It is the most famous barley in the world, but the name Maris Otter is a puzzle to many. Is Maris a Latin prefix, a corruption of maritime (maritime climate), or what?

For those who remember The Plant Breeding Institute (PBI) at Trumpington, Cambridge, (now a Waitrose store) where Maris Otter was bred back in 1965, the entrance to the offices, laboratories and trial sites was off Maris Lane. Surely this lane gave rise to the prefix for so many enduring plant varieties – Maris Widgeon wheat is still grown by Organic farmers and those requiring thatching straw, and of course Maris Piper potatoes continue to be prominently displayed in every major supermarket across the land.

‘Otter’, ‘Widgeon’ and ‘Piper’ were all part of a long list of different wildlife species, also including ‘Badger’ (spring barley) and ‘Beaver’ (beans) and many more, with which the PBI had a sympathy, for whatever reason, all with the prefix ‘Maris’. But the Maris prefix was chosen for a another very appropriate reason – it was the name of a prominent local farming family, who farmed at Great Shelford (the other side of the Trumpington Road) from the early 17th to the mid 19th century. Maris Lane was named after them, the lane that led to the Maris family’s farm.

How do we know all this, because our 50th Anniversary celebrations have caught the attention of Mr Robin Maris, a retired farmer from Kettering, and a direct descendent of the Maris’s of Great Shelford. He has written to tell us all about it – it is another, albeit rather different, story within the story we are celebrating all year, and one I am bound to relate.

After all, the most famous barley in the world could now equally be described as “Robin’s Maris Otter” (mine) or “Robin Maris’s Otter” (his) – both of us, it might be said, have a legitimate custodial claim!

Robin Appel

Robin Appel, chief executive of Robin Appel Ltd, the Bishop’s Waltham based grain merchant, has just been honoured by the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, represented by more than 300 members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

At a packed annual dinner for members along with guests from the brewing industry, held on Tuesday 7th July, Andrew Griffiths MP, chairman of the APPBG presented Robin with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for what was described as his “at times, sheer bloody mindedness” in championing the cause of a brewing barley variety, Maris Otter, to it’s 50th year of commercial production (unprecedented), and its widely acclaimed global recognition as “the most revered, most celebrated, most famous barley in the world”!

In thanking the chairman, and the members of the APPBG, Robin drew attention to his frustration that for far too long, when brewers chose to describe their beers they only ever referred to the variety and characteristics of the hops, without any reference to the variety and characteristics of the barley malt. Malted barley is widely acknowledged as ‘the heart and soul of a beer’. “But tonight” said Robin, “ you have helped to change all that by putting one particular variety of barley, Maris Otter, on a pedestal”, and a particularly high profile pedestal at that.

Notes to Editors: Robin Appel is chief executive of Robin Appel Ltd, based in Hampshire, a business he founded in 1980. The company trades with arable farmers right across England and Wales, supplying them with seeds and fertiliser in order to grow grain crops which the company buys back to supply the food and beverage industry. The company particularly specialises in malting barley production and supply, and Robin Appel also operates Warminster Maltings Ltd in Wiltshire, Britain’s oldest working maltings.

Robin Appel Ltd is the joint owner of Maris Otter barley, first introduced to farmers in 1965, and saved from extinction by Robin Appel in 1990. Custody of this variety is now shared with H. Banham Ltd of Norfolk, and Robin Appel and Tony Banham are pictured (attached) each receiving their award from Andrew Griffiths MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group.

Exceptional malts derived from the Icknield barleys.

Terroir is the voice of experience in agriculture, which lends integrity to its produce. Varieties of barley impart character to the malts they produce, but so do the peculiarities of the soils in which they are grown. The British Isles is a kaleidoscope of different soil types, and each one, together with a respected malting barley variety, can influence the character of your beer. The Icknield Way is one of Britain’s oldest highways, stretching from Dorset’s Jurassic coast to The Wash, and it was established well before the Romans arrived.
The name is Celto-British in derivation, and may be named after the Iceni tribe. Today, it remains as a clearly defined path, and it follows the direction of a single soil type to which it lends it’s name – the Icknield Series.

To read all about Icknield Malt follow the link to see our latest Brochure:
Icknield Malts Brochure 2015