240 THE HOP. 



A different method for accomplishing a similar 

 purpose has been perfected at the municipal brewing 

 school in Ghent, Belgium, and is now being used by a 

 syndicate of Belgian brewers. They establish works 

 near the plantations, for convenience of delivery, and 

 buy hops only after analysis, paying according to the 

 amount of lupulin they contain, quite regardless of 

 color or odor. The hops are further dried at 95 

 degrees F. The dried cones are then operated upon 

 by a machine, which, by the action of brushes, sieves 

 and fans, breaks them up into their separate petals, 

 and mechanically separates from them the lupulinic 

 powder. The golden flour is collected and put aside. 

 The leaves are then passed through a series of several 

 washing cylinders, being treated therein with water at 

 a specified heat, until they are completely macerated, 

 and the tannic acid and other soluble matters contained 

 in them are entirely removed. The undissolved pro- 

 portion remaining after this process is very small; 

 therefore the waste is reduced to a minimum. The 

 fluid passing from the cylinders is then evaporated in 

 vacuo at the temperature of about 95 degrees F., until 

 it attains the consistency of syrup. To this are then 

 added the grains of lupulin, forming together a kind 

 of greasy, brown paste, which is packed in hermetic- 

 ally sealed tin boxes, from which the natural air is 

 afterwards expelled, and replaced by carbolic gas. 



In this manner it is claimed that all the useful pre- 

 servative quality, as well as the flavor originally pos- 

 sessed by the hops is preserved without any deterio- 

 ration, and that it can be sold to the brewer for his 

 storage for an indefinite period. Other advantages 

 shown to brewers are: 



Reduction in space required for storage, as the 

 bulk of the hops is reduced by two-thirds, 100 pounds 

 of natural hops producing 30 pounds of extract; uni- 

 formity of quality, whereby beer can always be pro- 



