BREWING is the art of preparing an exhilarating or intoxicating beverage by means of a process of fermentation. In the modern acceptation of the word, brewing is the operation of preparing beer and ales from any farinaceous grain (chiefly from barley), which is first malted and ground, and its fermentable substance extracted by warm water. This infusion is evaporated by boiling, hops having been added to preserve it. The liquor is then fermented.
The art was known and practised by the Egyptians many hundred years before the Christian era, and after-wards by the Greeks, Romans, and ancient Gauls, from whom it has been handed down to us. All countries, whether civilized or savage, have, in every age, prepared an intoxicating drink of some kind. In the second book of Herodotus, written about 450 B.C., we are told that the Egyptians, being without vines, made wine from corn; but as the grape is' mentioned so frequently in Scripture and elsewhere as being most abundant there, and no record exists as to the vine having been destroyed, we must conclude that the historian was only partially acquainted with the productions of that most fertile country. Pliny (Natural History, xxii. 82) informs us that the Egyptians made wine from corn, and gives it the name of zythum which in the Greek would mean drink from barley; and Hellanicus, telling of the introduction of wine at Plinthium, a city of Egypt, states : " Hence the Egyptians are thought to derive their love and use of this liquor, which they thought so necessary for human bodies, that they invented a wine made from barley." The Greeks, who derived the greater part of their civilization from the Egyptians, obtained from them also the knowledge of artificial fermen-tation, the art of brewing in fact, and at a very early period. We find it mentioned, for example, in the writings of Archilochus, the Parian poet and satirist, who flourished about 700 B.C., that the Greeks of his day were already acquainted with the art.
Again, we learn from Aeschylus (470 B.C.), from Sophocles (420 B.C.), and Theophrastus (300 B.C.), that the Greeks employed barley wine or beer (their zythos) in their daily life as well as in their festive meetings. There is, in fact, little doubt that the discovery of beer and its use as an exhilarating drink were nearly as early as those of the grape itself. Xenophon, in his account of the retreat of the ten thousand Greeks, written 400 years B.C., men-tions that the inhabitants of Armenia used a fermented drink made from barley. Diodorus Siculus states that the Galatians prepared a fermented beverage from barley, calling it zythos, like the Egyptians. By Sophocles and other Greek writers it is styled Bpvrov. Dioscorides mentions two kinds of beer, one he calls t,v6os and the other KovpfjLL, but he does not describe them sufficiently to enable us to distinguish them. Both, he says, were made from barley, and similar liquors were made in Spain and Britain from wheat. In the time of Tacitus (whose treatise on the manners and customs of the Germans was written in the 1st century of the Christian era), beer was their usual beverage, and from his description, imperfect as it is, there can be no doubt that they understood the method of converting barley into malt. Pliny mentions its use in Spain (Nat. Hist., xxii. 82) under the name of celia and ceria, and in Gaul under that of cerevisia or cervisia; and elsewhere (xiv. 29) he says—" The natives who inhabit the west of Europe have a liquor with which the}' intoxicate themselves, made from corn and water. The manner of making this liquid is somewhat different in Gaul, Spain, and other countries; and it is called by different names, but its nature and properties are everywhere the same. The people of Spain in particular brew this liquor so well that it will keep good a long time. So exquisite is the cunning of mankind in gratifying their vicious appetites, that they have thus invented a method to make water itself produce intoxication."
The cervisia of Pliny evidently takes its name from Ceres, the goddess of corn. Plautus calls it Cercalis liquor, that is, liquor used at the solemn festival of that goddess. The art of malting and use of beer are supposed to have been introduced into Britain by the Romans. That barley was known to the latter is evident from Virgil, who uses it in the plural form, hordea, as we do the word oats; and Pliny tells of the hordearii gladiatores, a kind of fencers, whose sustenance was barley. Beer and vine-gar were the ordinary beverages of the soldiers under Julius Caesar. The latter was made very strong, and was drunk diluted with wafer when on the march. Beer being so suitable to the climate, and so easily made by an agricultural people with plenty of corn, it was gladly welcomed, and soon became the national beverage. Previous to this, the usual drinks of the ancient Britons were water, milk, and mead (an intoxicating drink made from honey). After the expulsion of the Romans from Britain, the Saxons subdued the natives and learned from them the art of brewing.
Dr H. J. Mann tells us that the Kaffre races of South Africa have made for ages, and still make, a fermented drink of beer from the seed of the millet (Sorghum vulgare), which is first subjected to a malting process in all essential particulars identical with our own, The seed is first induced to germinate by covering it in a warm place with moistened mats of grass, and the sprouting is then stopped by the appli-cation of heat. After simmering for some time in hot water, the malted grain is set aside to ferment in the sun— fragments of a dried succulent plant having been stirred in to play the part of yeast and start the fermentation. The scum which rises to the surface during the fermentation is skimmed away from time to time by ladles made of grass stems spread out and loosely woven together at the bowl. When the fermentation is complete the beer is poured through a mat strainer, shaped and tasselled very much like an inverted night-cap, into the store vessel, which is made of thickly and firmly woven grass. The natives of Nubia, Abyssinia, and other parts of Africa also make an intoxicating drink of great power called bousa, from the flour of the teff (Poa abyssinica), and from the durrha or millet (Sorghum vulgare), much esteemed by the natives, and perferred by many to palm or date wine, the common intoxicating drink in tropical countries. According to Mungo Park, the natives of Africa also make a beverage from the seed of the spiked or eared soft-grass (Holcus spicatus). The Russian drink kvass or quass, a thick, sour beverage, not unlike bousa, is made of barley and rye flour, mixed with water and fermented. Formerly, the spruce-fir, birch, maple, and ash trees were tapped, and their juice used in England,-—the first two, indeed, till within the last fifty years. Koumiss, the drink of the Tatar race, is the fermented milk of their mares. The "oHnese beverage, sam-shee, is made from rice. This is not only intoxicat-ing, but, like absinthe, peculiarly mischievous in its per-manent effects. In South America a favourite drink is pulque, the fermented juice of the American aloe (Agave americana). Guarapo is the juice of the sugar-cane, which, when fermented, forms the common drink of the negro races, who also prepare a drink from rice and honey. Where beer has once been introduced, however, it has generally become the national beverage, and is now in universal use in the northern and temperate parts of Europe and Asia.
Beer used formerly to be made in England from wheat; but this beverage was not so well flavoured as if prepared from barley-malt, nor did it keep long. It was esteemed in Germany and Denmark, and was called by the Germans Mumme, and by the Danes mom. The German Weiss-bier is made from wheat-malt, with a small portion of barley-malt added.
We are informed by William of Malmesbury that, in the reign of Henry II., the English were greatly addicted to drinking. The monasteries were remarkable for the strength and purity of their ales, brewed from malt prepared by the monks with great care and skill. The waters of Burton-on-Trent began to be famous in the 13th century. The secret of their being so especially adapted for brewing was first discovered by some monks, who held land in the adjacent neighbourhood of Wetmore. There is a document still extant, dated 1295, in which it is stated that Matilda, daughter of Nicholas de Shoben, had re-leased to the abbot and convent of Burton-on-Trent certain tenements within and without the town; for which re-lease they granted her, daily for life, two white loaves from the monastery, two gallons of conventual beer, and one penny, besides seven gallons of beer for the men. The abbots of Burton must also have made their own malt, for it was a common cove-nant in leases of mills belonging to the abbey, that the malt of the lords of the manor, both spiritual and temporal, should be ground free of charge. Mary Queen of Scots,- in the midst of her troubles, seems not to have been altogether insensible to the attractions of English beer, for when she was confined in Tutbury Castle, Walsingham her secretary asked, " At what place near Tutbury beer may be pro-vided for her majestie's use?" to which Sir Ralph Sadler, governor of the castle, made reply, " Beer may be had at Burton, three miles off." Plot, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, written 200 years ago, refers to the peculiar properties possessed by the Burton waters, from which, he says, " by an art well known in this country good ale is made, in the management of which they have a knack of fining it in three days to that degree that it shall not only be potable, but is clear and palatable as one could desire any drink of this kind to be." In 1630 Burton beer began to be known in London, being sold at " ye Peacocke," in Gray's Inn Lane, and, according to the Spectator, was in great demand amongst the visitors at Vauxhall. In 1585 Stow relates that there were 26 brewers in the city of London, the suburbs, and West-minster,—13 being English and 13 foreigners,—who brewed 648,960 barrels of beer, of which they exported 26,400 barrels to Embden, the Low Countries, and Dieppe. In 1643 the first excise was imposed on beer. In William III.'s reign, the brewer sold his nut-brown ale at 16s. per barrel, and his small beer from the same grains for 6s. per barrel.
