CEREALS Bere and Beer Growing old cereals on northern islands

Orkney and Shetland, the UK’s two most northerly and exposed island groups, may seem an unlikely setting in which to grow barley and develop a beer from it, but this is what has been happening over the past couple of years.

By Peter Martin and Xianmin Chang Agronomy Institute, Orkney College UHI

lthough farmers in these became available. Distillers also character of bere without allowing Bere is an ancient six A northern isles do not grow abandoned bere as varieties with this to dominate the beer. After row spring barley still modern barley varieties for malting, lower grain nitrogen levels, giving making several batches of ale, grown in the northern on both islands a small number of higher alcohol yields emerged. On samples were taken to tasting isles of Orkney and dedicated growers have kept alive a Orkney, however, a tradition of sessions in both Shetland and Shetland. very old type of six row spring using bere for making homebrew has Orkney. barley called bere (pronounced survived and this is still produced in Island Bere was launched in “bear”). several farm households because of Orkney in May 2006. It has an ABV The origins of bere are uncertain its distinctive taste. of 4.2% and is described by Sonny but its ancestry is thought to result Since opening in 2002, the as “a smoky flavoured ale with a from a Viking introduction to Britain Agronomy Institute at Orkney slightly bitter after-taste which is a in the 9th century or even from an College has recognised the potential characteristic of bere”. The main earlier wave of settlement. What is of bere for developing a range of disadvantage that Sonny has found undeniable is that bere is well-suited niche-market products based upon in using bere is its high grain to the short and cool growing season its uniqueness and long association nitrogen content (c. 2.0%) which of the north of Britain and for with the Highlands and Islands. One results in a lower alcohol yield than hundreds of years it was probably of the first products identified was a modern malting barleys - but this has the most important barley grown in beer but it was only in 2005 that not stopped it from becoming a very the Highlands and Islands of funding was found to carry this out. popular beer. Scotland where it was used for many Partners in the project were Birsay In 2002, at the start of the Valhalla, the local micro brewery on Unst, one of purposes including milling and Trust (custodians of Barony Mills) Institute’s research on bere, a survey the Shetland Isles, malting. On Orkney, bere meal is which was keen to develop a bere of farmers who had grown it showed boasts of being Britain’s still used for baking bread, bannocks malt and Sonny Priest from Valhalla that yields were low (2.8 - 3.8 t/ha) most northerly brewery. (a type of scone) and biscuits and, in Brewery in Unst, Shetland. At and lodging was a serious problem Head Brewer Sonny recent years, survival of bere in Britain’s most northerly brewery, (straw length is about 120 cm). Priest makes a beer cultivation has largely been thanks Sonny had used bere grains in beer Trials have shown that it is also very brewed with bere. to Barony Mills, a 19th century previously and wanted to take this a susceptible to powdery mildew water mill, which provides a market stage further by using bere malt. disease. for the grain and sells the meal. One of the first difficulties was to In developing a supply chain for Historical accounts from the find somewhere prepared to malt “Island Bere”, the Institute has had sixteenth century and earlier show small quantities of grain and here the to develop improved agronomic that large amounts of malt and beer project was fortunate in contacting practices for bere which include were produced on Orkney and it is Andrew Howard of Crisp Malting earlier planting and the application likely that most of this was made Group who took an immediate of a growth regulator and/or from bere. Elsewhere in Scotland, interest. The main challenge fungicide. In trials, this has raised large quantities of bere were also encountered in malting, was bere’s yields to 4.0Ð4.5 t/ha, made You can reach the author on used by the Campbeltown uneven germination which meant harvesting easier and, with the [email protected] distilleries during the nineteenth that it had to be malted for longer prospect of a more reliable and find out more about the century. Gradually however, bere, than modern varieties. Once the production of bere, the Institute is Institute’s work at www.agronomy.uhi.ac.uk like other old types of cereal, was malt had been produced, Sonny had now developing a supply chain for The Valhalla Brewery has a abandoned by growers as higher to develop a suitable recipe which the production of a specialist website at yielding, short-strawed varieties retained the particular bitter whisky. www.valhallabrewery.co.uk

The BREWER & DISTILLER INTERNATIONAL ¥ Volume 3 ¥ Issue 6 ¥ June 2007 ¥ www.ibd.org.uk 29