[Redcloak]

I hate to break this to you, but maltiness is one of the flavors that beer ought to have. A good beer balances malt and hops. Malted barely is also one of the key ingredients in beer. The enzymes in malted barely convert starches in the grains (wheat, barley, rice, or whatever) into the maltose that the wee little yeastie beasties so love.

[muawiyah]

At the same time the "wheat" gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye) is essentially a poison to those with wheat intolerance, a not insignificant percent of the adult population (3.4% in fact).

It simply makes beer impossible to drink.

Ergo, beer with barley malt is not really beer to that population.