MALTING QUALITY TRAITS - Canadian Malting Barley Technical ...

Chapter Seven
Once selected, all of a station’s barley samples are forwarded to malt industry labs or the GRL
for malting. Prior to malting each sample is sized and only the barley remaining on top of a 6/64”
(2.38 mm) slotted screen is malted. Suitable quantities (i.e. 500 grams, dry matter) of each sample
are malted in automated micro-malting equipment.
Each participating laboratory uses its own malting schedule to process the barley.
The use of different malting schedules results in additional information on malting
characteristics of the lines. Schedules are similar to commercial practices although certain aspects
of the schedule, such as kilning, may be more severe to rigorously test the samples. For example,
at the GRL, samples are steeped for 48 hours, germinated for 96 hours and kiln dried for 48 hours.
Malts are tested for quality using the following tests: friability, fine grind extract,
soluble protein, soluble protein to total protein ratios (S/T), wort viscosity, wort
b-Glucan, diastatic power and α-Amylase activity. Tests are standard methods of the
American Society of Brewing Chemists. Results from malt analysis are used
by the quality team of the PRCOB to determine which lines have potential for registration.
The Subcommittee identifies first year Co-op entries that they feel show
sufficient quality to warrant further Co-op testing. These selected first-year entries are also entered
in a separate subsidiary, the Collaborative program.
Collaborative Pilot-scale Malting Trials
The Collaborative program involves large plot sizes and about 10 growing stations.
The larger plots result in more commercial-like conditions for seeding, growing and
harvesting the barley. A major aim of the program is to grow commercial quality grain.
Commercial grain must be plump, bright, have a low protein content and high
germination. The Collaborative program is administered by the Brewing and Malting
Barley Research Institute (BMBRI). The BMBRI is funded by the malting and brewing industries of
Canada with a mandate to support malting barley development in Canada. The BMBRI organizes
the growing station sites, arranges for seed delivery and conducts tours of the plots each summer.
Small quantities of samples from each site are forwarded to various representatives of the malting
industry. These malting labs test the barley for selectability with an even higher quality standard
than the Co-op test. Once a station is deemed selectable, the barley is forwarded to industry and
GRL labs where it is cleaned and sized. Once again, only the barley remaining on top of a 6/64” (2.38
mm) slotted screen is malted. In most cases, the barley is malted in pilot-scale equipment, which
allows for larger batch sizes than the micro-malting equipment used for the Co-op test. Because
of the larger batch size, pilot-scale equipment simulates commercial conditions more closely than
micro-malting equipment. The malt is produced and analyzed in a manner similar to that used for
Co-op testing, although conditions are more commercial. Generally, experimental lines require two
years of Collaborative data which, in conjunction with the two to three years of Co-op data, are used
to decide a particular line’s suitability for registration.
Recommended Malting Barley Varieties
The Recommended Malting Barley Variety List is relatively new to Canada. The Variety List
indicates which registered malting varieties have established markets and are known to produce
quality commercial malt. The information on the Variety List helps seed companies, seed growers
and producers in deciding which varieties to supply and grow in the coming year. The list is reviewed
each fall by the CMBTC, who are responsible for the list. The 2012-2013 List (Figure 1) is the tenth
list developed by the CMBTC.
A registered variety must be commercially acceptable before it is granted
recommended status on the Variety List. This means that the variety was malted and
brewed in plant-scale trials where processing was carefully monitored. In many cases, newly
registered varieties are contract grown through arrangements of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB),
BMBRI, and Prairie producers. This is often the first time the variety is grown under commercial
conditions. If the harvested barley is of selectable quality, it is delivered to a domestic malt plant
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