Naked and Beer

Patrick Hayes, head of OSU’s barley breeding program in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences told me about naked barley that he calls Buck and its value to making beer. Buck can make a novel malt for special beer styles, Hayes said. Most beer is made from barley with hulls, but a naked barley like Buck can have much higher malt extract – a key malting characteristic – than a hulled variety. In three malting-quality tests, Buck had an average malt extract of 86 percent and an enzymatic profile comparable to varieties that meet the specifications of craft maltsters and brewers.  According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, about three-fourths of the U.S. barley crop – 177 million bushels in 2014 – went into beer. The explosion of craft brewing over the past decade has spiked demand for locally sourced barley and hops, Hayes said, and today’s boutique brewers like the subtle flavor notes lent by malt from different barley varieties.

“These brewers like to present a palette of flavors for discriminating consumers,” he said. “Imagine an all-barley Hefeweizen.”