Developing a more sustainable malt industry

One of the initiatives at the National Centre for Brewing and Distilling is to provide new insights into the production of malting barley. As well as examining how production can be made more sustainable, researchers are looking at optimising the steeping and germination processes, identifying new malting barley varieties, and exploring opportunities for the use of green malt – barley that has been steeped and germinated, but not yet kilned, requiring less energy for production and thus lowering emissions.

This image highlights the versatility of barley, shown sprouting under varying steeping durations and temperature conditions. Illustrated here is the germination stage, a critical part of the malting cycle, where even and uniform grain development is essential to producing high-quality malt.

Photo: Finbarr O’Rourke Photography

Text: Gemma Merrins

Teagasc project: The National Centre for Brewing and Distilling

Funding: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine