Malting quality of old barley varieties

Average contents of beta-glucans and arabinoxylans in non malted grain of the studied old varieties were on the level of 5.1 % and 5.8 %, respectively. Lipoxygenase activity was high (187 U/g pr.) and superoxide dismutase activity varied on average around 93 U/g. Varieties were assessed from the view of current malting quality requirements. Extract was low (80.5 %), only the varieties Perun, Mars, and Rubin would fulfill today's demands. Besides the varieties stated above, the other varieties had Kolbach index on the level of 42 % and less. Amylolytic modification was in the range of 260-380 WK. Quality of wort and cytolytic modification was low. Apparent final attenuation ranged from 77.4-81.7 %. beta-glucan content in wort was high (254-1089 mg/l). Color of wort was on average around 2.7 EBC units. Problem with wort quality was recorded only in the varieties Opavsky Kneifl, Mars, and Slovensky Dunajsky trh. Slovensky 802 could be the only variety to fulfill the requirements for the varieties recommended for production of Czech Beer.