Two-row barley is so intimately associated with American craft beer that brewers often use the terms “pale malt” and “two-row” interchangeably. But there’s another kind of barley out there that can be malted into a pale product. Six-row barley may suffer from a bit of an image problem, but homebrewers and commercial craft brewers alike are beginning to discover that a little six-row isn’t all that bad. And sometimes it can be very good.
Two-row and six-row barleys are named for the number of barley kernels that appear along the spine of the barley spike. A spike of two-row tends to look rather flat because kernels are arranged in rows on opposite sides of the plant. Six-row, on the other hand, has more of a rounded profile because kernels are arranged six at a time as you move up the stalk.
Six-row isn’t as commonly used as two-row in craft beer, but large American breweries have long relied on it for a few good reasons. Six-row barley
- Is less expensive than two-row barley.
- Has thicker husks than two-row, which enhances lautering performance.
- Is diastatically powerful and can convert unmalted adjuncts with ease.
- Is high in protein.