Varieties are submitted to Danish Preferred by the variety owner. The program is targeted at malting barley varieties with documented and expected commercial potential.

Applications are submitted to DAKOFO, which coordinates the process, including the implementation of the stress test. The applicant is responsible for documenting that the overall prerequisites for participation are met, including a sufficient data basis and access to seed.

The application deadline for Danish Preferred is set at 15 October each year.

As Danish Preferred is industry-driven, only varieties with the potential to become commercially relevant are tested. Therefore, three prerequisites must be met to submit a variety for stress testing in Danish Preferred:

Two years of cultivation results from either:

• Official Danish variety trials – e.g. the value-for-cultivation-and-use (VCU) trials conducted by TystofteFonden, or
• The Danish national field trials coordinated by SEGES and published via sortinfo.dk.

Data may be combined across systems, for example one year of VCU trials and one year of national field trials. The key requirement is that the data basis covers a minimum of two growing seasons.

Two years of micromalting data from TystofteFonden:

• Varieties submitted for stress testing must have two years of micromalting data from TystofteFonden (also conducted at VLB Berlin).
• It is not required that both years of data precede the stress test. Therefore, the second year of micromalting may be conducted in the same year that the variety is submitted for stress testing in Danish Preferred.

Minimum 5 tonnes of seed available at the time of application:

• This ensures that sufficient seed is available in the stress-test year so that a commercial volume can be available the following year for use in industry-scale testing.

The stress test samples provided by DAKOFO are first characterized by barley analysis. Barley samples are then micro malted at a 100 g scale at three moisture levels (45%, 43%, 41%). Micro malting is performed using a custom designed rotating drum system at the Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei in Berlin (VLB) e. V. read more about VLB

The parameters of malting are defined as follows:

Steeping / germination time: 5 days

Steeping temperature: 18 °C

Germination temperature: 18 °C – 14.5 C

The desired steeping degree (45%, 43%, 41%) is adjusted by spraying throughout the first dry period. During the germination the green malt is homogenized by means of a rotating drum system which is in climate chambers set to 100%-rel. humidity.

After five days of total steeping and germination time, the malts are kilned according to the following scheme: Heat up to 50 °C (0.5 h), hold 50 C (18 h), heat up to 80°C (0.5 h), hold at 80  C (5 h).

The methods used to evaluate barley and malt quality are as follows:

Varieties that proceed from the stress test are evaluated at industrial scale. The purpose is to ensure that the varieties perform in practice and meet industry requirements in commercial processes.

The industrial evaluation includes both malting and brewing and is carried out in collaboration with maltsters and breweries in Denmark or internationally. The testing may take place over one or more growing seasons.

The applicant is responsible for conducting the trials, while DAKOFO contributes with coordination and overall oversight of the program process.

Danish Preferred is anchored in DAKOFO’s Malting Barley Network, which serves as the steering group for the scheme. DAKOFO acts as the secretariat for both the network and the Danish Preferred Committee. Decisions on variety approval are made by the committee, which represents the entire Danish malting barley value chain:

Representatives from the plant breeding industry:

• Birger Eriksen (Sejet Plant Breeding)
• Kim Bonde Pedersen (Nordic Seed)
• Jens Ole Nielsen (Saaten Union)

Representatives from grain broker companies:

• Christian Petersen (Skovs Korn)
• Morten Hoel (Copenhagen Merchants)

Representatives from agribusiness companies:

• Henrik Stilund (DLA)
• TBA (DLG)
• Claudio Pelsen (Mollerup)

Representatives from the malting industry: 

• Lars Studsgaard Pedersen (Viking Malt)
• Mogens Lassen (Fuglsang Malt)

Representative from the brewing industry:

• Birgitte Skadhauge (Carlsberg Research Laboratory)

Chairman of Danish Preferred:

• Birger Eriksen (Formand for Danske Sortsejere)

Secretary: 

• Emil Dalsgaard Hansen (DAKOFO)

Observers:

• Gerhard Deneken (Tystoftefonden)

The composition of the committee ensures broad and balanced representation across the entire Danish malting barley value chain.

Before a variety can obtain final approval in Danish Preferred, the following requirements must be met:

• Min.  500 ha of multiplication area to ensure sufficient commercial availability
• For varieties with special traits (e.g. null-LOX, low DMS or organic varieties), reduced requirements may be accepted and granted by committee dispensation.

Approved varieties are included in the Danish Preferred variety catalogue. The catalogue provides the market with a consolidated overview of varieties that have been evaluated and approved by the industry.

The year of approval is stated for each variety, and the catalogue is continuously updated in line with the development of the program.

Approved Varieties

• CB Score
• Firefoxx
• Focus
• KWS Thalis
• Laureate
• NOS Gambit
• Prospect
• RGT Planet
• Skyway

Candidate Varieties – Industry test

• LG Caruso
• NOS Lollipop
• Fontane
• LG Allegro

Candidate Varieties – Stress test

• Will be updated march 2026