Quality

The potential of barley to meet malt quality standards has a huge impact on Montana’s economy. Barley farmers can receive twice as much for malt barley than barley sold for other uses.

For these reasons the MSU Barley Breeding Program has several projects focused on developing lines well suited to the Montana Environment which offer high potential for stable malt quality

High quality malting barley must meet the dynamic needs of several groups along the pipeline:

Grower's sweet spot:

high yield and adequate quality

-Growers lose revenue when their barley is rejected for malt due to poor quality

Paid by the bushel - so grower's want good quality and high yields

Primary reasons for rejection: high protein and/or poor plumps

-Causes for poor quality

-Too little water

-Too high heat

-Too much nitrogen

Maltster's sweet spot:

low protein, high plumps, adequate yield

-High Protein

Inhibits endosperm hydration, a key factor in malt modification

Takes more time to malt

Produces poor malt extract

-High plumps mean that barley kernels are ripe with starch and more likely to produce high extract

Brewer's/Distillers sweet spot:

high extract, low beta-glucan, enzymes proportional to desired use

-Extract to a brewer is similar to yield for a farmer

-Beta-glucan causes viscous worts which cause filtration issues

-Enzymes are needed to convert malt starches to sugars for fermentation