Barley for the Bar

Barley — one of the oldest cultivated grains, and the plant behind some of our most familiar alcoholic drinks.

This piece is part of my Plants We’ve Turned to Booze series, exploring the plants humans have cultivated, fermented, distilled and otherwise persuaded into alcohol. Barley earned its place for its starring role in both beer and whisky.

Nerd notes

To make beer or whisky, barley Making alcohol from barley takes advantage of something the seed normally does for itself.

When barley begins to germinate, enzymes become active that help convert its stored starch into sugars. Maltsters deliberately start that process by soaking the grain, then stop it by drying the barley before it grows into a new plant.

Essentially, we interrupt a baby barley halfway through breakfast and make booze with it.

Details

Handmade, one-of-a-kind artwork

Unframed

A4 — 21 × 29.7 cm (8.3 × 11.7 in)

Colour pencil on paper