Brewing barley change not all bubble and froth

Tasmanian brewer, Cascade is telling farmers a switch to a better barley variety is not all bubble and froth.

Cascade barley buyer, Roger Ibbott says 'Westminster' is the variety he wants for crops sown in 2014.

Cascade has made its first brews with Westminster this week and so far all the brewery's trials are looking good.

Roger Ibbott says changes in the brewery mean the established 'Gairdner' variety is no longer suitable.

At a Grains Research and Development seminar, University of Adelaide barley breeder, Amanda Box told Tasmanian growers to expect real yield and quality benefits from the new varieties that are being commercially released.

Amanda Box says there are several in the pipeline that could help Tasmanian farmers realise barley's potential for malt and feed.

"I was actually really surprised to see how low the grain yields were in Tasmania," she said.

"I suppose the expectation is that it's an environment very similar to the UK and Europe, so you'd expect the tonnes per hectare to be tracking similar to those.

"So you're looking at five to six tonnes per hectare.

"I would say we're probably half that.

"The predominant variety is Gairdner and there are issues with Gairdner and so if you look at the yields, it's around three tonnes per hectare on average.

"Westminster, for example, is yielding up to 20 per cent higher than Gairdner.

"There are no specific trials here in Tasmania.

"But if you look in south west Victoria which is probably the closest environment we have, Westminster is probably around 20 per cent higher than Gairdner."

Source: ABC Rural News, 2 August 2013