Grainswest - Winter 2022

Winter 2022 Grains West 40 FEATURE ld World malting barley genetics may soon be available to Alberta farmers, brewers and distillers in search of trademark flavour characteristics and carcinogen- free chemistry. Western Canadian crop breeders aim to produce barley varieties that have very low or non-existent levels of glycosidic nitrile (GN). Common in the plants we eat, this organic compound is also a precursor to the production of the carcinogen ethyl carbamate (EC). With barley, GN develops during malting. Distillation of alcohol derived from this malt can produce varying levels of EC. Because EC has the potential to cause cancer, it is regulated in many countries. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency monitors alcoholic beverages for EC content and a product could be recalled if it contains more than the designated limit. Despite the regulation of EC in beverages, modification of GN was not targeted by Canadian breeding programs. In the U.K., however, all barley destined for production of single-malt whisky is non-glycosidic nitrile (non- GN). Farmers there have several well- adapted non-GN varieties to choose from. Certain Canadian craft distillers look to emulate the U.K. practice and employ non-GN barley. Certain of these businesses import non-GN malt. Home- grown, non-GN barley varieties would potentially be of value to the Canadian distilling industry. The founder of Anohka Distillery in Parkland County, Gurpreet Ranu attests to this. In his first production run, Ranu will use 100 metric tonnes of Canadian malt produced by Rahr Malting and 25 metric tonnes imported from the U.K. Ranu would seriously consider the use of Canadian produced non-GN barley. “I would probably move away from imported barley altogether,” he said. While there are ways to limit the production of GN in the malting process and EC in the distillation process, these methods are less certain to produce GN-free results and more complex than simply starting with non-GN malting barley. “We can try to reduce the risk, but these are chemical reactions we can’t monitor in real time,” said Ranu, about the use of barley that contains GN. “We have to hope and pray all the precautions we take prevent the formation of ethyl carbamate in our final product. No distiller wants to produce carcinogens in their spirits.” To the potential benefit of farmers and distillers alike, the Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) at Olds College has registered the first known BY SARAH WEIGUM European and U.K. malting barley genetics underpin two Alberta breeding projects Blindman Brewing of Lacombe uses English Marris Otter malt to produce its English style barley wine. Photo: courtesy of Blindman Brewing.