Here’s a story I can relate to.

Scrumptious chocolate-malt truffles, perfect for a holiday indulgence, might soon be made with malt from a superb new barley. So might your favorite breakfast cereal or brew, according to plant geneticist Donald E. Obert, a barley and oat breeder with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The novel barley, named “Charles,” is the result of more than a decade of testing by Obert and others at the ARS Small Grains and Potato Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho.

Let’s root for “Charles” since:

. . . a major U.S. brewery is leading rigorous tests to determine if the barley meets the exacting standards of the American Malting Barley Association, a feat no U.S.-grown winter malting barley has yet achieved. Results are expected by late 2006.