Why the name "Barley"?
Grains of barley were one of the first forms of currency in the world.
If you were a builder in ancient Mesopotamia circa 3,000 BCE, your salary might be measured in silas, which are 1 liter bowls of barley.
Instead of bartering and guessing whether you got a fair deal, you could be sure that you were getting compensated a standardized value for your work.