Australia: ‘Black tip’ barley the downside of finishing rains

If the bountiful rains that drenched South Australia earlier this month were the proverbial ‘clouds with silver linings’, then black tip, found in some early harvested barley, has been its scourge, ABB Grain announced on December 1.

The light, bright appearance of Australia’s barley is what sets apart our grain from grain produced in Europe or Canada. And it’s a particularly alluring attribute for Asian beer manufacturers.

But discoloured grain showing up as black tip/dark tip (also known as ‘black point’) can affect the colour of beer produced, besides fermentation in the brewing process.

ABB Grain currently has a limit of 10% of black tip in sample grain submitted for classification. If the sample exceeds this level, the grain is downgraded from malting quality to feed barley.

It’s important to note that this 10% standard is not set by ABB but by an industry group made up of grower bodies, bulk handlers, barley marketers and maltsters with a goal of developing consistent testing procedures.

Crops that demonstrate a high prevalence of black tipping can also experience field fungi – evidenced by ‘pin head’ dotting on the grain, causing further problems for brewers.

Besides beer production, malting barley is also used to make the potent Japanese spirit, Shochu. Barley with high levels of dark tipping can invariably be very soft and not pearl well – a necessary attribute for making this spirit.

While black tip was more prevalent in the crops that were almost ready to be harvested earlier this month, ABB is finding that as the harvest progresses, and as later crops ripen, that crops are also improving.

Black tip tends to be more of a problem in certain varieties of barley than others – certainly this harvest Sloop and Schooner have suffered from it in early reaping areas on eastern Eyre Peninsula and the Mid North – although recent evidence of some black tip in Gairdner has shown up in the Coonalpyn-Keith area.

Research continues into what causes black tip and into the development of new varieties of barley that are less susceptible to this malaise.

Several past studies have suggested that black tipping is not the result of a fungal disease, but instead is linked to a biochemical reaction, in particular phenolic acid metabolism, specifically in the area of the germ of the grain.

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