A new high-yielding spring barley variety, Tennyson, has been approved on the latest Malting Barley Committee (MBC) variety list.
Syngenta’s Tennyson has been promoted to 'full approval' for malt distilling and 'provisional approval 2' for brewing on the new MBC approved list for harvest 2025.
For growers, it is a high yielding spring barley with market opportunity for both brewing and malt distilling, and has excellent performance in the north.
Syngenta seeds portfolio marketing manager, Kathryn Hamlen said: “This is a perfect opportunity for SY Tennyson, which offers benefits to growers and end users alike.
“End users have wanted another dual purpose spring malting barley variety to use alongside the popular spring variety Laureate for some time."
For end users, the variety pushes forward on quality – having the highest predicted spirit yield figure on the 2024 AHDB Spring Barley Recommended List (RL) at 436.8 litres of alcohol per tonne.
High spirit yield is a key requirement for malt distilling. In addition, it also has the highest hot water extract figure on the 2024 AHDB RL, and hot water extract is important for brewing.
Ms Hamlen explained: "Now, SY Tennyson has provisional approval 2 for brewing on the MBC List, but with this quality we hope it will gain full approval for brewing in the not-too-distant future as well.”
