• About AMBA
  • AMBA Overview
  • Membership Information
  • AMBA History
  • Barley Research
  • Quality Evaluation Program
  • US Farm Programs
  • AMBA 990 Forms
• Members Only - AMBA
  • Quality Evaluation Program
  • Midwest Quality Survey
  • University Progress Reports
  • Barley Nurseries
  • Production Data and Variety Maps
  • AMBA Agricultural Policy Committee
• AMBA Publications
  • Know Your Malting Barley Varieties
  • Barley Variety Surveys
  • Acreage Production Stocks
  • Barley Variety Dictionary
• NBIC
  • NBIC Overview
  • 2011 NBIC Goals
  • Economic Significance of Barley
  • NBIC Members Information
    • NBIC 2011 Annual Meeting
• Conferences and Meetings
  • Conferences
• Links

Quality Evaluation Program

AMBA supports an early generation malting quality evaluation program for barley breeders and basic malting quality research at the USDA-ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit, Madison, Wisconsin. Early generation testing at the Cereal Crops Research Unit is followed by pilot scale malting and brewing evaluations of more advanced lines by AMBA members.

Selections that show promise after two or three years of pilot scale evaluation may be advanced to plant scale evaluation. AMBA and/or member companies contract the production of new selections, which are malted by a member maltster and distributed among member brewing companies for testing in actual plant scale production of beer. Satisfactory results from plant scale evaluation are required before a variety is recommended for malting and brewing by AMBA.