2019 FREEWATER CLEAR
NAKED 2-ROW SPRING BARLEY

CROP NOTES

GROWER: H.T. Rea Farming
GRAIN: CDC Clear, 2-Row Naked Barley (30 ac)
SUSTY: Salmon-Safe; Dry-Farmed
PLANTED: April 25, 2019
HARVESTED: August 14, 2019

The Reas started off growing hard red and soft white winter wheat for Mainstem in 2016 and have stayed on for 3 years since, growing some of the finest barley the world has ever seen. And for 2019, we decided to test our luck with our first hulless (naked) barley.

The hull is the outside skin on a kernel of grain and in most barley, it’s cemented in place. It’s also what allows brewers to perform the first step in brewing: Lautering. But for brewers with newfangled mash filters, the hulls simply get in the way. They also get in the way for food uses, when you want to have the starch and soluble fiber without all of the roughage. So… multi-purpose naked barley becomes a way to help keep both brewers and foodies innovating, in turn decreasing the grower’s dependence on any one market outlet.

OSU’s Barley World has some impressive fall-planted naked barley varietals, but they’re still catching up on the spring barley. “Clear” is Canada’s best crack at a naked 2-row spring malting barley, and we found a family farm in Saskatchewan that had seed from 2018. Farmer Brad Tomtene delivered it to the Reas as part of a Rocky Mountain ski trip before Canada was ready for its own planting. How fun!

From there, the 2019 Freewater Clear’s growing season was honestly off to a rocky start. It was planted on the late side and had a bit of soil crusting that affected emergence in places. Fortunately, the crop “tillered” enough to fill in the gaps and the mild season treated it really well. We ended up with the gorgeously plump, clean-threshing, low moisture, and moderate protein kernels we were hoping for.