At the present day the brewing trade has reached vast proportions in Great Britain. It would appear that its extent has now attained the maximum; the quantity produced for export is likely to decline, as most of the colonies are beginning to make their own. The pale ale of Tasmania deserves particular notice ; the climate being specially favourable to hop-growing and malting, that colony not only produces its home-supply, but carries on an export trade with Australia. According to the report to Messrs Bas3 by Professor Leone Levi, the number of persons employed in and depending on the British liquor trade is 1,500,000, and the capital invested in it amounts to £117,000,000. There are 5000 maltsters, 34,000 licensed brewers, 6000 dealers in ales, and 139,000 publicans. These pay nearly £8,000,000 a year for permission to make and sell the popular drink. The quantity of beer brewed in 1869 was 25,542,664 barrels, of which 521,272 barrels were exported; whilst in 1874 the exports were 573,957 barrels, of the declared value of £2,508,883. It has been estimated that Barclay & Perkins (successors to Thrale, Johnson's friend) have £1,500,000 sunk in their trade. Bass, the largest brewer in the world, pays license on 1,000,000 barrels, and there are eighteen other brewers who pay duty on 200,000 barrels. From the excise official returns we find the annual consumption per head of the population is
In England, 2 bushels of malt, i gallon of spirits.
,, Scotland, TV >> >> li ,>
,, Ireland, -fV ». „ A ».
The first essay known to us on the subject of brewing is by Basil Valentine. Boerhaave says of this treatise that it is both accurate and elegant. In 1573 H. Knanst published a work in five volumes at Erfurt, with the quaint title, On the Divine Noble Gift, the Philosophical, highly Dear, and Wondrous Art to Brew Beer. In the year 1585 Thaddeus Hagecius ab Hayek (a Bohemian), published a treatise entitled De Cerevisia, ejusque conficiendi ratione, natura, viribus, et facultatibus. This small work of fifty pages gives a very clear and accurate description of the process of brewing, To Mr Combrune, a London brewer in the earlier part of the 18th century, we are indebted for the proofs he gave of the value of the thermometer in brewing. In other respects his work entitled The Theory and Practice of Brewing, is of no particular value at the present day, though it was very useful at the time in advancing the art, and ran through several editions. Previous to his time brewers had looked upon the thermometer as a scientific toy, and " rule of thumb " was the order of the day. In the year 1784 Mr Richardson of Hull brought out his Theoretic Hints on Brewing Malt Liquor, and Statistical Estimates of the Materials of Brewing, showing the use of the Saccharometer. These works would be beneficial but for the absurd mystery with which the author invests the whole subject. It was he who first brought publicly to the notice of brewers the value of the saccharometer, an improvement of his own on the hydro-meter, or water guage, invented by Martin, the Fleet Street mathematician. Mr Baverstock purchased one of these in 1768, and in 1770 received a certificate of the value of his instrument from Mr Thrale, the celebrated brewer in Southwark, who had tested it. It was not, however, till 1785 that Mr Baverstock published his Hydrometrical Observations and Experiments in the Breweries; so that Mr Richardson has the merit of bringing his improved hydrometer, which he christened saccharometer, first to the notice of the trade. By this instrument the brewer is enabled to ascertain the amount of saccharine or fermentable matter in the wort, and thus to take advantage of a parti-cularly good sample of malt, or to compensate for a bad one, so as to procure an uniform strength. Malt varies in quality according to season, the skill of the maltster, and other circumstances. Samples of barley raised from the same seed, and grown in adjoining fields, will produce malt widely different, although this is not discovered till it has been in the mash tun. The quantity of malt which suffices for a particular "length" to-day may fall far short of affording the same quantity of ale to morrow, and vice versa. In either case the saccharometer is essential, as it enables the brewer to make his ales one standard strength. The instrument is also of great service in regulating the fermentations.
Mr Richardson's saccharometer was constructed on the principle that 36 gallons (one barrel) of water weighs 360 lb, and if that quantity of water were converted into wort
fermentable matter extracted from the malt. His instrument, therefore, was graduated so as to show one degree for each pound that a barrel of wort weighed more than a barrel of water. He does not, however, allow for the displacement of a certain quantity of water by the saccharine matter dissolved in it; consequently, his in-strument is not quite correct. The saccharometer of Dring and Fage and that of Long, which are both on the same principle as Eichardson's, are adjusted so as to allow for this inaccuracy; for example, if a gallon of sugar, weighing 16 lb, be added to 35 gallons of water (together making one barrel imperial measure), their instruments show in this infusion, at 60° Fahr., the excess above that of distilled water, which, in this instance, is 6 ft> gravity ; thus we have a barrel of wort, weighing 366 lb, composed of water 35 gallons, and saccharine matter 16 B>. The Excise make their calculations by Allan and Bate's instru-ments, which are constructed on the principle of indicating the specific gravity of the wort,—that of distilled water, which is the standard of weight by which all substances have to be compared, being reckoned 1000. It is, however, easy to change the reckoning of the one to the other. Should we wish to reduce the specific gravity indicated by Allan's or Bate's instruments, we have only to divide the specific gravity by 2-77; or if we wish to convert the indication of Dring and Fage's scale into specific gravities we multiply by the same factor.
Barley is the seed of several species of Hordeum, and be-longs to the tribe of grasses, called by botanists Graminaceos. It has been cultivated from the earliest times. The species most used for malting purposes are the long-eared or two-rowed barley (Hordeum distichum), and the Hordeum hexastichon, commonly called bere or bigg. This, in con-sequence of its being more hardy and ripening more rapidly, is cultivated in Scotland and Ireland. The variety of the two-rowed most in repute is the Chevalier. This was introduced early in the present century by the rector of Stonham, in Suffolk, after whom it was named, and was the result of careful cultivation. Mr Chevalier saw some fine specimens of two-eared barley growing on a manure heap, had them saved, and cultivated them for several years, selecting only the soundest and largest seeds, until the Chevalier barley became famous and commanded large prices. The land in Great Britain suitable to the growth of the finest grain for malting is limited,—the most favour-able districts being Suffolk, Norfolk, and parts of Essex and Herts. It is, of course, cultivated in all other coun-ties, but not to the same extent. From the Agricultural Returns of Great Britain, presented to Parliament, we find that in the year 1870, there were 2,600,000 acres under barley, which, if taken together, would form a block £th larger than the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk. Taking the average yield at 32 bushels per acre, the total is 83,000,000 bushels, or more than 10,000,000 quarters. Of this, 50,000,000 bushels were converted into malt, and 4,000,000 used by the distillers. Farmers find by experi-ence that some land is not fit for the growth of this cereal, and maltsters that if it is grown on certain soils it will not make good malt. Light calcareous or friable gravelly dry soil is the best. Bich loamy soil produces an excellent crop, and sandy soil, when well manured, answers; but cold clayey land, even when well drained, will not produce the best malting barley It is a most precarious crop, requires but little moisture, and a wet season is fatal to it. When it is in full ear rain, or even heavy dew, will break the stalk, and if wet continues for two or three days the ears on the ground begin to grow, get stained, and become quite unfit for malting. It should remain in the stack at least a month to season. If " got up" damp, it is liable to generate excessive heat, in which case the growing power of the germ is destroyed, and the grain rendered useless for malting purposes. Good barley should have a thin, clean, wrinkled husk, closely adhering to a plump well-fed kernel, which, when broken, appears white and sweet, with a germ full, and of a pale yellow colour. It is of all cereals the best adapted for malting, containing as it does more starch and far less gluten than other grain, and about 7 per cent, of ready-formed grape-sugar. Its specific gravity is from 1-280 to 1-333, that of malt 1-200. A bushel of barley weighs between 53 lb and 58 lb, depending on climate, soil, and harvest; the same quantity of bere or bigg weighs from 47 lb to 51 lb. It cannot well be too heavy, as it gives a corresponding gravity to the malt, providing it be mellow, thin-skinned, and not steely. The cuticle, or husk, forms nearly -i-th of the weight of barley, and between ^th and o§-th in bigg. According to Einhoff, 1000 parts of barley meal contain 720 of starch, 100 of water, 68 of fibrous or ligneous matter, 56 of sugar, 50 of mucilage, 36-6 of gluten, 12-3 of vegetable matter, and 2-5 of phosphate of lime. Hermbstadt gives the following percentages as the mean of ten analyses of barley made by him :—
Water 10-48
Husk 11-59
Gluten 4-91
Albumen 0'35
Starch 60-50
Sugar 4-66
Gum 4-50
Oil 0-35
Soluble phosphates, &c 0'36
Loss 2-30
loe-oo
Great care must be taken when buying for malting, for sometimes the grain is doctored by kiln-bleaching or dried at too great a heat. Several samples, too, may be mixed, in which case they will not grow regularly, as heavier barley generally requires to be longer in steep. Corns broken by the drum of the thrashing-machine being set too close spoil a sample; those cut into sections will not ger-minate, but in warm weather putrefy, as is evident from their blue-grey and mouldy appearance, and offensive smell whilst germinating. A good buyer will, by the use of a skilful hand, estimate very closely the weight per bushel in bulk; his eye will tell him if the grain has been cut before being ripe, in which case there will be a variety in the colour of the barley-corns, some being bright, and some a dead greyish yellow. In consequence of being sown in spring, and not undergoing the equalizing tendency of winter, barley is of all grain the most liable to ripen in a patchy manner, and not come to perfection simultaneously. The buyer has also to judge if it has been heated or " mow-burnt " while lying in the field after being cut, or in the stack ; this it is apt to do in showery weather, or when the crop of clover, which is generally sown with or soon after the barley, is luxuriant. In this case the grain is apt to sprout, and as the process of malting is as near as can be a natural vegetation, barley once sprouted is useless to the maltster.
