Twenty four covered barley cultivars of Korea and subsequently produced malts were evaluated for quality characteristics, diastatic power (DP), and enzymatic actvity. Protein, amylase, starch and β-glucan content of covered barley cultivars were 8.2-12.8%, 4.2-19.1%, 47.9-59.7%, and 4.1-7.4%, respectively. The DP of malt during malting showed a maximum value in Day 4, when the bud length was 2.0-2.5 times longer than the length of the grain itself. α-Amylase activity was very low but increased significantly after Day 4, showing greatest activity on Day 6 (185.5-206.1 unit/g). β-Amylase activity increased as the malting progressed and a considerable amount was detected in barley grain on Day 6 (898.6-1591.6 unit/g). The potential diastatic power (PDP) of various cultivar grains ranged from 89.7 °L to 169.3 °L. The PDP of raw barley had strong correlation with β-amylase of raw barley (r=0.977, p<0.001) while the DP of malted barley was also correlated with the β-amylase activity of raw barley (r=0.654, p<0.001). Since the PDP of raw barley and the DP of malted barley are correlated (r=0.644, p<0.001), the PDP and β-amylase activity of raw barley are useful factors in predicting the DP of malted barley.