I’ll be the first person to tell you that there are a ton of beer styles where two-row barley is the way to go. But I’d also argue that six-row shouldn’t be totally written off. From a brewer’s perspective, here are two ways that six-row can make a superior beer.
First: Six-row generally will have lower extract by weight than two-row. That’s because two-row kernels are plumper and therefore have a higher proportion of starch to “other.” With a higher percentage of “other” (such as tannin from husk material), six-row delivers more grain flavor thanks to its smaller size. I hear so many in the industry talk about creating flavor. Then why would we all be focusing only on two-row? Here at Riggs Beer, we brew a 100 percent six-row barleywine each year that has no perceptible astringency. As long as your pH and sparge techniques are dialed in, I don’t think there’s any need to worry about six-row astringency.
Second: Being a fifth-generation corn farmer, I love that six-row is perfectly suited to be brewed with my farm’s most important crop. Using corn as an adjunct gives me an opportunity to achieve some truly unique flavors. Modern brewers who use “corn” are generally using some form of processed corn: grits, flakes, or syrup (dextrose). At our brewery, we take a different approach. We use the whole kernel of a special variety of low-oil, white corn. This whole-kernel-corn method is likely what was first used by early American brewers who invented the “double-mash” technique. We use no corn processing or exogenous enzymes, and the result is a beer that I’m really proud of.