826 



BEER, BAVARIAN 



Composition. The oxidisoment of tho dissolved gluten goes on, but that of the alcohol 

 requires a higher temperature, whence it cannot suffer acetification, or conversion into 

 vinegar. 



In several States of Germany tho favourable influence of a rational process of 

 fermentation upon tho quality of the beers has been fully recognised. In the 

 Grand Duchy of Hesse considerable premiums were proposed for tho brewing of 

 beer according to tho process pursued in Bavaria, which were decreed to those brewers 

 who were able to prove that their product (neither strong nor highly hopped) had 

 kept six months in the casks without becoming at all sour. When the first trials 

 were being made, several thousand barrels were being spoiled, till eventually experi- 

 ence led to tho discovery of the true practical conditions which theory had foreseen 

 and prescribed. 



Neither tho richness in alcohol, nor in hops, nor both combined, can hinder ordi- 

 nary beer from getting tart. In England, says Liebig, an immense capital is sacri- 

 ficed to preserve tho better sorts of ale and porter from souring, by leaving them for 

 several years in enormous tuns quite full, and very well closed, while their tops are 

 covered with sand. This treatment is identical with that applied to wines to make 

 them deposit the wine-stone. A slight transpiration of air goes on in this case 

 through the pores of the wood ; but tho quantity of azotised matter contained in tho 

 beer is so great, relatively to the proportion of oxygen admitted, that this element 

 cannot act upon the alcohol. And yet the beer thus managed will not keep sweet 

 more than two months in smaller casks, to which air has access. The grand secret of 

 the Munich brewers is to conduct tho fermentation of the wort at too low a tempera- 

 ture to permit of the acetification of the alcohol, and to cause all the azotised matters 

 to be completely separated by the intervention of tho oxygen of the air, and not by 

 the sacrifice of the sugar. It is only in March and October that the good store beer 

 is begun to bo made in Bavaria. 



The following Table exhibits the results of the chemical examination of the under- 

 mentioned kinds of Beer : 



Malting in Munich. The barley is steeped till the acrospiro, embryo, or seed-germ 

 seems to be quickened, a circumstance denoted by a swelling at that end of the grain 

 which was attached to the foot-stalk, as also when, on pressing a pile between two 

 fingers against the thumb-nail, a slight projection of the embryo is perceptible. As 

 long, however, as the seed-germ sticks too firm to tho husk, it has not been steeped 

 enough for exposure on the under-ground malt-floor. Nor can deficient steeping be 

 safely made up for afterwards by sprinkling the malt-couch with a watering-ea,n, 

 which is apt to render the malting irregular. Tho steep-water should be changed re- 

 peatedly, according to the degree of foulness and hardness of the barley : first, six 

 hours after immersion, having previously stirred the whole mass several times : after- 

 wards, in winter every 24 hours, but in summer every 12 hours. It loses none of its 

 substance in this way, whatever vulgar prejudice may think to the contrary. After 

 letting off the last water from the stone cistern, tho Bavarians leave the barley to 

 drain in it during 4 or 6 hours. It is now taken out, and laid on the couch floor 

 in a square heap, 8 or 10 inches high, and it is turned over, morning and evening, 

 with dexterity, so as to throw tho middle portion upon tho top and bottom of the now- 

 made couch. When the acrospire has become as long as the grain itself, the malt is 



