Understanding the challenge of high protein barley: variation in protein composition and the potential for the extended grain fill trait

Protein is an important quality parameter for both barley grain and malt. Barley is often rejected when grain protein is too high because of negative impacts on the malting process.  Here Glenn Fox will discuss the impact of protein composition and free amino acid (FAN) levels on beer quality.  Jamie Sherman will present how grain protein levels can be reduced by extending grain-fill especially in stressful environments, as well as the impact of low grain protein on malt quality traits including FAN and enzyme activity.

This free webinar is co-hosted by the Brewers Association and American Malting Barley Association. Registration is required. 

Speakers:

Glen Fox | Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor Malting & Brewing Science, University of California Davis
Impacts of protein and FAN on beer quality

Professor Glen Fox was appointed the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Science at the  University of California in July 2019 after 30 years of research in Australian, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and  China. Dr Fox holds MSc, PhD and DSc degrees. He has over 150 publications consisting of books, book chapters and journal papers and over 200 conference presentations. His areas of research are grains, malt and brewing quality.  His current research focus is on starch and protein structure and their interactions and their impacts on wort and  beer quality. Another research interest is using a number of ‘omics platforms to understand the complex  biochemical changes during malting and brewing and the final compositional profile of beer. He also has research  investigating infrared spectroscopy for rapid assessment of grain, malt and beer quality. In 2018, he was elected a  Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Brewing & Distilling. Professor Fox is in charge of the undergraduate and  graduate brewing programs at UC Davis, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company research laboratory. He is also on numerous industry committees.

Jamie Sherman | Associate Professor and Barley Breeder, Montana State University
The challenge of high protein barley: understanding variation in protein composition and the potential for the extended grain fill trait.

After working as the molecular breeder for spring wheat, Jamie has been the barley breeder since 2015.  She has released six varieties for several end-uses, including malt, feed, forage and food lines. In 2016, she established a malt quality lab to ensure the release of high-quality malt lines, not only providing breeding malt quality data but also data to the industry. A focus of her program is to develop varieties and malt that can be more sustainably produced.