USA: High-yielding barley variety developed in Europe may fill critical need for the growing US craft beer industry
Limagrain Cereal Seeds officials say a high-yielding irrigated barley variety developed in Europe has performed well in Pacific Northwest trials and should fill a critical need for the growing U.S. craft brewing industry, Capital Press reported on July 2.
Bred by Limagrain U.K., Genie has the attributes craft brewers desire but have trouble finding, given that most U.S. malts were developed for the American lagers that dominate the market.
Mass-produced American lagers typically use sugar from secondary sources, such as corn or rice, called adjunct brewing, requiring different malt specifications.
Limagrain Chief Operating Officer Frank Curtis said a few hundred acres of Genie are being raised in Idaho and Washington, both for seed and commercial malting, and 120 acres were planted in Colorado. Curtis said a small malting company in Fort Collins, Colo., has contracted for some Genie, and Great Western Malting Co. has also been evaluating Genie.
“We are hoping to go to several thousand acres of malt production next year,” Curtis said.
Most large, U.S. brewing companies require malt high in free amino nitrogen, providing the energy to ferment supplemental corn or rice sugars.
In all-grain craft brewing, however, residual FAN contributes to undesirable flavors. In addition to having lower FAN, Genie has high extract, yielding more beer per pound of malt, and low beta glucan levels and viscosity, enabling hot water to filter through grain at the ideal timing.
Curtis said the predominant craft variety now available is CDC Copeland, which is best suited for dryland growers and doesn’t yield well. But Genie has shown good disease resistance and has ranked among the top yielders in University of Idaho trials.
Limagrain chose Genie after evaluating 50 advanced European malting lines and entered the variety in American Malting Barley Association trials in 2012 and 2013. Great Western saw promise in Genie and malted a large batch of 2014 crop for further evaluation.
If there’s commercial interest, Curtis said additional Limagrain craft lines in development — LCS Overture, LCS Odyssey and LCS Pilot — could be two years from entering the market. Another 70 lines are a year behind them.
“We are intending to provide the industry with a steady product flow,” Curtis said.
Curtis said 14 breweries from Washington state to Kansas made special beers with Genie, serving them at a June 9 event in Fort Collins. He plans to repeat the demonstration next year in Idaho. He’s also scheduled to serve a beer made with Genie and UI Stone wheat at a July 15 field day at University of Idaho’s Aberdeen Research & Extension Center.
CHS Primeland in Lewiston, Idaho, is the sole distributor of this year’s Genie seed and will offer additional seed to partnering cooperatives next season, said Kevin Whittaker, the company’s seed plant manager.
“We’re thinking it’s going to be a big boomer for us that the maltsters will be after, especially Great Western,” Whittaker said. “Not only is it a good barley, but it out yields some of the good feed barleys out here. It’s going to be good for our growers.”
03 July, 2015
