A new malting barley called Alestar is gaining momentum among growers, maltsters and brewers because of its impressive yields and high-quality malt profile.
Released across Australia by EPG Seeds, Alestar has gained malt accreditation from Barley Australia and demand is growing among maltsters and brewers.
In the latest development, major grain handler Viterra is planning to offer segregations for Alestar malt barley at its Ardrossan and Apamurra sites in South Australia for the 2023/24 season.
Due to the increasing demand and strong growing performance of Alestar on the Yorke Peninsula and Murray Bridge in recent years, Viterra plans to offer the segregations at the two sites to support the malting barley, brewing industry and local growers.
Colin Smith from EPG Seeds has played a key role in the R&D program for Alestar and helping growers and their advisers to grow their first crops of the newer variety in southern and Western Australia.
“Alestar has performed well in the National Variety Trials over the past three years and in independent trials run by YP Ag in 2022,” Mr Smith said.
YP AG compared the performance of 14 different barley varieties at its Maitland trial site in 2022, ranking Alestar in the top three.
“Alestar is a domestic malt barley with medium maturity, like Commander. It is high yielding, has strong straw strength, excellent head retention, and is resistant to powdery mildew, containing the mlo11 gene,” Mr Smith said.
“It has produced consistently low screenings and shown good disease resistance.”
Meanwhile, Alestar has been attracting attention and support from Australia's malting companies, such as Australia’s largest independent family-owned brewer, Coopers Brewery who have been doing their own malting trials with Alestar.
Mr Smith said Coopers plans to buy Alestar barley from growers this season after the success of their trial.
Dr Doug Stewart, maltings manager at Coopers, said the company was delighted to host a group of growers from the Monarto Ag Bureau to its Regency Park facility in Adelaide recently.
“Several of these growers have been growing Alestar for some time and they are looking forward to delivering into the maltings this season,” he said.