Malting.—The word malt has been variously derived from roots that have respectively the meanings of grinding, soaking, and rotting. The last derivation, corresponding to the humor ex hordeo corruptus of Tacitus (Germ. 23), is the most probable. Malting consists in steeping the grain in water to supply moisture enough to cause it to germinate, and when the growth is sufficiently advanced, stopping it by drying the grain on a kiln. Before explaining the process of malting we must describe the construction of the seed, and see the chemical changes that take place. A grain of barley is composed of several parts—the inner and outer husks, the cotyledon, the corcule (which includes the plumule \ or future stem and the rostel), the investing membrane, and the scar or eye, through which the seed is nourished during the process. The hard white part is termed, botani-cally, albumen. This is the cotyledon, and forms the chief part of the seed, supplying the germ with food during the first few days of its existence. With the germ, which begins to exist within an hour of being put in steep, springs also into existence the principle termed diastase. This name (from Suarq/u, to separate) was given it by MM. Payen and Persoz, who made numerous experiments with it.
According to Muspratt, diastase may be obtained by making a paste of malted grain at a temperature of 76°, allowing it to stand for a few minutes, and then pressing out the liquor, which is afterwards filtered and heated in a water bath at 170°. At this temperature a portion of the foreign nitrogenous matter coagulates, which is after-wards separated by filtration. The clear filtrate, which contains tolerably pure diastase, is evaporated at a low temperature to dryness. Diastase is not only soluble itself, but has the power of dissolving starch, and converting it into soluble gum, to which is given the name dextrin, and finally into grape sugar, so called because, on analysis, it closely resembles the sugar which naturally exists in the grape. So powerful is diastase, that one part will convert 2000 parts of starch into grape-sugar. This operation will be noticed below under the head of mashing. It is on account of this wonderful power of diastase to convert starch into saccharine matter, that distillers use one part of malt in mashing to five parts of raw grain. The next part of the seed that comes under notice is the corcule, which is the embryo of the future plant. This germ, feeding on the sugar formed from the starch of the cotyledon by the action of diastase, grows upwards and downwards,—the upward growth being the plumule or " acrospire," the downward the radicle or future root. Acetic acid (vinegar), which does not exist in raw grain in a free state, is now also formed ; this assists the diastase in its action.
The maltster's object is to obtain as much saccharine matter as possible, with the smallest loss of substance, by converting the starch of the barley into sugar, and thus pre-paring it for the brewery, where it is changed by fermenta-tion into alcohol. Chemically, starch and sugar are com-posed of the same elements, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen; but their atoms are differently arranged,—the mean results of the analyses of Berzelius, Gay-Lussac, and Thenard, giving -j^tus of a grain of carbon more in starch than in sugar, whilst sugar contains -j^-ths of a grain more of oxygen and jl^ths less of hydrogen than starch.
The duty on malt forms an important item in the revenue, and stringent laws have been made to enable the excise to levy the duty, and prevent the maltster from defrauding. It may be remarked, however, that although those rules were relaxed or abolished, the process of manufacture would be carried on as it is now. The duty was first raised in the reign of Charles I. on the following scale :— English malt, 4s. 4d.; Scotch barley-malt, 3s. 8|4.; Scotch bigg-malt, 3s. per bushel, but 2s. of this was a war-tax, and the whole was soon repealed. In 1697 a tax was again imposed (to enable William III. to carry on war with France) of 6fd. per bushel. The rate has been frequently changed, and has ranged between 7d. and 4s. 5|d. in England, and 7d. and 3s. 9-i-d. in Scotland. For this and much other information we are indebted to a useful little work on malting published by W. R. Loftus. The present rate of duty on malt made from barley is 2s. 7d. per bushel, and 5 per cent, additional, making in all 2s. 8-J-l-d.; and on malt from bere or bigg, when made for consumption in Scot-land or Ireland, 2s., and 5 per cent, additional; when the latter is imported into England the higher duty is charged. The 5 per cent, additional was imposed in 1840 on all exciseable articles, except spirits.
Table showing Quantity of Malt made in Great Britain during the years 1871 to 1874, and the amount of Duty levied:—
== TABLE ==
Malting consists of four processes,—steeping, couching, flooring, and kiln-drying.
Steeping is performed in a large cistern of stone, or more usually brick, covered with cement, into which the barley (properly screened, to remove the small useless grains) is shot from the store-chamber above. It is then levelled and covered with water to the depth of 5 or 6 inches, all floating kernels and refuse being skimmed off. This process is necessary for the germination of the seed not only in a chemical but also in a mechanical point of view. The seed is so hard and compact, and the husk so firmly bound to the kernel, that it would be impossible for the tender germ to make its way through it; the steeping imparts vitality to the germ, and also assists it in making its way through the husk. The grain now swells about one-fifth in bulk and one-half in weight from the moisture absorbed; or more pre-cisely, 100 lb of barley would weigh, after steeping, 147 lb, and 100 bushels measure would increase to 122. By law it has to be kept at least forty hours under water, and fifty if the grain is to be sprinkled before the twelfth day. This time must depend on the kind of barley used, the soil on which it was grown, the heat of the weather, and the hardness or softness of the water in which it is steeped. More time is required in cold than in hot weather. Scotch barley requires more time, but bigg less. Fifty hours steeping will generally suffice, but sometimes seventy is necessary. The rule is—if a barleycorn, held lengthwise between the finger and thumb, breaks down into a pulpy, mealy state, the process is complete ; whereas, if the farina exudes in the form of a milky paste, it is over-steeped. In warm weather the steep-water acquires an odour from matter dissolved out of the barley skin; and, in consequence of a slight fermentation caused by the organic matter in the water acting on the decayed grain, the water becomes acescent or putrid. The steep-water should then be changed. This the maltster is allowed to do once during each wetting, upon giving due notice to the Excise. Whilst the barley is in steep it is guaged by the excise officers, to prevent fraud, and to calculate the duty to be paid. Wide planks are placed across the cistern to enable them to take the " dip,"—sufficient light, and headroom of at least 48 inches, being provided. Numerous experiments show that 81-j- bushels of good dry barley will, after forty-eight hours steep, swell to exactly 100 bushels. An allowance is therefore made of 18^ per cent, on the grain found in the cistern or couch frame, but the duty is charged on the Kreatest amount found, whether in the couch or on the lloor or kiln. When the operation of steeping is complete the water is drained off in about half an hour by means of a gutter laid below the level of the cistern from end to end, with a proper fall, and covered with perforated iron plates. The perforated plates being movable, the gutter is easily cleaned and the plates replaced. The law requires that every cistern shall be permanently constructed with the sides and ends straight, and at right angles to each other, for facility of measurement; the depth must not exceed 40 inches in any part; the bottom must be even, with a fall of not more than half an inch per foot for drainage. No cistern can be used under a penalty of £100 until a certificate in writing from the supervisor has been obtained, stating that he has surveyed the utensil, and that it is constructed according to the requirements of law.
Couching.—The couch-frame is formed like the cistern, with the exception that the fourth side may be made of movable planks at least 2 inches in thickness. Before the year 1827 it was lawful to construct the couch-frame entirely of movable boards; and couches made before that date may still be used by obtaining permission from the Board of Inland Revenue. Into this frame the grain is now thrown with wooden shovels. It must not be com-pressed in any way, under heavy penalties, and must not exceed 30 inches in depth. If the excise officer has any suspicion that the grain has been trodden down, he may order it to be thrown back into the cistern and levelled. The officer will then gauge it again. If he finds that the quantity has increased more than 5 or 6 per cent, accord-ing to the length of time the grain has been emptied from the cistern, any such increase over and above the 5 or 6 per cent, will be deemed conclusive evidence that the grain has been trodden or forced together. A. penalty of £100 is then incurred; and a like sum for maltsters or their men refusing to return the grain to the cistern. After twenty hours the maltster is at liberty to move the grain onsto the floors; but, in cold weather, when sufficient heat to forward germination has not generated, it is left two days, and even longer; but if left too long, the grain becomes sour. After sufficient time has elapsed, in order to prevent the heat rising too rapidly, and to equalize it through the whole body of grain, it is thrown forward on to the floors.
