New equipment for the evaluation of malting potential of material developed in barley breeding programs is described. The equipment is compact and functions automatically throughout the malting process except for a minor adjustment after the germination period. Malting conditions, that is, times and temperatures of steeping in water, germination and heat-drying are programmed and automatically controlled. Samples of 40, 70 or 100 g of barley from breeding projects are processed in batches of 60, 40 or 36 under conditions that provide information on cultivar differences in maltability and malt properties.