J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem. 75(4): [345][346][347][348][349][350][351][352][353] 2017 This research tested the hypothesis that barley genotype can affect beer flavor and assessed the relative contributions of genotype and location to beer sensory descriptors. Golden Promise, Full Pint, 34 of their doubled haploid progeny, and CDC Copeland were grown at three locations in Oregon, U.S.A. Grain from these trials was micromalted and the resulting malts used for nano-brewing. Sensory evaluations were conducted on the nano-brews. Barley genotype had significant effects on many sensory descriptors. The most significant sensory descriptorswhen comparing barley genotypes-were cereal, color, floral, fruity, grassy, honey, malty, toasted, toffee, and sweet. Golden Promise was significantly higher in fruity, floral, and grassy flavors, whereas Full Pint was significantly higher in malty, toffee, and toasted flavors. CDC Copeland was closest to neutral for most flavor traits. There were notable differences for some descriptors between locations. New combinations of parental flavor attributes were observed in the progeny. Multitrait analysis revealed regions of the barley genome with significant effects on malting quality and flavor traits. These findings are, of course, applicable only to the barley germplasm tested, the environment sampled, and the protocols used for micromalting and brewing. The necessary largerscale experiments involving optimized malts and larger volumes of beer are in process.
Changing production scenarios resulting from unstable climatic conditions are challenging crop improvement efforts. A deeper and more practical understanding of plant genetic resources is necessary if these assets are to be used effectively in developing improved varieties. In general, current varieties and potential varieties have a narrow genetic base, making them prone to suffer the consequences of new and different abiotic and biotic stresses that can reduce crop yield and quality. The deployment of genomic technologies and sophisticated statistical analysis procedures has generated a dramatic change in the way we characterize and access genetic diversity in crop plants, including barley. Various mapping strategies can be used to identify the genetic variants that lead to target phenotypes and these variants can be assigned coordinates in reference genomes. In this way, new genes and/or new alleles at known loci present in wild ancestors, germplasm accessions, land races, and unadapted introductions can be located and targeted for introgression. In principle, the introgression process can now be streamlined and linkage drag reduced. In this review, we present an overview of (1) past and current efforts to identify diversity that can be tapped to improve barley yield and quality, and (2) case studies of our efforts to introgress resistance to stripe and stem rust from un-adapted germplasm. We conclude with a description of a modified Nested Association Mapping (NAM) population strategy that we are implementing for the development of multi-use naked barley for organic systems and share perspectives on the use of genome editing in introgression breeding.
Based on prior research that showed significant genetic differences between barley genotypes for beer sensory descriptors, the effects of degree of malt modification on these descriptors were assessed in two experiments. The first experiment involved sensory assessment of nano-beers made from micromalts of Golden Promise, Full Pint, 34 doubled haploid progeny, and the check CDC Copeland. Average degree of modification was assessed by sampling grain from each of the 37 genotypes stored for three postharvest intervals prior to malting and brewing. The second experiment involved sensory assessment of pilot beers made from intentionally under-, properly, and overmodified pilot malts of two barley varieties: Full Pint and CDC Copeland. In both experiments, genotypes were the principal sources of significant variation in sensory descriptors. Degree of modification and genotype × modification interactions were also significant for some descriptors. Based on the results of this study, the genetic characterization of and selection for barley contributions to beer flavor are warranted, even with undermodified malts. The contribution of barley variety to beer flavor will likely be modest compared with the flavors developed during the malting process and the flavors contributed by hops and yeast. However, in certain beer styles, the contributions of barley genotype may be worth the attention of maltsters, brewers, and consumers.
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