UC Davis

The emerging malting industry in California needs adapted cultivars for a sustainable local barley production. ‘UC-Alameda’ (Reg. no. CV-381, PVP 202300263, PI 701932) is a two-row, spring malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) released by the University of California, Davis, Agricultural Experiment Station, in 2022. UC-Alameda is a highly productive cultivar with satisfactory malting quality for local craft maltsters. UC-Alameda is adapted to the California Central Valley (Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys) and is resistant to the most common diseases present in this region (e.g., Barley yellow dwarf virus, Cereal yellow dwarf virus, stripe rust, and powdery mildew) and moderately resistant to scald and net blotch. It was evaluated in preliminary trials, as B9K62, from 2017 to 2023 at Davis, CA, and by the University of California Regional Small Grains Testing program, as UC1911, from 2018 to 2023 for late fall planting in the Central Valley. UC-Alameda is a non-glycosidic nitrile producer, which is an important trait for craft-maltsters and distillers. UC-Alameda satisfies the quality criteria of the local craft malting and brewing industry interested in sourcing locally grown malting barley.