First of its kind: Hungarian organic beer has been developed

The Elixbeer Consortium, led by Körös-Maros Biofarm Ltd., has developed a Hungarian organic beer product family from alternative cereals. This achievement was the result of six years of research. The company used almost HUF 400 million (EUR 1.07 million) of EU funding, said Zoltán Várhelyi, project manager of Körös-Maros Biofarm Ltd.

The aim: developing organic beer and malt beverates

The aim was to develop organic beers and malt beverages with improved palatability using indigenously bred cereals, Index informs. To this end, the two research institutes (the Agricultural Institute of the Agricultural Research Centre and the Szeged-based Grain Research Ltd.) carried out grain breeding with a focus on the usability in the beer industry. The cultivation technology of the bred grain was optimised on about 100 hectares of Biofarm’s arable land, Mr Várhelyi said.

The total cost of the development was HUF 496.5 million (EUR 1.33 million).

State variety recognition, several types of beverages

Mr Várhelyi said that as a result of the project, several bred cereal varieties have received state variety recognition. Furthermore, a range of 9 types of beer and non-alcoholic malt beverages, all of organic quality, has been produced. The beers are based on malts made from organic barley, wheat and alternative grains. In addition to the organic lager ‘base beer’, there is also a buckwheat beer made from pure gluten-free ingredients, a non-alcoholic beer with a fruity flavour and a high antioxidant content.