Flooring.-—Here the grain must be kept level, with the edges straight to make it easy for the officers to gauge, which is done several times to prevent the introduction of uncharged grain. This operation of gauging requires great care, as, in large houses, a mistake of the tenth of an inch would make a difference of between 20 and 30 bushels to the maltster. On the floors an allowance of one-half is made for the rootlets; this is generally quite sufficient. Each steeping is called a "floor" or piece, and must be laid in succession according to age, the most recent next the couch, and the oldest next the kiln. Maltsters may have six floors, including grain in the couch and on the kiln, in operation at one time. Germination now progresses ; the plumule, or stem begins to grow under the husk from the same end as the root, but instead of piercing the husk, turns round and proceeds under it to the other end of the grain. This would develop into the green leaf were its progress not stopped. Maltsters vary as to the length it is advisable to let the acrospire attain ; some like it not much more than half up the back of the grain, others like it fths or even -|ths of its length, because it, is practically found that a friability of the starchy matter takes place pari passu with the length of the plumule. Unless the floors are worked with great skill and regularity, however, some are apt to protrude when carried to the latter extent. This shows an exhausted condition within. Malsters who sell by weight work the acrospire no higher than is absolutely necessary; the higher it is worked the less starch and the more sugar is produced, and a corresponding loss in weight ensues. The maltster who sells by measure, however, likes to have the acrospire as high as he can, to increase the bulk of his malt. The writer's experience is that ales fine better, and keep better, when brewed from malt well worked up. In large mash tuns, where the heat can be maintained, it is not of so much importance ; but in small tuns, where less than twenty quarters are mashed, if the " spire " is up l-ths of the grain, so much the better, so long as it is uni-form. The temperature on the floor rises to between 50° and 60°; the fibrils of the radicle, the "chick," as it is technically called, shoot from the tip of every corn. The middle of the floor being the warmest starts soonest; so, after a few hours, the grain is turned or stirred, so as to bring all to a similar state of forwardness. At this point comes the critical test of the maltster's skill; no fixed rules can be laid down ; he must be guided by experience and circumstances. He has to consider the quality and growth of the barley,—whether it came off light or heavy soil,— the kind of malt intended to be made,—the temperature and peculiarities of his particular malting. His principal object is to get the grain to work, and to work regularly, to accomplish which, and to check the too rapid growth of the rootlets, the grain must be turned several times daily, the interior being always brought to the surface by the shovels of the workmen. The grain is spread more thinly each time, the depth of it, originally 14 or 15 inches, being thus gradually lessened to 3 or 4. This brings it to the middle of the process ; it is then thickened as gradually as it was diminished until it is thrown on the kiln. The grain now emits an agreeable odour, something like apples ; and if the hand be thrust into the corn it is found wet enough to damp it; this is called sweating. The " chick " develops into several short bushy rootlets. As the acrospire grows the constituents undergo a great change; the gluten and mucilage almost disappear; the grain becomes white, mealy, and sweet; carbonic acid is produced; air is absorbed, almost as by animals in breathing; and, consequently, air is necessary to the germination of the grain. It loses during this part of the process from 1J to 3 per cent, in weight.
There can be no doubt that it is of importance to the maltster that the law allows him to sprinkle water over the "pieces " on the floor; this may be done at the expiration of ninety hours after removal from the steep, provided such grain has been kept under water fifty hours. Sprinkling is generally commenced on the fifth or sixth day, notice having been given to the Excise twenty-four hours before. If in steep less than fifty hours it may not be sprinkled till the expiration of twelve days. Sprinkling is used most by maltsters who sell by measure, and therefore want to increase the bulk of their malt; but there are seasons when it would be difficult to make good malt unless moisture were thus supplied, to make up the water lost during sweating. Too much light is detrimental, as appears from the fact that grain under the influence of uninterrupted light is inferior, unless the sky-light be covered with a coat-ing of blue, which admits the actinic rays, and excludes the calorific and light rays, which hinder germination. Shutters on the sliding principle are the best for regulating both light and heat. Great care has to be taken not to damage the grain by turning, especially when it is spread thin. To obviate the necessity of turning as much as pos-sible an instrument like a narrow shovel, called a plough, is used, which brings the grains underneath to the surface, and into contact with the cold air, so keeping the germination regular. Grain is required by law to be kept at least 168 hours on the floors, but maltsters may keep it there as much longer as they like. Barley throws out five rootlets, the middle one being the strongest; and if the young floor has been neglected, this will shoot out three times the length of the others and turn up at the end like an awl. When the grain has germinated sufficiently, its growth is arrested by placing it on the kiln, the object being to drive off superfluous moisture and insure the keeping qualities of the malt.
Kiln-drying.—The kiln is a chamber of which the floor should be made of woven-wire or sheet-iron, or of perforated tiles. The perforations are necessary to give admission to the hot air, and also to allow the detached rootlets to fall through. The kiln should have a sufficient area to allow the whole of one steeping to be dried at once, at a depth of 8 or 10 inches; by which means the malt is more regular than when dried in two or three lots, as the portion left on the floor will grow, notwithstanding the maltster's efforts to prevent it. The opening at the top of the kiln is covered with a cowl or cupola, which answers the double purpose of excluding rain and allowing the escape of the steam. The furnaces are placed under the floor, nearly in the central line, and the hot air passing through the perfora-tions dries the malt, while the steam is carried off through the vent in the roof. An iron or stone plate, 4 or 5 feet square, called the " disperser," is placed over each fire to disperse the heat and prevent the malt immediately above from taking fire. The heat at first should not exceed 90°; if ' higher it produces a hardening or vitrifaction of the starchy matter or dextrin, and also heightens the colour of the malt; whereas, if the malt be freed from moisture at a low temperature it may afterwards be exposed to a high heat without gaining colour. The moisture being disposed of, the heat may be gradually raised to from 125° to 135° for India pale ale malt, and to 170° or 180° for ordinary pale malt,—the difference in the kinds of malt being the amount of heat to which they are subjected on the kiln. During the process the fires should never be allowed to go out, as the smell of a green fire imparts an unpleasant flavour. During the last few hours in particular there should be a bright, clear fire for finishing off the malt, otherwise the beer will not get bright. It will thus be seen that the pro-cess of kiln-drying is very important. Dr Ure's remarks on it are pregnant with meaning. He says, " The opera-tion of kiln-drying is not confined to the mere expulsion of the moisture from the germinated seeds, but it serves to convert into sugar a portion of the starch which re-mains unchanged, and that in a two-fold way. This is, first, by the action of the gluten upon the fecula at an elevated temperature, as also by the species of roasting which the starch undergoes, and which renders it of a gummy nature. If we dry one portion of the malt in a naturally dry atmosphere, and another on a moderately warm kiln, the former will yield less saccharine matter than the latter. Moreover, the kiln-dried malt has a peculiar agreeable and faintly burnt taste,—probably from a small portion of the empyreumatic oil formed in the husk, which not only imparts its flavour to the beer, but also contributes to its preservation." Kiln-drying takes from one to four days, according to the depth of malt and amount of heat used. The fire being kept always burning, great care is needed to prevent its breaking out in the night; it is there-fore made up the last thing and then " banked up," that is, covered with a quantity of the ashes which fall, through the bars. For ordinary pale malt, about three hours before it is thrown off the kiln the heat is raised from 150° to 180°, and during this process it requires turning two or three times, and is thrown off the kiln in a hot state. The rootlets are readily detached from the malt by the turning on the kiln, and the treading of the men in their list slippers; they are finally separated by screening, and are the best criterion of the colour of the malt, showing at once the amount of heat used. These malt " combs " or " cummings," as they are called, are valuable food for cattle in winter ; and the fine ones which fall through the kiln-floor on the disperser, mixed with the dust from the fire, are said to be almost equal to Peruvian guano as a top dressing for turnips.
Malt continues to swell, by absorbing moisture from the atmosphere, for nearly three months, the time vary-ing according to the dampness of the air. Malt in store is said to be mellowing. The increase by measure of malt over dry barley, called the " outcast,5' is from 3 to 8 per cent.; in bigg the increase scarcely amounts to 1 per cent. During the process of malting barley loses one-fifth of its weight; in other words, 100 Tb of barley con-verted into pale malt weighs on an average 80 lb ; but as barley when kiln-dried loses 12 per cent, of moisture, the actual loss is reckoned at only 8 per cent. The late Pro-fessor Thomson thus accounted for it:—
Soluble matter carried off by steep-water T5
Carbonic acid formed and given off during germination...3'0
Roots 3-0
Waste (bruised and lost grains) 0-5
s-o
Water
Saline matter. Organic „
Dr R,. D. Thomson, who made various experiments on malt for the purpose of ascertaining its feeding and fattening properties, states the loss sustained to be
6-00
0-48
12-52
19-00
Soluble albuminous compounds
Insoluble „ ,,
Husk
Dextrin
Fatty matter
Inorganic matter
Extractive matter
Starch
Loss
Bigg sustains a greater loss than barley, amounting to 7 per cent. more. The great similarity which chemical analysis shows to exist between barley and malt, proves that malting is only the beginning of the process by which saccharine matter in solution is obtained. A glance at Stein's analysis of the two will show this :—
== TABLE ==
The following is the composition of barley and malt, as given by O'udemans :_—
== TABLE ==
Albuminous compounds in barley and malt (Oude-mans)—
== TABLE ==
There are three kinds of kiln-dried malt—pale, amber, and brown, and one of roasted, called black or patent malt. We have already seen how pale East India malt is made ; also that the ordinary pale malt is dried off at a higher temperature by 30° or 40°.
