Valuation and use of a new variety of barley for brewing craft beer

Introduction: In recent years the brewing industry has shown great growth, which makes it necessary to generate knowledge about the use of new varieties of barley produced in Mexico.
Objective: To evaluate the potential of Doña Josefa barley to brew gourmet-type beer with different flavor notes according to the type of malt.
Methodology: Five malts were prepared: Pilsen, Vienna, Melano, Café and Chocolate. Their diastatic power, concentration of total and reducing sugars and content of β-glucans were analyzed. Subsequently, Pilsen was mixed with each of the other malts to obtain beer worts, from which different craft beers were brewed and later physically evaluated and compared sensorially with commercial beers.
Results: Pilsen malt had the highest concentration of total sugars (67.09 g∙100 g-1 malt) and Melano the lowest (24 g∙100 g-1 malt). Vienna malt had the lowest diastatic power. The beers showed an alcohol content between 4 and 7 %, associated with the pH trend. Sensorially, only the Café and Chocolate beers were accepted by consumers.
Study limitations: Only one type of fermentation (lager) and one strain of yeast were used.
Originality: Doña Josefa barley is a new variety that has greater resistance to disease and is slightly larger than those currently used to produce beer.
Conclusions: The malting provided suitable conditions for making different brewing malts from the Doña Josefa barley. The malts had total and reducing sugar values appropriate for brewing beers. Chocolate beer had the same level of acceptance as a commercial beer.