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When Heriot-Watt University graduate Leon Webb (now the distiller at Shelter Point Distillery near Campbell River, B.C.) started working in Canada, he “was somewhat surprised ... to hear that maltsters had no access to low-GN barley varieties.” Barley farmed and malted to be low in glycosidic nitrile (GN), a precursor to ethyl carbamate (EC, a carcinogen, levels of which are strictly regulated in spirits Canada, the EU and other markets), has long been on U.K. distillers’ radar, which Webb knew from his studies and from visiting Scotland’s James Hutton Institute for crop research. (For instance, the U.K.’s Institute of Brewing and Distilling publishes a list of optimal brewing and distilling barleys: www.ibd.org.uk). Webb is working with a B.C. university on trials to develop a low-GN barley variety that thrives in Vancouver Island’s growing conditions.
He’s just one of the Canadian spirits-industry professionals tackling the issue. The Prairie-based Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute (BMBRI) is also raising awareness of the potential for low-GN barley, says Gina Feist, the executive director of the member-based organization that supports the development of malting barley varieties and production in Canada—amongst maltsters, brewers and, increasingly, artisan distillers. She says there are just two low-GN varieties of barley (neither extensively farmed yet) in Canada.
“The best way to approach the issue in the long term would be in the development of dual-purpose malting barley varieties that could be used for brewing and malt distilling,” says Feist. Although EC levels are not as much of a concern in the brewing industry, as they don’t concentrate to problematic levels like they can in distilling, low-GN malt is also suitable for brewing. Since the development of new varieties is a costly, multi-year process, “it is important to ensure BMBRI is targeting the appropriate traits for the distilling industry.”
To that end, the BMBRI welcomes interest in research and development on low-GN varieties, as a starting point to opening a discussion with the artisan distilling industry. In the future there may be opportunities to provide letters of support for research related to this trial.
BMBRI has recently added Predicted Spirit Yield (PSY) to its list of breeder guidelines, as well—another potential research area that could be of great benefit to small distilleries. Shelter Point distiller Webb welcomes developments like these. “Hopefully we see an effort from grain scientists and malting companies to address these gaps and strengthen the Canadian malt distilling industry.”
Visit bmbri.ca or contact Gina Feist (gfeist@bmbri.ca) to express your interest or support for research into low-GN barley varieties, PSY and other malt-related topics of interest to distillers.