Amber malt, when ground, is of a rich amber colour, hence its name. This is dried off at a heat of 180°. The fuel used during drying is different. For pale malt, coke or anthracite coal is used, but the colour and flavour of amber malt are produced by burning oak or other hard-wood faggots,—the flavour being caused by the pyroligneous acid thrown off during burning. High-coloured malts have advantages over pale ; more dextrin is produced and more albuminous matter is rendered insoluble ; it is, therefore, easier to brew good beer from them.
Brown or porter malt is dried in yet another way. The floors of malt-kilns used for drying it must be made of thin sheet-iron or stout wire, as the heat must be raised in a few minutes from 100° to a heat nearly approaching combustion, and lowered as rapidly. The process requires great attention, or the malt would take fire. The grain is spread thin, not exceeding inches in depth.; and the whole process is completed in less than two hours. The fuel used consists of faggots of beech, elm, or oak ; at first the fire is kept down by being sprinkled with water, but the last half-hour it is allowed to increase, and an intense heat is obtained. This kind of malt weighs about 32 lb per bushel. It is sometimes called " blown malt," from its distended appearance. By this process the gum, sugar, and starch are converted into a kind of caramel, which gives the flavour so much prized in porter. It makes the malt, however, deficient in extractive matter, to the extent of from 20 to 30 per cent.
Patent malt, which is the legal colouring-matter in porter, is made and charged with duty in the same way as other malt, and then removed to the roasting premises, where it is treated like coffee, being roasted over a fire in cylinders of perforated iron. The law requires that 95 per cent, of this malt shall have the " spire " extend to one-half the length of the grain in order to prevent the introduction of raw grain. It is generally made from injured or in-ferior malt, as the high temperature in drying quite restores the appearance. There is, of course, no saccharine extract from it, that having been converted into caramel or burnt-fiugar; it is only wanted to supply colour and flavour. Good malt of this kind should have each grain distinct, of its own original size and shape, not adhering to each other ; and when it is bitten the inside should be of a rich chocolate colour.
Pale malt differs in appearance from barley ; the grains are plump and generally free from wrinkles, and paler than barley. Instead of the tightly-closed end, the opening through which the rootlets have passed is visible at the base of each grain ; when broken the starch should be loose, friable, and cretaceous, and should leave a white mark as of chalk when drawn along a black surface. It should be crisp to the teeth, and have a sweet and empyreumatic flavour, free from the least mould or mustiness of smell or taste. Malt should weigh from 39 S) to 43 S) per bushel. There should be no vitrified appearance when broken ; that would be due to an excess of heat at the beginning of the drying process, or to the barley having been grown in too rich a soil, or to mixed seed being used which did not work regularly. A good test is to take 100 seeds and throw them into water, stirring them well up; good malt, being specifically lighter than water, should float on the surface; if more than 5 per cent, sink it is bad malt. Another test is to take 100 grains of malt and carefully examine the regularity of their acrospire, which should extend -fths of the length of the grain for large and |ths for small brewers. If more than 5 per cent, have projected it shows a waste of material, whereas if more than 5 per cent, have the acrospire less than half way up, it is a sign of insufficient germination.
Dr Ure's analysis goes to show the amount of solid extract obtainable by the brewer. He takes 100 grains of malt by weight, which are powdered and dried half-an-hour by the heat from boiling water; they are then weighed, and the loss shows the quantity of moisture in the malt. This powder is then mixed with cold water, and the vessel containing it is heated in the steam-bath half an hour, the contents being occasionally stirred. The husk and insoluble matters are then drained off, washed with boiled water, and then dried and weighed,—their weight giving the insoluble matter in the malt, and the residue the soluble extract available to the brewer. Dr Ure found in several experiments the average in 100 parts by weight, to be—
Moisture 6 #5
Insoluble matter 26 '7
Soluble extract 66 '8
100-0
According to this, if we assume that a quarter of malt weighs 324 lb, the total soluble extract will be 216'4 lb avoirdupois; but as the gum and sugar in assuming the fluid form combine with the elements of water, if the extract were dried it would weigh 23 lb ; and being reduced to the basis of the barrel of 36 gallons would become, in the language of brewers, 87 lb extract per barrel, which means that, if the wort from a quarter of malt were evaporated down to the bulk of a barrel of 36 gallons, it would weigh 87 lb more than a barrel of pure water. Practice shows these experiments to be correct, the extract per quarter varying, according to the sample of malt, from 80 lb to 90 lb.
Malt is made duty-free for distillery purposes and exportation ; in both cases the maltster has to enter into a bond with two sureties for £1000 that the malt goes to its declared destination. It may also be made free of duty for cattle feeding, an Act giving great facilities being passed in 1864; it was, however, found to be useless, except in small quantities, as a condiment, and the practice of giving it is entirely discontinued. In 1870 there was not a single bushel made, as there was no demand for it. In the case of malt damaged by fire or water, an allowance equal to the whole of the duty, .if totally destroyed, or part if the damaged malt be sold on salvage, is granted by 7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 52, § 76. The duty on malt is payable at the end of every six weeks, but upon entering into a bond with sureties for payment, a maltster is allowed six weeks' credit. Also by 26 Vict. c. 6, § 1, he may defer payment of half the duty on malt made between 1st January and 1st April, and the whole of the duty on malt made between the latter date and 16th May, for three months, on giving notice of his intention to the proper collector before 1st April, paying interest at the rate of Z\ per cent, per annum for the accommodation, and giving bond for security.
By 7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 52, § 46, it is provided that, if any workman, maliciously or otherwise, commits an act by which his employers are liable to a penalty, he shall be imprisoned with hard labour for not less than three or more than twelve months. The master is liable for these penalties incurred by the workman unless he prosecute his servant within a month of the offence, and show the Com-missioners a certificate of such conviction. Some maltsters have a notice put up in their maltings to the effect that their men will be prosecuted if they commit the offences mentioned in the Act.
In America there are no internal taxes on materials used in brewing as such, but there is an import duty on hops and barley,—five cents per lb on the former, and 15 cents on the latter per bushel. The barley mostly used comes from Canada, the import duty being equal to about Is. 4d. on an American barrel of beer. The duty is levied in the form of a stamp-tax on the beer fermented, completed, and in barrel, at the rate of $1 per barrel of 31 gallons, and $2 per barrel of not less than 63 gallons. No restric-tions are imposed as to the materials of which it shall be made.
In Bavaria the duty is raised on malt, but not assessed till the malt is brought to the mill to be crushed. It is made without licence or permission, and may be sold without restriction ; but traffic in ground malt is strictly forbidden. The case is the same whether the malt is used by brewers or distillers. The consumption of beer and spirits is untaxed, except through the impost on malt. The means adopted for-preventing fraud consist exclusively in the control exercised in the public mills by the Govern-ment inspectors. Private mills for crushing malt are only allowed when the proprietors have their mills furnished with the regulation self-acting measuring apparatus, together with the Government automatical counter. This apparatus is sealed officially, and thus it is impossible for an ounce of malt to be crushed which has not first been measured and checked. Besides these means for preventing fraud, there exists a regulation that no malt, whether tax-free or not, may be brought to any mill, or be found there, for which a certificate (polette) has not been given specifying the date, the quality, and the mill.
Americans are now making beer largely from maize meal and maize malt. The experience the writer has had of the use of the latter leads him to doubt its economy; the ex-tract is small, and the fine flavour of the ale impaired. However, a small quantity can be used with advantage where the fermentations are sluggish or inactive,—maize being the most powerful stimulant of this process that we possess. Barley has always been considered, and with good reason, a better, and in favourable seasons a cheaper, grain than any other for malting. The reasons for this are, first, that whilst the husk permits the steep-water to pass through to the starch it effectually precludes the escape of the starch; secondly, the acrospire grows under the husk in barley, and so is protected from injury during malting, whereas in wheat, maize, &c, the acrospire forces its way out with and at the same end as the rootlets, and therefore runs the risk of being damaged by turning on the floors; these damaged grains become mouldy, and mould being propa-gated by means of spores, one mouldy grain may send out thousands of these spores among the good grain, and infect the previously healthy ones; and thirdly, barley contains a large ready-made proportion of grape-sugar and starch. It is, therefore, only in bad barley seasons that there will be much demand for malt made from other grain. The average price of barley from 1872 to 1875 has been 43s., and in 1874 the average was as high as 49s. This high price, which means a material increase in the cost of manufacture, has naturally made a great inquiry for a cheaper sugar-forming product; and there is no doubt that if the duty on malt were either taken off or laid on the manufactured article, beer, large quantities of other grain dried on a kiln at from 230° to 240° would be used in bad barley seasons. In Germany the grain is steeped before kiln-drying for three or four hours, to remove from the husk the unpleasant flavour it sometimes imparts to ales ; the materials used to a considerable extent there are wheat, oats, rice, maize, and even potato starch. Beer made from rice is of a very clear pale colour, of an extremely pleasant, mild taste, foaming strongly, and yet retaining its carbonic acid. Dr Graham, in his instructive lectures on the chemistry of brewing, at the Society of Arts in 1874, explained how raw grain might be used to obtain a beer either alcoholic in its nature, as brewed in England, or dextrinous, like the Bavarian beer. Mr John Prior, of the firm of Truman and Hanbury, in his examination before a committee of the House of Commons, says, " If the malt Acts were not in the way, numerous substitutes for malt might be employed," and that, amongst these, mangel-wurzel might be used to any extent; and he goes on to say, " I have tasted as good beer brewed from that alone as any home-brewed beer I have ever tasted in my life."
