Malt barley varietal purity

Varietal purity is important to producing high-quality malt. Each malting barley variety has different barley quality and malting performance characteristics e.g. different size kernels, varied rates of water absorption and processing times during malting. As a result, maltsters require malting barley with a high percentage of varietal purity to make a consistent, high-quality finished product.

This document developed by the Canadian Malt Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC) along with Alberta Barley, Sask Barley, and the Manitoba Crop Alliance provides a valuable breakdown of the factors and importance of varietal purity in Canadian malting barley.