814 BEER 



fore it is necessary for the brewer to be very careful in his selection and examination 

 of all malt that comes to his hand, for he is very soon made to feel that any evil 

 result from using it is not the fault of the maltster, but of his mismanagement in 

 brewing ; therefore he must neglect nothing that will enable him to secure to his use a 

 suitable and trustworthy article. 



In an early paragraph of this article, under the head of MATERIALS, is tho 

 description of good malt, and we will here state the characteristic appearances of 

 barley that has been improperly malted. 



First, there is a deficiency in the growth of the acrospire ; the cause of this is 

 generally an insufficient steep in tho cistern ; the inducements to it are two it will 

 require less turning on the malting floor, and pay somewhat less duty. The results 

 are a plumpness and weight in the malt, but with it a perceptible deficiency in tho 

 sweetness and saccharine constituent in the product, though an apparently greater 

 gravity of extract is obtainable from the excessive proportion of the albuminous 

 constituent present. It may be observed in brewing it, there is a large amount of 

 sediment and flocks, and in the fermenting-tun abundance of yeast ; the beer from it 

 will be fretful and soon turn off. 



In the crushing of such malt in the rolls, it will be perceived there is an abundance 

 of hard rice-like ends, and the more of these tho more harm and loss to the brewer, 

 for ho is either deprived of the use of them if not crushed well up, or disappointed by 

 the fretfulness of his ale if he crushes them so as to gain a greater apparent gravity 

 from his mash-tun. Another common fault is the tendency of the maltster to crowd 

 his floors. This increases the evil begun with the inadequate steep, for the heat gene- 

 rated forces up the acrospire beyond what the real state of the grain would warrant, 

 causing it to appear in an advanced state when really not so. 



The maltster, taking advantage of this forward appearance, puts in on the 

 kiln at seven or eight days old, which is utterly at variance with the interests of 

 the brewer, to whom the development of the saccharine principle is the true value 

 of malting. 



The treatment described above involving heavy sprinkling on the floor encourages 

 acidity and mould, and it is not possible to eradicate this tendency when once fairly 

 set in. 



Perhaps it may be practically impossible to produce malt without a trace of acetic 

 acid, but the trace should bo all that should be there, and where mould has occurred, 

 the consequences are much worse, for much of the sugar of the malt has become lactic, 

 and of irreparable lactic tendency ; a sound wort can never be made from such malt. 



Malt of this description will have a close-fitting skin that good malt should not 

 have, and many of the mouldy grains will have a dark spot where the mould has 

 been attached before it was rubbed off by the screening. Acidity is not always to be 

 perceived by the taste, but mould is much easier of detection and should be most 

 rigidly rejected. 



We will next consider tho results arising from injudicious drying. As in the former 

 instance, the desire to tax to its utmost the working ability of the kiln is the incentive, 

 and the kiln is therefore overloaded, sometimes to the depth of 16, 16, or 18 inches ; 

 but it is not always the depth that is at fault it is often the irregularity of density of 

 different parts of the floor, an improper pack generally, unevenness in the distribution 

 of the heat, want of draught power to penetrate tho raw floor, or too much heat at- 

 tained at first and insufficient at last. All these things have very baneful effects on 

 the malt, varying according to the circumstances, and doing injury to tho extent and 

 degree of the irregularity but the most common and serious among them are, 

 overloading and insufficient fire at the finish. By the first of these, grain that has 

 been in all other respects properly treated, and would have been turned off the 

 kiln a first-rate article, will be disappointing in tho mash-tun, and almost useless ; 

 the moisture that should pass quickly away is retained in the upper portion of the 

 malt when it is permanently injured according to the extent of over-loading. 



It is at all times difficult to detect this kind of malt, but it may be observed that 

 there is a sort of biscuity crispness in breaking it with the teeth, quite unlike the soft 

 friableness of good malt. Moreover, many of tho grains will appear hard and glossy, 

 as, from being subjected to an excess of heat at first, the outside has become hard 

 before the moisture has been efficiently expelled from the interior. 



In conclusion, let it bo remembered that no art of the brewer can make a first-class 

 quality of extract from inferior or unsound malt. Great weights of extract may be 

 obtained from the worst quite as easily as from tho best of malts, but it is certain 

 the less got the better, for with increase of extract out of indifferent samples of 

 malt, there will be increase of trouble, anxiety, and loss, whilst by due care in the 

 selection and use of good sound malt and healthy well-cured hops, no brewer need 

 fail of procuring a sound and satisfactory ale. 