The only substitute for malt allowed in Great Britain is sugar. Of this, in its different forms, there was used in the year ending September 30, 1874—
Cwts.
T„ T?„„I„„A \ London 283,736
In England j Province3 422;136
705,872
In Scotland 7,323
In Ireland 54,825
768,020
being an increase over 1873 of 204,528 cwt. Sugar may be used in brewing to the extent of one-third,—two cwt. being equal to a quarter of malt; the duty is lis. 6d. per cwt. It is either boiled with the wort, or dissolved in the underback. Ordinary cane-sugar contains a large amount of dangerous putrefying albuminous matter. It may also be said to cause two distinct fermentations, having to be converted, by the action of the ferment, into glucose before it is broken up into alcohol; it is, therefore, only good for ales of quick consumption. For store ales it is as well to destroy one of these fermentations, and at the same time convert the cane into grape-sugar or glucose. This is done by treating it with dilute sulphuric acid, the acid being afterwards got rid of by means of chalk or lime, which combines with and carries it down. This is effected very rapidly if the temperature be increased by pressure to 250° or 300°, 1 S) of acid mixed with 600 lb of water converting 100 lb of starch or cane-sugar into glucose in three hours. This action of acids upon cane-sugar has formed the subject of a patent (Garton's), which is being worked on a large scale at Southampton, and the product is sold under the name of saccharine ; it has found great favour with brewers, as it gives a rounder flavour, and more permanent character, to the beers than when brewed from malt alone, and at the same time masks the acidity where any exists, better than starch or cane-sugar. Saccharinehas been carefully analysed, and the analysis shows the whole of the raw sugar to have been converted into glucose with a certain percentage of water. The best mode of distinguishing grape from cane-sugar is by adding to the solution to be tested, in a flask, a few drops of an alkaline solution of tartrate of copper, and then gently boiling it. If any grape-sugar is present a bright red metallic-looking precipitate of suboxide of copper is shortly thrown down ; if no grape-sugar is present the solution remains clear, with a slight blue tinge, from the addition of the copper solution.
It does not appear that the best judge can, from the taste alone, distinguish between a beer made from malt and one brewed from a mixture of malt and sugar. This is not surprising, when it is borne in mind that brewing from malt consists in subjecting the malt to those conditions which, are most favourable to the conversion of the maximum quantity of the starch it contains into grape-sugar, by the action of the diastase produced in the grain by the process of malting.
Hops are the catkins or flowers of the Humulus Lupulus, a dioecious plant belonging to the natural order Urticacece, or the nettle family, and the Linnasan Dimcia pentandria. It is the female flowers (which grow on different plants from the male flowers) that yield the hop known to com-merce. The plant is mentioned by Pliny under the name of lupus salictarius (iV. H, xxi. 50). It was cultivated in the 9th century, for we find that in 822 the millers of Corbey were freed by the abbot from all labours relating to hops ; and hop-gardens are mentioned by Ludovicus Ger-manicus, a few years later. Hops were introduced into England from Flanders about the time of Henry IV. There is a curious edict of Henry VIII., forbidding the mixture of either hops or sulphur with beer; but little attention seems to have been paid to it, for in 1552 hop-plantations were formed. In 1649 the city of London petitioned Parliament against " hoppes " being used, urging that " this wicked weed would spoil the drink, and endanger the lives of the people." It came into common use in Queen Elizabeth's reign.
The hop-clusters are ovoid cones, consisting of scales which are the enlarged persistent bracts enclosing the fruit. They are covered with a tenacious yellow, waxy substance, like powder, called lupulin, and technically " condition." Under the microscope this is seen to consist of minute semi-transparent granules, round in shape; it is the most valuable part of the hop, containing most of its active properties. The amount of powder compared with the total weight of the hop varies from 10 to 15 or even 20 per cent. Amongst the leaves and powder of the hop, we find essential oils, resin with associated bitter principles, and tannin. When distilled with water, the powder gives 2 per cent, of its weight in essential oils (there is none in the leaves); one of these distils at 212° Fahr., but the other requires a muuh higher temperature for its volatilization. Other products are formed from the lupulin—among them valerianic acid, which is the dis-agreeable characteristic of old hops. The essential oils not only give the aroma, but are of importance, as through their combination the resins and bitter substances become soluble in water. The resin constitutes 50 per cent, of the powder, and is soluble in alcohol. The importance of tannin consists in its power to precipitate albuminous matter ; of tannin there is only about 2 per cent. It has been suggested to increase this by using the tannic acid of commerce as a partial substitute for hops; and experi-ments have been made in Dresden by Dr Fleck for this purpose. This must, however, be used with caution, as an excess of it would be prejudicial to a successful clarifica-tion of the beer.
The most delicate hops are Goldings, grown in East Kent, —Farnham and Worcester districts being next best, while good, strong, serviceable hops are grown in the Weald of Kent, Sussex, &c. Large quantities are imported from Germany, Belgium, America, &c, the best being Bohemian, grown near Saaz, which are very excellent in delicacy of flavour and aroma; Bavarians grown in the district round Spalt are valuable for their cleansing and beer-keeping qualities.
The acreage under hops in England is 65,000,—40,000 being in Kent. This is an increase of more than 15,000 acres since the commutation of the duty in 1862. In that year the duty was taken off hops, and a charge made on brewers of Is. per quarter, being at the rate of 3d. per barrel, on the supposition that four barrels of beer were drawn from every quarter mashed. The old duty was 2d. per lb and 5 per cent, additional. A hop-garden costs from £70 to £100 to start, and from £27 to £30 to farm per annum. A rich, deep soil, rather inclined to moisture, is, on the whole, the best adapted for the crop; but any soil (stiff clay only excepted) will suit, when properly prepared. It should be enriched with the kind of manure best suited to the land the hops are to be grown on; stable and cowhouse dung, old rags, shoddy, guano, sprats, and other decomposed matter are used freely; while on some land peat and lime are required. The land is first rendered fine and mellow by being ploughed and harrowed several times ; then, in the spring, a large hole is made and filled with rich mellow earth; into this " sets " or small pieces of the roots of the kind of hop intended to be grown are planted with the buds uppermost and the earth pressed close about them. These sets take three years to come to perfection. Two or three sets to a pole, three poles to a hill, 1050 hills to an acre, is the usual calculation. The hills should be 6 or 8 feet apart, the latter being best on rich land, as there the bine runs the most. The poles are from 12 to 18 feet high, according to the adaptability of the ground for vigorous growth, with the ends that go into the earth charred to preserve them. In America the hop is trained on wires; this has also been introducced into England,—Mr Farmer, of Worcester, having taken out a patent. It is very successful, but the first cost, £75 per acre, has prevented its being used extensively. The hop crop is a most precarious one, and may be said to vary from nothing up to a ton or even 25 cwt. per acre, and in price from £3 to £25 per cwt. In proof of this, at the annual Worcester Fair in 1874, only 74 pockets were on sale, whereas the year before 1000 pockets were in the market, and 2000 more were offered for sale by sample.
The plant is very dependent on the season, and has many enemies in the insect world, in particular, the fly or aphis, which infests the crop early in its growth, feeding upon its juices and leaves, giving the latter the appearance of having been riddled with swan shot. The flies come originally from the sloe bushes, and are produced from eggs deposited in the previous autumn. These, as well as fleas, red spiders, lice, &c, may be destroyed by syringing the plants well with soft soap and water. The mould first betrays itself in yellow and drooping leaves, finally in the hop itself, eating it up with mildew,—the presence of a few half-eaten leaves spoiling a sample. The blight coats the leaves with a thick sooty substance; and when this appears the hop dwindles away. The fire-blast, as its name implies, sears and scorches the foliage, and withers it up. All these may be seen working mischief at once in the same hop garden.
The catkins of the hop ripen early in September; they are picked from the bine by thousands of people from London, &c, whose welfare and accommodation have been much neglected; but great changes in this respect are made by sanitary regulations which come into force this season (1875). Besides these strangers, every man, woman, and child of the resident population is made available for the season, which generally lasts three weeks. The pay is about 2d. per bushel; and in a good season a family can make 2s. 6d. a day per head.
