NAKED LAUNCH
BY PETER WATTS
Hulless, or naked, barley refers to varieties in which the loosely adhered outer hull is removed at harvest. In Canada, these have typically been developed for the food sector with special attributes such as high fibre or anthocyanin content. Eleven two- and six-row hulless food varieties are currently registered in Canada. Breeders have also developed hulless malting barley varieties.
Registered in 2012, CDC Clear is one such hulless variety developed for malting and brewing purposes. However, challenges with quality characteristics of the malt including high beta-glucan content and low friability meant that CDC Clear was never broadly adopted by the industry.
In 2024, new hulless malting barley varieties CDC Armstrong and CDC Pristine, developed by Aaron Beattie at the University of Saskatchewan, were approved for registration. Both display significant improvements in beta-glucan levels, friability and significantly higher extract. A key parameter sought by the brewing industry, higher extract delivers more sugars for fermentation. Additionally, CDC Armstrong is a low glycosidic nitrile (GN) variety, which makes it suitable for distilling. GN is the precursor of ethyl carbamate, a potential carcinogen that forms during distillation. The new varieties also produce improved grain yield comparable to older hulled varieties. Both tend to accumulate lower levels of DON mycotoxin, which tends to reside in the hulls that are removed during harvest. Work is underway by the Canadian Grain Commission’s Grain Research Laboratory (GRL) and the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC) to test the malting and brewing performance of these lines.
Despite the advantages of hulless malting barley, processing challenges exist in the malt plant and brewery. During malting, the absence of hulls tends to result in compaction of the grain during germination, the second phase of processing. This creates issues with airflow and ultimately the modification process that renders the barley ready to be brewed. Brewers must use alternative processing methods. When standard malt is used during the second stage of brewing, known as lautering, the hulls are used to filter particulate matter, such as milled malt, from the sweet wort stage of the process. This process can’t be used with hulless malt, but brewers have options. These include the use of hulled and hulless malt in combination to maintain the filter bed.
Another option is to use a substitute a medium such as rice hulls in the filtering process. Brewers can also use an alternative system called a mash press. This equipment employs bladders that are squeezed under pressure to increase extract potential. Most breweries are not equipped with a mash press, but new builds increasingly install them for higher efficiency.
Work by the GRL and the CMBTC advances our knowledge of how to effectively process and overcome challenges with hulless barley. In addition to higher extract levels, beer made with hulless malt may have desirable sensory attributes. This includes a lower level of compounds found in the hull that create astringency, a dry and bitter sensation. Overall, such malt may improve the shelf life of beer and spirits.
Hulless barley shows promise, but much work is required for its successful commercialization. Once micro and pilot trials optimize processing methods, commercial malting trials will begin when the hulless malt supply is adequate and a willing processor steps forward. This may happen in the next six to 12 months.
The development of hulless barley in Canada, from breeding to processing, illustrates how the industry can develop innovative solutions. This will ensure barley is a competitive cropping option for farmers and Canada remains a leader in quality and innovation in the malting barley field.
Peter Watts is the CMBTC managing director.
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