310 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. [July, 



of low power, which reduce it to pretty ranch the sarne consistency 

 as the imported Dutch yeast. In this condition it is packed and 

 exported to France for distilling purposes. 



The rationale of the fermenting process is not as yet tho- 

 roughly understood, but it is known that the surface yeast is formed 

 by the nitrogenous matter contained in the wort being earned 

 upwards by the bubbles of the generated carbonic acid gas. When 

 this fermentation is carried on at a temperature of from 65° to 90° 

 Fahrenheit, as it is almost always in England, the yeast invariably 

 rises, and in Germany this is called " Obergahrung," or top- 

 fermentation ; but in Bayaria and elsewhere abroad, the fermenting 

 process is often carried on at a lower temperature, and then it is 

 called " Untergahrung," or "bottom fermentation,''' for in that 

 case the yeast does not rise, but the nitrogenous matter sinks to 

 the bottom and forms a slimy sediment. This is the essential 

 difference between the Continental and English methods of brewing ; 

 except perhaps that abroad a larger portion of saccharine matter is 

 left in the beer, which, under a cool temperature is gradually con- 

 verted into carbonic acid and alcohol in the vessels into which it 

 is subsequently conducted or poured, and the result is a rich effer- 

 vescing beverage. I am indebted to my friend Mr. Fenton, the 

 Secretary of our Embassy at Munich, for some interesting parti- 

 culars concerning the method of brewing in that city. " Obergah- 

 rung," or "top-fermentation," is there conducted at 15° to 17° 

 Reaumur = 66° to 71° Fahrenheit, and '•'Untergahrung," or 

 bottom fermentation, at 12° B. = 59° F. The process is not carried 

 on as with us on the floors of the brewery, but in specially con- 

 structed subterranean chambers (" Gahrkarrmier ") in which the 

 temperature is kept low by means of ice, and thence the beer is 

 conducted by pipes into the vessels in which the fermentation is 

 completed.* 



In England, as abroad, in the best breweries, the beer is 

 conducted after fermentation into barrels specially constructed for 

 the purpose, in which the fermenting process is completed. This 

 at Allsopps' and other large breweries is called the " Union " 

 system, long rows of barrels being connected together by a hori- 

 zontal pipe. The barrels are raised above the floor, suspended in 

 a frame, and are made to revolve on their axis precisely the same 

 as a revolving barrel-churn. The chamber in which they are 

 placed is called the "Union-room," or tunnery, and the reader 

 will form a lair idea of its extent and appearance by referring to 

 the Plate (I.). There are two rows of barrels as shown in the 



* The German system of mashing is also entirely different from the English. I 

 believe that the best book published abroad on the Continental system of brewing 

 is *Die Bierbrauerei,' by Heiss, published at Augsburg, 5th edition, 1869, price 

 5 florins : but I was unable to procure it in time for the preparation of this essay. 