After picking, the hops are dried on a kiln (oast-house, as its called),—the heat never being allowed to rise above 90°, lest the aroma and volatile oil should be thrown off. A small portion of sulphur is sometimes added to the fire, the appearance of the sample being improved by the sul-phurous acid thus formed. This has been generally con-sidered by brewers injurious to the hop, and also to fermentation; but a commission appointed by the Bavarian Government in 1855 (the late Professor Liebig being one of its members), after two years of experiments, arrived at the conclusion that the use of sulphur was beneficial to the hop, and not injurious to fermentation. It is frequently-used while the plant is growing to cure the various diseases to which the hop, like the vine, is liable. The last process before the hops are brought to market is " bagging." This used to be done by " footing," that is, letting the empty bag drop through a hole in the floor, and having the hops stamped down by one man, whilst two others filled; after which they were pressed by hydraulic power. Under a new process the whole operation is effected by machinery in about eight minutes. Hop-growers, as a rule, have no stores or convenience for warehousing hops for more than a month or two; the consequence is the whole growth, whether large or small, gets into the hands of a few great hop merchants, who command the market.
The best hops have a yellow, golden colour, and an agreeable smell; when rubbed between the hands they leave a yellow, odoriferous, sticky powder on them, with-out any broken parts of the leaves, and yield to boiling alcohol from 12 to 15 per cent, of soluble yellow matter. A very pale green colour indicates that the hops have been gathered before they are fit; whilst a deep brown shade would show they were allowed to hang too long before being gathered, or that they have been over dried on the oast-house floor. A fair test in choosing hops for India pale ale is to make a strong decoction of them with boiling water, putting it into a white bottle, corked and exposed to the sun; if in twenty-four hours the colour has become dark they are not fit for the purpose.
During the year 1852 only 34,622 lb of foreign hops were imported; in 1853 this increased to 4,739,307 tt>, and in 1871 to 24.685,808. Before the hop-duty was taken off there was a great deal of betting on the crop, which was computed as equal to so much duty ; and the appearance in the Borough of a hop leaf covered with fly from one of the most favoured districts used to cause much consternation. Since the repeal of the duty brewers have been allowed to use any bitter instead of hop, provided such bitter does not give a factitious strength to beer, and virus become a substitute for malt. Many preparations are, in consequence, offered for sale as partial substitutes for hops ; but in these none of the noxious, forbidden articles, such as Gocculus indicus, &c, <fec, are found, for we learn from the laboratory returns of the Inland Revenue that, in the year 1872, only six samples of beer tested were found to be adulterated. Considering the enormous extent of our brewing industry (it is calculated that 900,000,000 gallons of beer are brewed annually), such testimony to the purity of the beer is highly creditable to those engaged in the trade. From the same source, we learn that in every instance where an adulterant of a dangerous nature was used, the offending parties have been those who brewed and retailed their own beer on a very small scale.
Age alters and deteriorates the character of hops in a marked and distinct degree, much more so than in most aromatic substances; indeed, it changes them to such an extent that, at the end of two years (when they are called "old olds"), they retain little but the bitter, the aroma being gone.
In the year ending 30th September 1874, the hops imported into Great Britain were—
Cwt.
From Belgium 60,338
,, Germany 39,459
„ Holland 16,035
,, United States 2,809
,, Other countries 4,875
123,516
being a decrease on 1873 of 11,626 cwt.
Hops are grown with success in Tasmania, upwards of 450 acres being under cultivation. The Australian market, it is supposed, will be eventually supplied from thence. At present between 600 and 700 tons of hops are exported from England yearly.
Water.— Pure water, protoxide of hydrogen, is obtain-able only by art; it is therefore impossible, even were it desirable, to use that in brewing. But good water is an indispensable element in the manufacture of good beer. It should be hard and free from organic matter ; this last point cannot be urged too strongly, as this alone frequently causes failure in brewing operations. From Cohn's investi-gations we find that the germs of putrefaction are so small that no filter of charcoal or other material removes them. It is also doubtful if ordinary boiling destroys these organ-isms. Pasteur asserts they are not killed below a tempera-ture of 100° C. ( = 212° Fahr.); and Lex found them alive after heating to 260° Fahr. Water charged with them is a decided loss to the brewer, as the organic matter is decom-posed during brewing and carries off some portion of the strength of the worts, besides making the beer liable to spoil. Soft water, or water that has flowed through moorland, and is free from saline matter, is bad for the brewer's purpose. When this has to be used for want of a better it should be impregnated at second hand with chloride of sodium (common salt) and gypsum (sulphate of lime). To allow for the deficiency of salt in some water the Excise allow brewers to add sufficient salt to make up, with that naturally in the water, 50 grains per imperial gallon. Soft water gives greater extracts, as it dissolves the albuminous matter in the malt more effectually than hard. With the use of very soft water as much as 100 ffi> of extract per quarter has been obtained; but here the goodness of the extract was the chief proof of the badness of the water; for it is dangerous to have too much albuminous matter in solution, except in the case of porter or ale that is quickly consumed, albuminous bodies being such powerful agents of change. Hence the Burton brewers, whose beers have to stand a long time, and in all climates, are perfectly right in praising their water, which contains a large proportion of these mineral salts. The supposed superiority of the Burton ales is due to the water, which is supplied, not from the River Trent, but from wells 20 to 120 feet deep. These wells are supplied from springs rising in the Outwood hills that form the western side of the valley. The springs take up lime in their passage through the gypseous deposits contained in the keuper marls of the district. The presence of sulphates and carbonates of lime and the absence of organic matter make the water of that district so advantageous for brewing. The following is an analysis of the water used in one of the largest breweries in Burton, showing the amount of ingredients in the imperial gallon, represented in grains:—
Chloride of Sodium 10-12
Sulphate of Potash 7'65
,, Lime 18-96
,, Magnesia 9'95
Carbonate of Lime 15-51
,, Magnesia 1'70
,, Iron 0-60
Silicic acid 0-79
65-28
The water of another large firm in the same town gives by analysis 54-5 grains of sulphate, and 9'93 of carbonate of lime. The temperature of water used to be a great con-sideration for refrigerating the worts ; but this is now of little consequence, as in most large breweries the water used for that purpose is first brought to a point just above freezing, by means of ether spray.
We now come to the actual process of brewing, or f*>n
art of making the materials we have described into beer. While brewing cannot be considered a difficult or a mys-terious art,—good materials, a good method, and strict attention being the secrets of success-—there is no process in which rules are of less avail. To obtain complete success, it is necessary that the brewer shall have formed an opinion of his materials from personal observation, and that he should be thoroughly acquainted with the brewery in which they are to be used. It is not too much to say, that the same heats and quantities cannot properly be used in any two breweries. Bearing this difficulty in mind, we shall endeavour to point out where instructions may be safely followed, and where the circumstances of locality, &c, will subject them to certain modifications which cannot be strictly defined in an article like the present.
Brewing consists of eight distinct processes, which may be classed as follows :—
1. Grinding.
2. Mashing.
3. Sparging.
4. Boiling.
5. Cooling.
6. Fermenting.
7. Cleansing.
8. Backing and storing
Grinding.—This is a very important operation; for, if im-perfectly performed, some of the " goodness," or " extract" as it is called, will be left in the grains after mashing, thus entailing a heavy pecuniary loss on the brewer. The malt is crushed rather than ground between plain metal rollers ; this is enforced by law, for the purpose of facilitat-ing the examination of the grain as to whether it has been malted or not. Previous to the passing of the Act fraudulent brewers mixed raw grain with their malt, grinding it all up fine, to prevent identification. Each corn should be well broken, that the mashing water may have free access to every particle; on the other hand, if the malt be ground too fine, it is liable to " set," that is, form a paste in the mash tun. When this happens it will be difficult to draw the wort off, and when off it will con-tain so much of the coarser portion of the grain that the flavour and keeping qualities of the beer will be impaired. If possible the crushed malt should stand about twenty-four hours before being mashed, care being taken to protect it from air or damp,—the object being to allow the heat generated by passing through the rollers to escape.
Mashing is the process of infusion, or mixing the malt with water at such a temperature as shall not only extract the saccharine matter existing in the malt, but shall also change the still unconverted starch into grape-sugar. This is accomplished by the principle called diastase, the power of which we have shown under the head of malting. Many mashing-machines have been invented, and many are in use. In some the malt and the water are simply brought into conjunction, and then mix them-selves as they fall into the mash-tun ; others, driven by steam, perform the operation of mixing more leisurely, and, in some cases, more effectually. The old-fashioned method of mashing is by means of iron rakes. These rakes are fixed on arms extending from the centre of the tun, and are so constructed that when set in motion, no portion of the mash escapes them. When rakes areused a portion of the mashing water is first run into the tun, and part of the malt; the machinery is then started, and, whilst the rakes revolve round the tun, the remainder of the malt and water are added. The heat of the mashing water is a very important point; the particular temperature must depend upon the quantity and quality of the malt, and the situation of and amount of radiation from the mash-tun. Not less than two or more than three barrels of water should be run on to every quarter of malt, and the heat of the water should be such, that, when all has run on, that is, when the malt has combined with the water, the temperature of the mash shall not be lower than 148° or higher than 152°. In some breweries this result will be obtained by mashing at 168°; in others it will be necessary to go as high as 180°. Neither of these heats will do any harm so long as the heat of the mash does not exceed 152°. Most brewers and chemists think that, to ensure the best results, it is necessary for the mash to stand at least two hours. It would appear, however, that this belief has no solid foundation. Eecent observations have convinced the pre-sent writer that an extract as good, and perhaps sounder, is drawn from a five minutes' mash as from one that has stood two hours,-—a fact which any brewer can test for himself. The wort should be drawn off by means of several pipes running from different parts of the mash-tun. It must be run off slowly at first, or the malt in the tun (" goods," as it is now called) will be drawn down so tightly that it will be difficult for the sparging water to run through it. It is a good plan to probe the mash now and then with a thin stick; if the " goods " feel tight, and difficult to pene-trate, the wort is being run off too quickly.
