Producing barley that meets the quality specifications set by the malting and brewing industry can be difficult in western North Dakota growing conditions. Semidwarf and low protein genotypes may help producers of malting barley meet these stringent specifications. Dryland and irrigated experiments were conducted in western North Dakota that evaluated agronomic performance and grain quality of four groups of genotypes classified by protein level and height class at four different nitrogen levels. Biomass samples were analyzed to determine if differences in nitrogen use and translocation existed between genotype groups. Low protein genotypes had less total nitrogen uptake, higher straw nitrogen content, and lower grain protein content (GPC) than their conventional protein counterparts. Increasing rates of nitrogen fertilizer increased GPC, grain yield, straw nitrogen content, and total nitrogen uptake. Semidwarf and low-protein genotypes do not have inherent grain yield or quality disadvantages compared to their conventional counterparts.