Australia: Brewers monitoring barley fields to ensure beer taste consistency

Generally, beer drinkers are easily satisfied.

Hand them a freshly poured cold beer — even better when shared in good company — and all is well with the world.

But they have one crucial condition. Their favourite brew must taste the same every time, without fail, MSN reported on March 15.

"Consistent, quality barley gives you consistent, quality malt, which then helps us make consistent, quality beer, which is what the consumers are after," said Mark Goldsmith of Asahi Beverages.

When Asahi, a Japanese-owned beer and beverage giant, took over the famous Carlton and United Breweries stable in 2020, it enacted some changes.

One was to forge closer relationships with its primary producers, namely its barley and hop growers.

Beer is about 90 per cent water. Hops can provide a distinctive flavour but for brewing western-style beer, barley remains the key ingredient.

That's why Australian brewers have recently been monitoring barley fields at harvest time, ensuring only the best grain makes the grade.

The specifications are tight with a protein level of about 10 per cent and the barley needs to readily sprout at the malting stage.

That's when the sprouted barley produces enzymes that break down starches into fermentable sugars, which supply the colour and much of the flavour of beer.

"It's got to have a very low proportion of damaged grain or diseased grain or any other problems," said Tim Rethus, whose family grows a range of cereal crops near Horsham, Victoria.

"So it's got to be the most perfect of all the barley seeds to meet the malt specifications to make quality beer."

Mr Rethus is one of about 100 growers across Victoria and northern New South Wales who have signed direct supply-chain deals with Asahi breweries.

The growers get paid a premium for making the top grade and have an assured market for their grain.
The deal gives the brewers details of the grains' origin, enabling them to buy from the most sustainable and eco-friendly farmers.

There's also traceability, should it be needed.

"Growers keep records of what barley from what paddock goes into their silos and that information is also transferred to the maltster," Mr Goldsmith said.

"We can track which barley has gone into which beer and into which packages so ultimately at the end we can do a traceability exercise, take a bottle of beer and trace it all the way back to the paddock which that came from."

At Asahi's brewery in Abbotsford in inner Melbourne, 350 million litres of beer annually rolls off the production line.

The company's leading brands include Great Northern, Carlton Draught, Victoria Bitter and Asahi.

Every batch is scientifically tested at the brewery's sophisticated lab to ensure it tastes true to type.

And for good measure, the company employs people with a discerning palate who use the age-old human taste test.

Competition in Australia's beer market is as fierce as ever and this year forecast to turn over a staggering $8.5 billion.

Asahi is one of two industry giants that hold a dominant share of the market. The other is Lion Brewing, also Japanese owned.

Its beer brands include XXXX, James Squire, Toohey's, James Boag and Furphy.

Not surprisingly Lion also has its sights on more direct sourcing arrangements with barley and hop growers.

The company proclaims its new Northern Rivers Beer as the "most sustainable and green beer" it has made.

Like Asahi it has sought out farmers who employ sustainable production practices, such as soil conservation.

"That's a good story, an increasingly important story, that idea of a sustainable product and we know where it comes from and we can measure it back if need be," said Luke Rethus, Tim's brother.

"Consumers are now asking. 'Where does our food come from, where does our beer come from?'"

And at the end of a hot, dusty day on the harvester in the paddock, the Rethus brothers admit to enjoying the occasional refreshing beer.

One of their "own" brand of course.

That tastes just a little bit sweeter, knowing they've played a small part in its creation.

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