[Popocatapetl]

Also remember that beer is food. Beer has a lot of calories, and is a lot easier to make than barley bread, which is a pain and involves a lot of hard work.

Barley does have the advantage that it is easier to malt, which means to germinate then dry before the plant grows. This produces the enzymes needed to convert its carbohydrates to sugars, which are needed for brewing.

It also grows in cold and salty ground, even colder than where rye will grow.

So either you have to dry it, hull it, grind it, etc., to make bread, or just mash it up for beer.

[blam]

"Also remember that beer is food. Beer has a lot of calories, and is a lot easier to make than barley bread, which is a pain and involves a lot of hard work."

And, the process kills all the (possibly deadly) bacteria.

Diluted wine was often used to sterilize water.

[LibKill]

So either you have to dry it, hull it, grind it, etc., to make bread, or just mash it up for beer.

I'll go for making beer. Less work, more fun.