From the news:

A Hidden Beer Flavor Has Finally Been Revealed

Researchers brewed 150 beers to determine if barley left a distinct taste.

Beer can’t exist without barley, yet brewers have long overlooked the cereal grain as a potential flavor. While beer aficionados often name-check hops and yeast as flavor powerhouses, the ugly stepsister barley has been relegated just to providing the sugars necessary for fermentation.

Now, barley is having its Cinderella moment. A team of researchers from the U.S. and Britain, who made 150 beers over five years, discovered that distinct barley strains do indeed produce different-tasting brews. […]

Read the full article at:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hidden-beer-flavor