What's a malted barley?

I used to be one of those girls who hated beer, one of those who would never drink it even if it was free. That was a long, long time ago by my standards and thankfully so.

I started liking beer after a trip to the Flying Saucer in Houston, TX. (If you haven't been to one, please go and be adventurous. All craft beer may not be for everyone, but I'd be willing to bet that you can find at least one beer there that you'll find palatable.) I had one of their "flights", or sample trays of 4 oz. glasses of beer, and Well's Banana Bread Beer. That experience changed my whole outlook on beer. It could be good! Really good! Who knew?!? From then on, I tried as many different beers as possible. So many, that I've lost count and memory of all of them. (Which is part of the reason for this blog... for my own memory. Hahaha.)

In February of this year, I got into home brewing. This was about the time that I became completely enamored with beer. If you don't know me very well, that might sound like an 'inner alcoholic' coming out, but I'm much more interested in quality not quantity. Which is not to say that I don't have a ridiculous amount of six-packs in my apartment, but that's another story for another day.

This brings me to the question, "What's a malted barley?" Beer, in it's pure form (and according to the Reinheitsgebot... look it up, I don't know how to link just yet) is malted barley, hops, water and yeast. When I brew I don't just love to smash my nose into the hops, like Jim Koch does on that Sam Adams commercial, but I love to have a sampling of the barleys I'll be brewing with. It's my own way of 'stopping to smell the roses.'