Australia: New South Wales researchers reap first harvest of new malting barley varieties

Industry and Investment New South Wales (NSW) researchers have harvested the first trial of barley varieties in their quest to create a new high-yielding barley variety with improved malting quality, The Land reported on July, 5.

Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute (WWAI) director, John Oliver, said the research was aimed at improving the availability of high-quality malting barley to brewers along the east coast of Australia.

“The new barley variety also has improved disease resistance and tolerance to the acidic soils prevalent in NSW,” Mr Oliver said.

For improved malting the key is to have more of the starch in the plant broken down to sugars during the brewing process.

But there are also proteins in barley that lead to undesirable effects on the storage of beer such as a chill haze or excessive foaming when the beer is poured.

Making better malting barley is a process of trying to have more of the good attributes from the starches and enzymes and less effect from undesirable proteins, Mr Oliver said.

I&I NSW scientists have been working on the project for four years.

“These varieties are being selected for their malting quality, but they have the potential to do much more than just improve the quality of our beer,” he said.

Their resistance to disease and adaption to the Southern NSW environment have the potential to open up new areas of the state to barley crops and give our farmers the option to tap into new local and international markets.

The barley research is run as part of the national body Barley Breeding Australia, the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia InterGrain P/L and I&I NSW.

07 July, 2010