Barley research expected to help beer brew better

Friday, 27 March 2015

Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), a subsidiary of SABMiller, and the University of Adelaide today announced a joint research initiative to investigate the impact of barley quality on key attributes of the brewing process and beer quality. 
 
Researchers from the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus will use state-of-the art technologies to improve the understanding of the barley grain. They will explore the impact that different climates and agricultural practices have on barley grain development in the field, and how this affects both the malting and brewing processes of beer. 

This understanding will allow brewers to ensure that malting and brewing processes are able to be adapted to get the best out of the grain.

“This is an opportunity to re-examine the composition of malting barley and optimise it specifically for modern brewing,” said Professor Jason Eglinton, University of Adelaide Barley Breeding Program Leader. 

“We are always developing new commercial barley varieties with improved malting and brewing quality traits. National field trials and quality testing will be used to examine environmental effects on parameters associated with processing and quality to be determined.”

Professor Katherine Smart, Group Chief Brewer of SABMiller, said that the brewer carefully selects barley and adapts its malting process to ensure that our recipes and brewing processes will always deliver the finest beers.

“This collaboration will enable us to understand more about this key cereal crop and the impact of growing conditions on its characteristics,” she said.

The Waite campus-based Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre for Excellence in Plant Cell Walls will look at biochemistry to provide new insight into the composition of barley and malt.

“We are excited to be able to utilise our research capability within the Centre of Excellence in the areas of malting and brewing with SABMiller,” said Associate Professor Rachel Burton, Centre of Excellence Program Leader. 

The research will have a commercial focus with samples, process data and technical input from CUB and the SABMiller group.

Contact Details