Second, The manner in which the malt has been ground, operates as has been before stated.
Third, The quantity of water in proportion to the malt. This is necessary, because, by admitting the wa ter into a large mass of grist, its temperature is of course diminished more or less in proportion to the quantity of grist, and its temperature at the time, which may be assumed the same as that of the atmosphere. It is observed, that the mixture of malt and water will not be exactly the same as the mean heats of the two, but rather higher, and this increase of temperature is greater in high dried malt than in pale malts: indeed, in some cases of brown malt mashed in twice its bulk of water, the temperature will be as much as 24 degrees hotterthan the mean temperature of both water and grist.
Fourth, The quantity of malt which is mashed at one time must be considered; because a large mash tun N% ill hold its heat much longer than a small one, and may therefore be mashed at rather a lower heat.
Pyth, The flavour and nature of the liquor to be brewed has some influence; as, whether it is for keep ing or for immediate use ; for, since the different con stituent parts of the malt are soluble in different de grees of heat, it follows, that more of one and less of another may be extracted by a judicious management of the heat. As this is altogether arbitrary, how ever, no rule can be given for it, and it must depend upon the fancy of the brewer, or the taste of his cus tomers.
Sixth, The number of mashes which are to be taken from the malt, and the purpose for which each is intend ed, are to be taken into the account. If the different worts arc to be mixed together to produce only one beer, as in porter brewing, • the object is then to make all the worts in some degree similar, or, at least, it is not the same, as when the first wort is intended for ale, and the subsequent ones for inferior liquors; for then the utmost is to be extracted from the malt at first, and the next mashes are only taken, that no waste may be made.
Seventh, The time the liquor is intended to be kept has an influence upon the heat; for by extracting too much of those fecula which render the beer turbid, it will require a longer time to precipitate them In deed, from too low a heat, it sometimes happens that the liquor will ever remain thick and unpleasant; and, in proportion as the beer is intended for long keeping, the heat must be increased, otherwise it will have a tendency to become acid before it becomes fine.
It will at once be seen, that the degree of heat which depends upon the combination of so many circum stances, cannot possibly be fixed by any certain rule : the extremes may be stated at 14.5° and 190° of Fahren heit's thermometer. The actual heat proper for sonic kinds of beer, we shall state in another place.
In the process of mashing, the hot liquor is let into the tun, beneath the false bottom; and as soon as it ap pears above the surface of the grist, the mashing ma chine is put in motion, and continues till the grist and liquor are thoroughly incorporated. It is then left at rest a certain time, before it is run off into the under back, and this time is called the standing tf th( mash, and varies with the nature of the liquor to be brewed. The first mash stands longer, and is taken at a lower heat than the second, which again bears the same relation to the third. After the mash has stood the proper time, the talc is set, that is, the cocks are opened to draw off the wort into the underback. The time which the goods are allowed to drain themselves of the wort, in this manner, varies according to the preceding circum stances. If the goods are glutinous, a longer time will be required for the spending of th' talc, as the drawing off the goods is called. The wort should not be suffer ed to rest long in the underback, before it is pumped up into the copper pan, to be kept hot; and brewers who have not this convenience are frequently troubled in their operations, from being obliged to burrs- them in some stages, that the wort of a previous mash mar not wait in the underback till its temperature is low ered; for this would produce a premature fermen tation, called by the brewer lo ring, and the beer pro duced from such wort will ever be nauseous and unpa latable.