700 MAIZE 



CHAP, but at times or in localities where that grain is scarce, maize 



' may be partly, or even entirely, substituted. Dr. Klein (i) 



adds that on the Witwatersrand a certain amount of mielie- 



meal is used to mix with ground kaffir corn malt, in the 



preparation of kaffir beer for use in the compounds. 



655. Beer. — The whole maize-grain is not used for the 

 production of malt, on account of the large amount of oil con- 

 tained in the embryo. When the embryo has been removed 

 by the process known as de-germination, the remaining starch 

 of the endosperm, prepared in the form of " flaked maize," can 

 be used as a raw material for the brewing of beer, when malt, 

 prepared from some other cereal, usually barley, is added. 

 The advantages claimed for the mixture are that, as the malt 

 contains a much higher percentage of dextrine than is re- 

 quired to change its own starch into sugar, there is a surplus of 

 dextrine which can be used to convert the maize starch into 

 sugar. Maize flakes are practically soluble, and it is stated that 

 beer brewed from this mixture " clears " much more rapidly 

 than if brewed from malt alone, and is practically fit for table 

 use within ten days after brewing. 



656. Whisky and Gin. — Large quantities of maize are 

 consumed in distilleries, for the manufacture of whisky and 

 gin. The writer is informed that approximately 30,000,000 

 gallons of British whisky and gin are prepared from maize, 

 with the addition of a certain amount of malt to convert the 

 maize starch into sugar. The " Bourbon Whisky " of the 

 United States is said to be largely manufactured from maize ; 

 20,000,000 bushels (over 5,500,000 muids) of maize are 

 consumed annually in the United States distilleries. Sixty- 

 eight per cent of the grain used in the manufacture of distilled 

 spirits in the United States in 1900 consisted of maize, the 

 total value of the maize so used that year being .£1,542,170. 

 In Roumania, also, there are distilleries for the manufacture of 

 maize spirits. 



657. Coffee Substitute. — Before coffee was plentiful and 

 cheap in South Africa, and where it is still scarce and expen- 

 sive, roasted maize-grain has been used by the Boer as a coffee 

 substitute. This use is probably quite old, for Burchell (1) 

 tells us that in 181 1 the missionaries in Griqualand West used 

 it for this purpose : " When their store of coffee became low, 



