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Hey folks,

I'm betting this has been asked to death, but I can't find a decent straight answer and searching here brings up over 1200 seemingly irrelevant 'matches'

I'm trying to understand the difference between 2 row and 6 row. I get that 6 has more conversion power.

I can't find anyone saying use this kind for this reason though.

Is one particularly better than the other, or do they both have a particular use? Flavors, protein haze, cost, availability, etc?


Sorry for the newb question.
Thanks,
Bill.

Long answer:
You might use 6-row if you’re in a situation where you need extra conversion power. So say you were making an American Light Lager with half malted barley and half flaked corn and/or rice. Where those grains have no enzymes of their own, 6-row might be more likely to convert all the available starches than 2-row. That all said, that difference in conversion power has apparently become less prevalent over time and with more modern barley varieties and malting practices so YMMV.

Short answer:
Two-row is much easier to find here, in greater variety, and very possibly cheaper. Use two-row.


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Long answer - great, that's what I had understood as far as conversion. Seems like it's more trouble than its worth IMO.

Shirt answer - sounds like a good plan.

Thanks.

Six row is supposed to be useful for the extra diastatic power in a cereal mash for raw grains.


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Interesting, thanks.

I brewed a “prohibition ale” that was almost 50% 6-row and couldn’t tell the difference between that and any SMaSh that I had brewed exclusively with 2-row. Brew house efficiency appeared to be about the same but I run a very basic BIAB system without fancy instruments so your mileage may vary in that regard. I had hoped for the Cheerios-like character in my final product that some people attribute to 6-row but never found it

IIRC it tastes a bit more grainy than 2 row as well.

It's also often an ingredient in some North American historical styles. Perhaps because it was grown here. One example is the original Keith's recipe. I'm not surprised it's called for in the above mentioned prohibition recipe.