Steeping cisterns were formerly rectangular vessels, of slate, brick or cement, from which the barley had to be discharged by shovelling it out. The forms approved most at the present day are conical and constructed of iron; they have arrangements at the apex of the cone, the lower portion, for discharging the grain by gravitation. The steeping period ranges from 48 to 70 hours; it varies according to the kind of barley, and the time of the year. In some of the older maltings there are no arrangements for heat ing the steep water, and in the winter steeping has occasionally to be performed with water at a temperature near its freezing-point. Steeping should be carried out at a temperature as near as possible to 55° and not higher than 60° F. The usual practice is to fill the cistern up to a certain height with water and throw the barley into it, stirring it until it is about level; the normal corns will then sink directly to the bottom, whilst the light corns and refuse float on the surface and may be skimmed off. During the time the barley remains in the cistern it is usual to change the steep water two or three times, generally at intervals of 12 hours or tides. The ad vantage of this is not merely to keep the grain fresh and sweet, but to bring it into contact with the air during the time it is taking up water. Aeration of the steep has long been recognized in Germany as promoting germination, and several arrangements are on the market enabling air to be passed through the grain while it is in the cistern. It has been recommended by Graham, Stopes, Moritz and Morris, and experimental evidence as to its beneficial effects has been published by Windisch, Bleisch, Will and Baker and Dick. When the corn is steep ripe it contains some 50% of water. Steeping does not consist, however, merely in the imbibition of a certain amount of water ; in order to bring about germination this water must remain within the corn a certain length of time. The following average data are useful to remember in connection with the steeping process :—Amount of water in steep-ripe barley (about) 50%. Matter removed from barley during steeping (about) 1.5%. Increase in volume of barley due to water absorp tion (about) 18-2o%.
There has been much discussion as to the influence of saline matters in water on the steeping process. Professor Lintner stated that common salt in water tended to extract the nitrogenous con stituents of the grain, but impeded its germination. Mills and Pettigrew found that waters containing calcium salts extracted a minimum of nitrogenous compounds from the barley; they also came to the conclusion that the esteem in which the Lichfield water is held for steeping purposes is due to the presence of ni trates which, they assert, have a stimulating effect on the subse quent germination of the grain. The writer has added lime-water to the extent of one-third of the total volume of water at the first change, believing it to promote regularity of germination. Bear ing in mind, however, the observations of Adrian J. Brown, that the barleycorn is enclosed in a membrane permeable to water but impermeable to most salts, it is difficult to see how the saline constituents of water can have any effect except in removing mat ter from the external portions of the grain and on those corns which are broken. The apparent beneficial effect of lime-water in the steep is probably entirely due to the removal of matters from the husks or paleae.
Malting floors may be constructed of cement, tiles or slate, the two former being preferable to the latter. Ford, in 1849, recom mended 2oosq.ft. per quarter of barley steeped as the area of the working floors, and he was quite convinced of the necessity of al lowing ample floor room, so that the grain could be worked on the slow, cool system. Subsequently, however, maltsters reduced their floor area, and put the grain rapidly through the malting, thus pro ducing what is termed "forced" malt. At the present time the
approved area may be placed at 175-2oosq.ft. per quarter of barley steeped. The area is, however, largely ruled by the kind of barley to be malted.
After the barley has been thrown out of the cistern it is made up in a rectangular heap 16-2oin. deep, called the "couch"; the ob ject of this is to enable it to gather heat and so start germinating. It usually remains in couch for 12-24 hours, until in fact the in terior portion of the heap registers a temperature of about 60° F. During the days of the malt tax the exciseman gauged the quantity of the barley while it was in the couch. After couching the barley is spread thinly and evenly on the floor, forming what is known as the young floor or No. i piece. The first visible sign of germina tion is the sprouting of the rootlet, termed "chitting," and this occurs either while the grain is on the couch or on the young floor. As already mentioned, it may be quickened by aerating the grain in the cistern. From the time the barley is first cast out of the cis tern up to the stage of the young floor, or No. i piece, it has a pleasant odour resembling apples.
The thickness at which the young floor is spread depends upon the outside temperature and the nature of the barley. If the weather be warm, or if there be a tendency for the barley to heat, the piece must be spread all the thinner. At this stage the grain loses its external wet appearance. When spread too thickly the grain will begin to sweat, and the rootlets will be thrown out sud denly and unevenly. As a rule, under these circumstances, the rootlets will be long and thin, when they are said to be "wild." A piece which has been allowed to get into this condition must at once be spread thinner. If the sweating has not continued long, the harm done may be confined to increased loss by respiration. The young floor is usually turned with a plough twice during hours, and it may be forked between whiles, but no hard and fast rule can be laid down as to when this is necessary ; it must be left to the maltster's judgment, as it depends entirely on what is going on within the grain. The object of turning is in the first place to aerate the grain and freshen it, secondly to check excessive rise of temperature, and thirdly to promote evenness of growth. Too fre quent turning is not to be advised. After remaining four days on the young floor three or four rootlets should have appeared, and the acrospire should have begun to grow up the back of the corn. The apple-like odour of the piece then gives place to one resem bling that of the common rush, and this should continue the whole time that the malt remains on the floor. On the fifth day the piece is next moved to No. 2 position, a stage nearer the kiln. It is here that sprinkling is resorted to when necessary. The amount of the sprinkling and the time it is given cannot be exactly pre scribed. The amount may vary from one to five gallons per quar ter, and it should only be given when the rootlets, which ought to be short and curly, and five or more in number, show signs of los ing their freshness. If an excessive amount of sprinkling be given forced growth ensues. It is preferable not to add the whole of the water at one time, but to divide it over two lots; and immediately after the piece has been sprinkled it should be thoroughly and carefully mixed, otherwise some of the grain will receive an undue proportion of water. When all the sprinkling water has been given to the piece, which as a rule should not be done later than at the sixth or seventh day of flooring, the temperature should be kept down to about 55° F. by turning. Too frequent turning may, how ever, detach the rootlet, and it may cause the grain to lose its vitality prematurely, so that growth of the acrospire stops.