If brewers decided they want malt made from hulless barley, farmers would plant it in more fields than traditional barley varieties, says Brian Rossnagel.
The hulless barley breeder from the University of Saskatchewan has been monitoring new cultivars for their malting properties.
Hulless barley is most commonly used in hog and poultry feed formulations.
But new pressure mash filters now used in some European breweries could handle hulless barley, and could increase the extract by up to five percent. Rossnagel said a brewer told him a one percent increase in extract means an increase in net profit of $1 million (U.S.)
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He figures increased profits would make it feasible for brewers to buy the expensive equipment, and pay maltsters more for the malt made from the higher-priced barley. Canada would have a leg-up on competitors if this happens, said Rossnagel, since it has experience working with hulless barley.
Michael Edney, of the Canadian Grain Commission’s Grain Research Laboratory, has done some pilot-scale malting of hulless barley. By slightly modifying germination times and kiln temperatures, Edney said he made “fairly good malt.”
Kernel embryos of hulless barley are easily damaged during transportation, which could hurt germination levels. Current varieties also tend to have high protein content unsuitable for malt.
The first variety of hulless barley was registered in 1982, and 23 have been registered since. In 1997, farmers planted 750,000 acres of the crop.
Eventually, Rossnagel believes hulless barley varieties will account for 25 to 30 percent of barley acres.
