Welcome to New Heritage Barley

We are a science focussed company that revives old barley varieties both for their own merit and as sources of genetic diversity for the creation of new and exciting cultivars especially for the craft brewing industry.

Heritage

There is a long tradition of selecting and growing premium barley for malting and brewing in England. We are able to revisit our past by resurrecting iconic barley varieties such as Chevallier. This famous variety was selected in the early 1800’s and dominated the market for 100 years.

New Heritage

Our company strives to take the best of the old and update it for the challenges of today. Heritage barley cultivars have the capacity to impart unique flavour profiles in beers brewed with them. They are also sources of important disease resistance, nutrient use efficiency traits and are valuable in rotations. We are also investigating barleys that will be suitable for low input and organic agriculture. Our vision is to breed new “Heritage” cultivars for qualities that are important to all of the stakeholders in the supply chain using the latest high tech methods to speed up the plant breeding process.

THE TEAM

Director Dr Sarah de Vos started New Heritage Barley out of the John Innes Centre after a successful BBSRC Follow-on Fund grant and an RSE/BBSRC Enterprise Fellowship. She is interested in all aspects of the brewing and distilling supply chain from field to glass .

Scientific Advisors Dr Chris Ridout and Dr Paul Nicholson are both based at the John Innes Centre and are interested in disease resistance and quality traits of barley.

Farming Contractor David Jones is Farm Manager at Morley Farms and enjoys the challenges and learning experience that growing old barley varieties entails.