New malting barley variety added to the range

Following nationwide malting and brewing trials on a practical scale as part of the Berlin program, the variety committee of the Braugersten-Gemeinschaft e.V. (Malting Barley Association) has issued processing recommendations for the varieties “Excalibur” (Saatzucht Ackermann) and “LG Baryton” (Limagrain).

For BESTMALZ malts, this means the following: “The ‘Excalibur’ variety is believed to have great potential due to its very good malting properties and is set to replace the ‘Amidala’ variety. The first quantities for trial batches will be available for sowing for the 2026 harvest. The replacement of ‘Amidala’ by ‘Excalibur’ is expected to be implemented with the 2027 harvest,” explains Michael Huber, Head of Purchasing and Energy at Palatia Malz GmbH.

The Brewing Barley Association reports on other new barley varieties:

The varieties “Fontane” (Saatzucht Streng-Engelen) and “Tilda” (Saatzucht Josef Breun), approved by the Federal Plant Variety Office in December 2025, were discussed and evaluated for their malting and brewing properties after intensive semi-technical testing. The committee has included the “Tilda” variety (Saatzucht Josef Breun) in the large-scale practical trials for the coming growing season.

The extensive analysis results from the semi-technical malting and brewing trials of the Berlin program also include the results of the variety “LG Arabesque” (Limagrain), which is still awaiting approval and therefore not eligible for inclusion in the large-scale practical trials. The results are available at https://www.braugerstengemeinschaft.de/en/.
The decision of the variety committee is based on the results of the value assessments I–III conducted by the Federal Plant Variety Office, the results of the State Institute for Agriculture in Freising on the evaluation of grain anomalies, and the semi-technical trials conducted at the VLB Berlin and the Chair of Brewing and Beverage Technology at the Technical University of Munich in Weihenstephan. The semi-technical trials are followed by large-scale practical trials in malt houses and breweries at various locations in Germany, which are evaluated in the following year. The broad and, above all, multi-year database generated as a result provides an excellent basis for decision-making by the variety committee.

Source: Press release Braugersten-Gemeinschaft e.V.