WIDENING THE CHOICE
Most of our Distillers Malt production is made from selected Spring barley varieties (currently Laureate), grown under contract, on farms best suited for the purpose.
HERITAGE MALTS, LANDRACE MALTS, THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTRIBUTION.
There is today a wide interest from Distillers in both Heritage Barleys and Landrace Barleys, because of their pronounced flavour profiles. We are talking about two distinct groups of barleys here. Heritage Barleys are genetically true hybrid varieties, bred between 1905 and 1965. Landrace Barleys preceded them, and are selections from the wild, propagated mostly by generations of farmers up to the end of the 19th century.
The flavours found in both these groups of barleys are there because all barleys were originally selected by man for food, and therefore for their flavour. What has happened more recently, certainly from the latter part of the 20th century onwards, barley breeders’ drive for continually improving agronomic performance has diluted flavour. This has also been exacerbated by the polarisation of just a handful of varieties from which new lines are bred.
The difference between Heritage Barleys and Landrace Barleys is all about the economics down on the farm, the economics of cultivation. Heritage barleys are “Distinct, Uniform and Stable”, Landrace barleys are not! Heritage barleys are more suited to harvesting with a combine harvester, Landrace barleys need to be cut ‘green’ with a binder, handled in sheaves, dried and cured in a stack. That is a fundamental difference, for the most part quite impractical!
So, we have added just two Heritage Malts to our list of Distillers Malts: Maris Otter (1965), and Plumage Archer (1905).
Maris Otter Factsheet Click Here
Plumage Archer Factsheet Click Here
Maris Otter Distillers Malt
First introduced in 1965, Maris Otter’s smaller grain size will produce a slightly lower spirit yield compared to modern varieties. But it’s distinct flavour profile adds another dimension to the spirit.
Moisture
Max
4.00
Extract as is
Typical
295
Extract as is
Dry
307
EBC Colour
Min-Max
3.0-3.50
IOB Colour
Min-Max
2.10
TN
Min-Max
1.40-1.66
TSN
Typical
0.55
SNR
Min-Max
36.0-42.0
Friability
Min
90
Plumage Archer Distillers Malt
Bred at Warminster in 1905, this is the grandparent of most modern barley varieties, with a distilling track record honed in the first half of the 20th century. The most empirical heritage variety, with its own distinct flavour profile.
Moisture
Max
4.00
Extract as is
Typical
290
Extract as is
Dry
302
EBC Colour
Min-Max
2.0-3.50
IOB Colour
Min-Max
2.90
TN
Min-Max
1.40-1.65
TSN
Typical
0.55
SNR
Min-Max
36.0-42.0
Friability
Min
90
FURTHER EXPLORATION
At the same time, we continue to look back for other barley varieties to cultivate and multiply, preferably from the Heritage sector.
There is a school of thought that chooses to advocate mixtures of Landrace barley varieties, but for agronomic reasons only, without any consideration for the processes to follow. We are open to discuss Landrace barley varieties individually, but we strongly oppose mixtures.
All barleys are different, and whilst mixtures might complement each other out in the field, managing the water uptake and the germinative energy of mixtures in the malting process is complex and challenging, and can quickly compromise malt quality.