Sparging.—When about half the wort has run off the mash, the operation of sparging should be commenced,— the object of that process being to wash out the goodness left in the malt after mashing. The sparging-machine is made and fixed as follows :—A bar of iron having an upright pin in the centre is fixed across the mash-tun; on this pin is placed a copper bowl or pan; into this pan are screwed two or three arms, extending to the sides of the tun. These arms are about an inch and a half in diameter, and are perforated their whole length with small holes on their reverse side. The hot water being conveyed into the pan fills the arms, and, running out through the perforated holes, causes the arms to revolve round the tun. By this means an equal and continuous shower of hot water is rained upon every portion of the goods. The heat of the sparging water, like that of the mashing liquor, must be modified by circumstances. In brews of less than 10 quarters, 200° will be found to be a good heat; where larger quantities are mashed 185° may be recommended as a safe temperature.
Boiling.—When the wort runs off the mash no time should be lost in getting it into the copper or boiling back. In many modem breweries the mash-tun is placed immediately over the copper, so that the wort runs direct from the former utensil into the latter. Some coppers are built with an ordinary furnace, others are furnished with a coil; in the latter case the worts are boiled by steam passing through the coil from the boiler. Many brewers prefer to boil by steam, as it is a cleaner method, and they are able to regulate the operation to a nicety. Where the steam coil is used the boiling back is generally made of wood. While the wort is running or being pumped into the copper, the hops must be added. Here, again, no positive instructions as to quantity can be given. On this point the brewer must be guided by his customers' tastes, the season of the year, the length of time the beer has to be kept, and the quality of the hop used. For strong store ales, from 10 lb to 13 lb of good hops to every quarter of malt is not too much ; whilst for ordinary beers, to be drunk within two months, from 6 lb to 9 lb per quarter should suffice. India pale ale and bitter beer require from 18 lb to 25 ffi> per quarter. Various kinds of English and foreign hops can be used in the same brewing with advantage; the proportions of each kind must be left to the judgment of the operator. Of course, the ranker Bavarian and American hops must not be so freely used as the more delicate English growths. There is a wide differ-ence of opinion as to the length of time beer should be boiled. For beers of quick draught, an hour and a half is long enough; stock ales should have half an hour or an hour extra. The finest pale ale is never boiled longer than one hour. Where it is necessary to have two boil-ings in one brewing, the second copper should boil rather longer than the first. The boiling during the first twenty minutes should be brisk, in order to break the wort.
Cooling.—When the wort has boiled the necessary time, it is turned into the hop-back to settle. The hop-back is a utensil made of wood or iron, and fitted with a false bottom of perforated plates; these plates retain the hops in the back, whilst the wort is drawn off into the coolers. The wort should be allowed fifteen or twenty minutes to settle in the back, and when run on to the coolers should be thoroughly bright. In many breweries coolers are not used, the wort running direct from the hop-back through the refrigerator into the fermenting tun. When practicable this is an excellent plan, for worts often take harm whilst lying exposed on the coolers. In every brewery of any note the worts are cooled artificially by means of a refrigerator. Of these there are several kinds, but all are constructed upon the same principle, which is that of allowing a thin stream of wort to trickle over pipes con-taining a running stream of water. The water is either run direct from the mains or is pumped by an engine from a well. In every instance it is necessary that the water shall be several degrees colder than the heat the wort is to be "pitched " at, as brewers call it, in other words, the heat at which the wort is let down into the fermenting tun. This " pitching heat" varies very much. Beers pitched at high heats, say from 62° to 66°, come soonest into condi-tion, but do not keep so well. Under ordinary circumstances 60° appears to be the best heat at which to start fermenta-tion, or, in the case of strong ale, 58°.
Fermentation.—The fermenting tun may be round or square, open or closed, and made of wood or stone. Stone squares are universal in the northern counties of England, but are rarely met with in the southern and midland counties. When beer is fermented in a stone or slate square, it should never be pitched at a lower heat than 66° or 68°; for these utensils are very cold, and there-fore liable to check or stop the fermentation. Every fermenting tun should be fitted with an attemperator. The attemperator consists of: a series of pipes fixed within the tun, and having its inlet and outlet on the outside. It should be possible to run hot or cold water through these pipes at any hour, so that the temperature of the gyle can be raised or lowered at pleasure. The work performed by that natural process which we call fermentation is the conversion of saccharine matter into alcohol. It plays a most important part in the brewer's art, and deserves his most careful attention. In order to obtain a quick and regular fermentation, the brewer employs yeast, or barm, as it is called in some parts of the country. Great care must be taken that the yeast used shall be perfectly fresh and healthy, for it must never be forgotten, that it is impossible to obtain a good fermentation from bad yeast. Yeast that comes from porter should never be used in pale or delicately flavoured ales, as it is apt to impart a burnt taste and high colour. The quantity of yeast required depends upon the strength of the wort and the quality of the water. Strong worts require more yeast than weak ones ; and the same rule applies to hard waters as compared with soft. Worts of about 20 lb gravity should do well with 1 lb of yeast per barrel, whilst stronger worts require twice that quantity. As we have said, 60° seems to be the best heat at which to pitch wort, unless it is of a high gravity, or the fermenting tun be built in a very warm place, in which case the temperature of 58° will not be too low.
The appearance of a gyle 'of beer during the earlier stages of a good fermentation is very beautiful. At first the whole surface is covered with a thick white foam, which, within a few hours, curls itself into every imaginable shape and form. This increases in height, until it presents the appearance of a number of jagged rocks of snowy whiteness. With these the artistic beauties of the fermenta-tion disappear, although the fine thick head of yeast which follows delights the eye of the practised brewer, for it tells him that his fermentation is drawing towards a successful end. But the progress of the fermentation must not be judged by appearances alone. Samples should be taken from the tun at least twice a day, and weighed with the saccharometer. By this means the brewer tells at what speed the sugar is being converted into alcohol; and when he considers the process has gone far enough, he stops it by taking away the yeast, which operation is termed cleansing. At the end of the first twenty-four hours, the gyle should attenuate 1 lb in every three or four hours, whilst the temperature should rise from 1° to 2° during the same space of time. The fermentation may proceed quicker than this without any harm ensuing; but if it does not reach the minimum speed of 1 lb in four hours, it may be said to be sluggish, and requires assisting. This is done by " rousing " the gyle every two hours with a utensil made for the purpose. Wort fermented in stone or slate squares must be roused every hour and a half, without exception. If unchecked the temperature of the gyle will rise to 76° or even 80°. Any heat above 72° is likely to affect the beer injuriously, for at that tem-perature the acetous fermentation commences. At the same time, beers for quick consumption may be allowed to rise a few degrees higher, and will perhaps be improved by the increase of temperature. The attemperator must be used to prevent the gyle reaching too high a heat.
Cleansing is the act of removing the yeast from the beer, in order to stop the fermentation. There are three modes of cleansing—1st, by simply skimming the yeast off as it rises to the surface; 2d, by running the beer into casks, and then allowing the yeast to work out through the bung holes; and 3d, on what is called the Union, or Burton system, which is the second plan with some improvements. When beer is cleansed in the second or third mode, it is necessary to keep the casks or Unions full to the bung. They must, therefore, be refilled every two hours, either by hand or by a self-acting apparatus invented for the purpose. Brewers differ as to the time when the operation of cleansing should commence ; and, indeed, it is difficult to fix any limit, as much depends upon the character of the ale and the appearance of the fermentation. In the writer's opinion strong ales, worked in casks or on the Burton system, should be cleansed when they have attenuated down to 12 or 14 R>; weaker beers and pale ales should be allowed to go quite 2 lb lower before being cleansed. Stout and porter should be cleansed rather earlier than any kind of ale, in order that they may drink full in the month. When all the yeast has worked out of the beer, it is ready for the last process.
Racking and Storing.—Ales intended for quick consumption should be racked so soon as clean, or they will be found flat and out of condition. A few of the finest hops should be put into the cask; and in the case of pale ale the quantity should not be less than 1 lb to the barrel. The finest strong and India pale ale should be stored between two and three months before being tapped, and even at that age, must be considered young. Ales intended to be stored some months should have a porous vent peg placed in the shive to keep the ale from fretting, and save the head of the cask from being blown out. (s. k. vr.)