MALT 

 HOPS AND HOP SUBSTITUTES LIQUORS 



in I mil. i. wild yeasts are allowed t<> ..mi access from the air and grow 

 in tin- !i<|iiiil to be fermented, but under all circumstances a yeast or 

 closely allied organism is necessary to the process." 



From the facts already briefly reviewed, it may be inferred that this 

 art of fermentation is fairly understood m India. In most Excise Reports 

 of Bengal mention is made of a ferment known as bakhar a compound 

 j'iv|Mivd from the roots and leaves of several plants (names unknown, 

 but innocuous) (we Spirits, p. 1047). In most cases the yeast U* 

 vcvcd inmi om- brew to another. The bakers of the lower provinces of 

 India, for example, regularlv purchase their supply from the palm-wine 

 (tori) manufacturers. In Upper India numerous ferments are known. 

 For example, while travelling in Kullu and Ladakh my attention was 

 drawn to the ferments employed by the people in these countries. I 

 found that in Kullu the brewers of sur (grain beer) sent, just as Moon 

 tells us, up country for the root of a herb which they employed in brewing. 

 In Kullu thisisknownasma</fosan,andseemstobeaspeciesof Uf/nstirmn. 

 The root is reduced to powder and mixed with damp barley flour. Fer- 

 mentation is soon set up, and the mixture is then baked into cakes and 

 dried. These are sold under the name dheli, and are said to preserve 

 the fermentative germ for an almost indefinite period, and may be used 

 either by the baker or the brewer as desired. In Ladakh I was unable 

 to discover the plant employed, but the cakes are there known by the 

 name paps (see above, pab). [Cf. Ann. Rept. Ind. Mus., 1894-5, 35.] P "P*- 



In Manipur I discovered that the powdered stems of a leguminous 

 plant (possibly a species of MillHtin) were employed as the fermenting 

 material, and Mr. C. B. Clarke says that in the Khasia hills the people 

 procure fermentation from the flowering spikes of a It/if/ncos/torn. 

 [Cf. D.E.P., v., 131-6; Lawrence, Valley of Kashmir, 1895, 82.] 



Hops and Substitutes. On more than one occasion the effort has DJ3.P., 

 been made to cultivate hops (llinnnlns LiiiHihin) in India, but with iv., 302-7 ; 

 indifferent results. The amount required by the brewers in India is Y^ 13 - 

 annually imported. Hooper (Rept. Labor. Ind. Mus. (Indust. Sec.), 1906-7, 

 12) gives the results of his chemical examination of a sample of hops 

 grown in Kashmir. By way of comparison, he exhibits the amounts of Indian Grown, 

 resin (ascertained by Coez's benzol method) in certain trade samples : 

 Calif ornian, 21-0 ; East Kent, 18-7 ; Kent, 17-8 ; Bohemian, 15'6 ; North 

 French, 14'8 ; Kashmir, 13'2 ; and other Indian samples, 12'9. Thus 

 Kashmir is not far behind French hops. 



By the Indian makers of liquors, various substances are used as sub- 

 stitutes for hops, the most general being the distiller's bark (see Acacia 

 leucophloea, p. 15), but in this connection it may be of interest to 

 invite attention to the suggestion that the soma of the ancient classical Soma. 

 writers may have been the astringent stems of Ephcdrfi (D.E.P., iii., 

 247-51) employed in place of hops, and not as itself the source of the 

 liquor of which so much has been written. 



Barley. All forms of barley (p. 643) are not equally suitable for Barley, 

 brewing any more than all forms of coix are suited (see p. 396). The best 

 Indian barley comes from Northern India (United Provinces and South 

 Panjab). Plumpness of grain and uniformity in weight are desirable. 

 The finest Indian samples weigh 56 Ib. per bushel. The grain must also 

 be bright in colour and not " steely " the condition of most of the 

 samples from the plains. But above all, it must be living and capable 



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