Tuesday Beer Trivia: Growing Barley

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Test your knowledge on growing barley in this week’s Tuesday Beer Trivia quiz.

Homebrewers love growing, making, and manufacturing their own stuff. Take that sense of pride in your hard work to another level by exploring how to grow your own barley.

After you take the Beer Trivia quiz below, scroll down to the “Beer Trivia Answer Explanations” section to learn more about growing barley at home.

Beer Trivia Answer Explanations

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The following explanations are taken from The Homebrewer’s Garden by Joe Fisher & Dennis Fisher.

Question 1: 

Growing, harvesting, threshing, and malting your own grains is an investment of time, but it truly puts the “home” in homebrewing. If you’re more of a partial-mash brewer, the yield is much greater. One standard 800 square foot (74 square meters) plot can produce 30 batches in one year!

Question 2: 

False. A neutral pH is best, but barley does tolerate slightly alkaline soil. The University of Delaware Cooperative Extension Service recommends a pH of 5.8–6.0 for sandy (light) soils, 6.0–6.2 pH for medium soils, and 6.2–6.5 pH for heavy soils.

Question 3: 

Broadcasting is the process of scattering the seeds thickly over smoothly raked soil. For 800 square feet (74 square meters), you’ll need about 5 to 7 lb. of seeds. After broadcasting, rake the seeds into the surface soil and water lightly to ensure good contact.

Question 4: 

Threshing takes place right after harvesting. You’ll need to lay out a large, clean drop cloth on a hard, flat surface. Take two handfuls of barley at a time, lay them on the cloth, and hit them with a baseball bat, broom handle, or similar tool. Each bundle should produce about a cup of grain.

Question 5: 

Six-row barley yields less malt extract than two-row barley, but six-row still has plenty of enzymes for converting the starches into sugars.

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