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Why We Only Use Moravian Barley

1 min. reading

Moravia, in the southeast Czech Republic, is known as the ‘capital of malt’. It has perfect growing conditions: the soil is rich, fertile and holds water well, the region gets just the right amount of sun and rain and the land is flat – perfect for harvesting!

Josef Groll almost certainly used a variety of barley called Haná (now sadly an heirloom strain). This particular variety was grown on the wide flat Haná plateau, famous for its rich black soil, and has always been regarded as the Rolls-Royce of grain.

Some say Haná is the father of all modern-day varieties, having genetic ties to barley still grown all over the world, from Sweden to the States. In the 1860s, a local aristocratic landowner selected seeds from the Haná variety and sold it to brewers and maltsters far and wide, who in turn started cross-breeding it with other varieties to mimic the success of Pilsner Urquell. Haná is still grown today, but only as cattle feed and no longer for brewing.

Today we use other types of barley from Moravia, typically Loudis 550 – a spring double-row barley with a long dense stem, 30 grains in the stem and a strong resistance to disease. Our beer wouldn’t be the same without it!

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