6-Rowed Barley
These varieties of barley are classified 6-rowed. Six-rowed barleys are mostly used for animal feed due to the higher protein. When malted and used for producing beer, it can cause haziness.
So what's in a row?
Barley heads are known as spikes and each spike consists of a series of spikelets along a central stem or rachis. Spikelets are attached in sets of three to a node in an alternating pattern on the central rachis. Barley kernels develop in a floret contained within each spikelet. Every floret in six-rowed barley develops into a kernel to create six rows of kernels. In two-rowed barley, only the florets of each central spikelet develop into kernels, leading to the formation of just two rows of kernels per spike.
