UK: Carlsberg claims beer from red barley healthier than normal lager

Carlsberg has claimed that its beer made from red barley is healthier than a normal pint and ‘like a wine’, according to reports.

The brewer told The Telegraph that its new red barley beer – not to be confused with a red ale, which is traditionally made from roasted barley and kilned malt – contains fewer hops, and also has the addition of anthocyanins, which are found in grape skins.

As a result, the naturally occurring compounds which have been bred in red barley assist in reducing the risk of cancer, diabetes and boosting memory. It was made through cross-breeding rather than genetic modification, using a technique from the Carlsberg laboratory called ‘Find-It’.

As reported in the drinks business, a red barley beer was originally launched in 2019 as a cross-promotion with Liverpool FC. A 4.6% ABV pilsner, it was originally brewed as a single batch overseen by the Carlsberg research lab, a spokesperson told db.

The brewer, which is already famous for making the yeast Carlsbergensis, which was isolated in 1883 by Emil Hansen and is the ancestor of many of the modern lager yeasts of today, has now delivered another scientific discovery by mapping the full genome of male and female hops — helping brewers across the world to make specific beers.

According to The Telegraph, its findings on hops will be published by a scientific journal shortly.

Speaking to the publication, Dr Zoran Gojkovic, the director of brewing science, yeast and fermentation at Carlsberg, said we should ‘eat..and drink…colours’ and that the ‘more colours you eat, the better for you’.

He said: “The colour is from anthocyanins, a little bit like those in the grape skins used in wines,” he said.

“There are different compounds, different anthocyanins, there are about 6,000 of them. These beers do have a reminiscence of an amazing taste like a wine, but it is a beer – so it’s a little bit of a crossover.”

The news came as the brewer has also worked with Brooklyn Brewery and its brewmaster Garrett Oliver on promoting a new beer made from fonio grain.

Speaking to the drinks business, Gojkovic said that Oliver had told him about fonio many years ago, but that he didn’t know what it was.

He said: “The internet says it is millet, but there are lots of millet grains and this one comes from Africa. But, back then, I misunderstood was what it really was all about. If someone tells you something is beef, but really it is like a variety, like wagyu steak, then it can be more easily understood.

“What I didn’t know was that fonio, compared to other kinds of millet, is like the wagyu steak of grains. Millet, as a cereal could be quite boring, but this in its pure formula is not boring. It is elegant.”

The resulting limited-edition beer, created with 100% fonio grains from Senegal in Africa is, essentially, a raw fonio lager, which is also gluten-free. The beer is made with unmalted fonio and brewed in the Carlsberg Research Laboratory with Carlsberg lager yeast – so bottom fermented, it has been described by the brewing giant as “clean, with soft aromas of apricots, white peaches, and melon with an underlying sweetness and lingering bitterness giving a vibrant and delicate finish”.

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