Dr. Bob Kratochvil, University of Maryland, Extension Agronomist
The craft brewing industry in Maryland and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region is growing rapidly. As of August 2017, the Brewers Association of Maryland reported 61 member breweries with another 25 planned. Consumers of locally produced craft beers desire having those beers produced using malted barley and hops grown on Maryland farms. This interest has gotten the University of Maryland involved in field research to evaluate the performance of locally growing both these beer inputs. Under the leadership of Mr. Bryan Butler, Carroll County Extension Agent who partnered with Flying Dog Brewery, an investigation about the performance of locally grown hops is occurring at the Western Maryland Research and Education Center. This report focuses on the other ingredient, malting barley.
Until recently, there has been a major disadvantage for the local production of malting barley. This disadvantage has been the lack of a local malting facility forcing those who produce malting barley to ship it out of state to get it malted. This is changing with the construction of a large malt plant by Proximity Malt in Laurel, Delaware and two small-scale craft malting plants in Howard and Harford Counties owned and managed by Maryland entrepreneurs. To learn more about the performance of malting barley produced locally during the past two seasons, the University of Maryland, with funding support provided by the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, has been a participant in the national Winter Malting Barley Variety Performance Test.
Thirty winter malting barley varieties and breeding lines representing six public and/or private breeding companies (Table 4) were planted at the University of Maryland’s Central Maryland Research and Education Center – Clarksville Farm on October 6, 2016. The entries, including 5 check varieties, consisted of 22 two-row types and 8 six-row types (Table 1). A randomized complete block experimental design was used with each entry replicated three times. Each plot was seven rows spaced 6 inches apart and 18 feet in length. Seeding rate was 20 seeds/ft2. Emergence was excellent and good stands were established by late fall with the crop in good condition as it entered winter. The winter of 2016-2017 was relatively mild which resulted in only a handfull of the entries experiencing 10% or more stand loss due to winterkill (Table 1). In general, precipitation was less than normal during the winter and early spring with very little snow fall received. Spring greenup occurred earlier than normal and resulted in the earliest entries heading by mid-April (Table 1), an outcome that was about 10 days to two weeks earlier than average. Harvest occurred on June 13, 2017. Yield, test weight, and other agronomic variables measured are reported in Table 1. Seed from the three replications for each entry was combined and a subsample of approximately 1 pound was sent to the Michigan State Malting Barley Laboratory for quality testing. Quality characteristics are found in Table 2.
Four of the top ten entries for yield (Table 1) were checks (McGregor, Thoroughbred, Wintmalt, and Endeavor). These four varieties averaged nearly 115 bu/acre. The performance for the 6-row variety, Hirondella, is of note because it had yield of 135 bu/acre exceeding the average for the four previously mentioned checks by 20 bu/acre. Local maltsters and craft brewers have indicated a preference for the two-row type malting barley. The two best performing 2-row varieties during 2016-2017 were Calypso and Violetta, both marketed by Limagrain. Both had good agronomic (Table 1) and quality performance (Table 2) characteristics. Calypso has performed comparable to the check varieties McGregor and Thoroughbred during the past two seasons (Table 3).
1Winter survival is a measure of the amount of stand that is present as the crop begins to greenup in the spring.
2 Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) is an aphid vectored disease of cereals.
3 Head date is an indication about variety maturity.
4 & 5 Powdery mildew and leaf rust are two of the most common fungal diseases observed in Maryland. The rating is 0-9 with 0= no infection and 9 = the flag leaf 100% covered with disease.
6Lodging score is rated between 0 and 9 with 0 = no lodgng and 9 = all plants are flat on the ground. In general, amount of lodging for 2017 was small.
7Test weight is one measure of grain quality. It indicates how well the kernels filled during grain-fill.
1 %Plump measured as amount that remains on 6/64 Sortimat screen. An amount of 90% or greater is desired.
2 %Thin measured as the amount that goes through 5/64 Sortimat screen. An amount less than 3% is desired.
3 % Protein is measured on the dry matter basis. Maltsters prefer malting barley with less than 12% protein.
4,5,6, and 7Germination measures. Energy 4 ml and 8 ml indicates ability of barley to germinate with minimal and excessive water. Capacity refers to viability of kernels and their potential to germinate at some future date. Water sensitivity is the difference between 4 ml and 8 ml germination. A value >20% indicates excessive sensitivity to water and malting process must be adjusted.
8RVA (Rapid Visco Analyzer) is used to measure amount of pre-harvest sprouting that is present. A value >120 units indicates very low amount of pre-harvest sprouting.
9DON (deoxynivalenol) is mycotoxin that is formed when Fusarium infection has occurred. Most maltsters will reject barley with >1 ppm DON.
