goal of the USWBSI is to develop as quickly as possible
effective control measures that minimize the threat of wheat and
barley fusarium head blight (scab), including the reduction of
mycotoxins, through a national, multidisciplinary and
multiinstitutional research system.
Another key group is the American Malting Barley Association
(AMBA). It coordinates efforts between the malting and brewing
industries and public breeding programs through the Quality
Evaluation Program. The purpose of this program is to determine
the suitability of new barley selections as malting barley
varieties for production in the U.S. The AMBA supports an early
generation malting quality evaluation program for barley
breeders and basic malting quality research at the USDA-ARS
Cereal Crops Research Unit (CCRU) in Madison, Wis.
Early generation testing at the CCRU is followed by pilot scale
malting evaluations of more advanced lines by AMBA members.
Selections that show promise after two or three years of pilot
scale evaluation may be advanced to commercial evaluation.
Satisfactory results from plant scale evaluations are required
before a variety is recommended for malting and brewing by the
AMBA.
"New breeding lines are tested for a number of important barley
and malt quality factors," says Richard Horsley, NDSU barley
breeder. "Barley factors include plump kernels, moderate protein
levels and a high percentage of kernels that will germinate
uniformly and quickly. There are wide ranges of malting quality
traits that are tested. The ideal levels of many can vary,
depending on the beer style or equipment used to process the
beer."
"Barley malt for brewing needs to have the proper levels of
enzymes that break down starch, other carbohydrates and proteins
in the barley kernel," says Scott Heisel, American Malting
Barley Association vice president and technical director. "The
resulting sugars, peptides and amino acids become soluble in
brewing and are collectively referred to as malt extract. The
malt extract must have the proper color characteristics and lack
factors that could cause hazes or filtration problems in the
brewing process."
In final commercial or plant scale malting and brewing trials,
close attention is paid to additional quality factors. The malt
must have the proper quality attributes to move through the
brewery without any processing problems. It needs to yield a
beer with the desired color, foaming characteristics and alcohol
content. The final hurdle for a new variety is flavor. Many of
these brewing characteristics can't be adequately judged until
commercial scale trials are conducted. |
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