In Europe, during the 1960s, mainly two-rowed spring barley was used f
or malting. Traditionally, spring malting barley was produced in regio
ns with moderate temperatures and adequate rainfall throughout the gro
wing season. Winter malting barley, on the other hand, was mostly grow
n in the milder arid and semiarid parts of Europe. Due to global clima
tic changes and its higher yield, winter malting barley is now increas
ing in acreage in the traditional spring barley regions. Our study inc
luded a comparative analysis of several grain and malt characters of t
he winter and spring malting barley grown under the agroecological con
ditions of the Vojvodina Province, Yugoslavia. One thousand grain weig
ht was shown to be approximately the same for both growth habits, wher
eas winter malting barley proved to have a higher hectoliter mass than
the spring one. In those years that were less favorable for spring ba
rley production, winter malting barley had better quality characters,
namely a higher fine extract content, a better malt modification, and
a lower malt protein content.