OF MALTING.
It is always customary to convert barley into malt before employing it in the manufacture of ale. Not that this conversion is absolutely necessary, but that it adds considerable facility to the different processes of the brewer. The writer of this article has several times tried the experiment of making ale from un malted barley, and found it perfectly practicable. veral precautions, however, are necessary in order to succeed. The water let upon the ground barley in the mash-tan must be considerably below the temperature. For barley meal is much more apt to set than malt, that is, to form a stiff paste, from which no wort will separate. The addition of a portion of the chaff of oats serves very much to prevent this setting of the goods, and facilitates considerably the separation of the wort. 'Care must likewise be taken to prevent the heat from escaping during the mash. ing, and the mashing must be continued longer than usual. For it is during the mashing that the starch of the barley is converted into a saccharine matter. This change seems to be owing merely to the che mical combination of a portion of water with the starch of the barley ; just as happens when common starch is converted into sugar, by boiling it with very dilute sulphuric acid, or any other acid. This method of brewing from raw grain answers admira bly for small beer. Sortie years ago it was prac tised to a considerable extent by several brewers of small beer in Edinburgh, and their beer was con sidered as greatly preferable tp small beer brewed in the usual manner. The practice was stopped by a decision of the Court of Bxchequer,—a decision, which, in our opinion, proceeded upon arbitrary grounds, and which was at all events detrimental to the public ; for surely it is highly impolitic to pre vent, ameliorations in the menufactures, in order to guard against any deficiency in the produce of the taxes. A wise government would have permit• ted the improvement, and would have levied the malt-tax in a different manner. In our trials the raw barley did not answer so well for milking strong ale as for small beer. The ale was perfectly trans
parent, and we kept it for several years without its running into acidity. But it bad a peculiar flavour, by no means agreeable. Probably a little practice might have enabled us to get rid of this flavour, in which case, raw grain would in every respect, as well for brewing as n!alt dom.
A duty was first charged upon malt during the troubles of Charles I.'s reign. But it continued very moderate till the war with Bonaparte began in 1802. It wits then raised to the following sums per bushel : But two shillings of this tax were to continue only till the end of the war, and for six Months after its conclusion. In consequence of this very heavy tax, several regulations were imposed upon the maltster, with a view to facilitate the levying the duty, and to prevent him from defrauding the revenue. The _ most important of these are the two following : 1. The barley must remain in the cistern in which it is steeped with water for a period not less than 40 hours. When the malt is spread upon the floor, the maltster is not at liberty to sprinkle any water upon it, or to moisten the floor. We shall now describe the process of malting, as it is practised by the beet informed malt-makers in Great Britain.
Malting consists of four processes, which follow each other in regular order; namely, steeping, couch. ing,flooring, and kiln-drying.
1. The steep is a square cistern sunk at one end of the malt barn, lined with stone, and of a sufficient size to hold the whole barley that is to be nuked at a time. The barley is put into this cistern, with the requisite quantity of pure water to cover 'it. It is laid as evenly as possible upon the floor of the cis tern. Here it must remain at least 40 hours ; but in Scotland, especially when the weather is cold, it is customary to allow it to remain much longer. We • have seen barley steeped in Edinburgh for 112 hours by one maltster, and by another usually 98 or 92 hours. It is the common practice to introduce the waiter into the cistern before the barley, and it is usually once drawn off, and new water added during the steeping.