UK: Dual purpose malting barley varieties offer security in marketing options

As the breeders of the only two varieties on the recommended list with full IBD approval for brewing and malt distilling, Concerto and Odyssey, Limagrain UK believes that the focus on producing spring barley varieties that meet this dual requirement has benefitted growers by offering a security in marketing options, Farming UK reported on October 10.

This trend is set to continue with the introduction of four non-GN candidates Deveron, Sienna, Octavia and Olympus currently in recommended list trials.

Varieties suitable for malt distilling should be below 1.65% nitrogen, and non-GN, says Mark Glew, senior barley breeder at Limagrain.

Non-GN varieties include the version of a gene that makes them non-producers of the compound glycosidic nitrile. "It's a tiny piece of DNA, but it makes those particular varieties suitable. There are only a few of them, but they're the ones that are tested and supported by the distillers."

“Our malting barley breeding programme is geared to reflect the needs of both the brewing and distilling markets as whilst the distilling and craft beer markets are showing good growth, brewing is generally static or in decline across Europe. However, it is important that the varieties we bring to the market can be used in distilling as well as for domestic brewing and export.”

“Back in 2009, Concerto set a new benchmark for distilling varieties for quality and yield, and the popularity of this variety continues today based on its consistency of performance.”

“This is underlined by recent figures published on the Malsters Association of Great Britain (MAGB website), which show that ‘in the final collation of Scottish and English Spring malting barley purchases from the 2013 crop, almost half (42.9%) were made up of Concerto, followed at significantly lower volumes, by Propino (15.8%) and NFC Tipple(15.3%).”

Currently there are only two non-GN varieties on the RL with full approval from the Institute of Brewing and malt Distilling, Concerto and son of Concerto, Odyssey.

“With the launch of Odyssey in 2102, growers were offered a step up in yield of 5% over Concerto, which was enough of a difference to make growers want to try it not just in the UK but across Europe where its popularity is increasing,” he says.

However Mr Glew notes that since the launch of Odyssey there has been a lull in the market as no new non-GN ‘dual purpose’ varieties have been recommended.

This looks set to change, however, with the introduction of four non-GN candidates from Limagrain, Deveron, Sienna, Octavia and Olympus, all currently in recommended list trials.

“The first of these, Sienna is an exciting variety offering a 2 % higher yield than Odyssey,” says Ron Granger, technical arable manager with Limagrain. “Its robust disease resistance profile underlines its high untreated yields. Sienna has similar straw attributes as Odyssey with the same ripening date.”

Quality-wise the variety has excellent specific weight combined with low screenings. Mr Granger adds that it is important to note that specific weight is becoming an increasingly important characteristic for malting so this is a valuable characteristic for a dual purpose variety, adding that many varieties currently on the RL have low specific weight.

“Octavia, another high yielding non-GN variety, also has potential for malt distilling and brewing and is already in trials in France having performed well to date. Offering similar yields to Sienna, this shorter strawed variety also offers very good disease resistance.”

The third of these varieties, Deveron has proven itself to be consistently high yielding over seasons and regions with a 3% yield advantage over Odyssey. “Deveron is a short strawed variety with very good lodging resistance and straw attributes combined with a slightly earlier ripening date. The variety offers a good disease resistance profile for mildew, yellow rust and brown rust and similar ratings as Concerto for Rhynchosporium.”

Mr Granger adds that Deveron has the potential for malt distilling, as a result of its good specific weight combined with acceptable screenings.

“The last of the four varieties, Olympus is a potential Belgravia replacement, offering high yields with potential for malt distilling and grain distilling. The variety has performed very well in trials this year, yielding 108% - that is 6% over Odyssey.”

“Olympus has a very good disease resistance profile – showing an improvement over Belgravia. It is shorter in height than Belgravia but with similar straw characteristics and ripening. Quality wise it has a good grain quality with good specific weight and low screenings.”

Mr Glew believes that the market will decide which of these varieties will survive. “When we launched Odyssey, Overture and Chronicle we left it to the market to decide where the varieties would fit and the market very clearly chose Odyssey - we plan to do the same with these new varieties should they all be recommended.”

10 October, 2014