In Ethiopia, both two- and six-rowed barleys can grow in the highlands. However, the country is not self-sufficient in barley malt, and it depends on imports from different overseas countries. Little effort has been made in two-rowed malt barley variety release and production to overcome the low malt barley supply. So far, the lack of six-rowed barley varieties with good malt quality is a gap in malt barley research in Ethiopia. So, a two-year (2017/18-2018/19) experiment with 13 six-rowed barley lines was carried out in Holata, Bokojji, and Kofale research plots using a randomized complete block design with three replications to study the malt quality of these lines. Malt quality data were collected and analyzed using R statistical software, R 4.0.3 ver 2020-10-10. Tukey HSD means comparison showed that line 17148-16 excelled the check in 2.8-mm slot sieve test (42.57%), dry matter-based crude protein (11.8%), and fine grind hot water extract (79.8%) slightly greater (78.25%). Therefore, the findings from the two-year experiment in the three locations indicated that the six-rowed barley line 17148-16 fulfilled the malt quality requirements and can be used in the future malt quality improvement of six-rowed barleys in Ethiopia.

Keywords: six-rowed barley, malt quality, line 17148-16, check