Barley research at Adelaide University means new malts, more stability for beer makers

CRAFT beer makers, rejoice — a range of different flavours and malts are within grasp thanks to a scientific breakthrough that could also mean big things for the big brewers.

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ADELAIDE scientists believe they can make better beer using new varieties of barley.

They discovered a new way to influence a key ingredient in brewing, paving the way for greater stability and new malts for craft brewers.

The University of Adelaide researchers showed how malts are influenced by a component of barley grain called aleurone.

More aleurone equals more malting enzyme activity.

Associate Professor Matthew Tucker believes breeders and geneticists will be able to make use of natural variation to select for barley varieties with different amounts of aleurone and hence different malting characteristics.

“This will be of interest to large brewers who depend on stable and predictable production of malt, and also the craft brewers that seek different malts to produce beer with varying characteristics,” he said.

Barley is the state’s second most important cereal crop and contributes more than $2.5 billion to the national economy mainly through beer and other drinks.

The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.