1921.] 



Eesearch in Brewing. 



753 



As regards manuring, two Kentish growers have each placed 

 one acre of land at the disposal of the Committee for the pur- 

 pose for the next ten years. The main object is to find out 

 whether the manurial elements in common use, viz. nitrogen, 

 phosphorus and potassium, have any effect on the composition, 

 i.e. brewing value, of the hop strobiles. The experiments will 

 show whether the composition of the hop is influenced by purely 

 inorganic manures. Plots will also be obtained elsewhere. 



Four experimental kilns have been erected at Beltring, near 

 Paddock Wood, for research work on the principles of hop 

 drying, the object being to determine the ideal conditions of 

 drying, the subsequent step being the designing of a kiln on 

 practical lines which will most nearly reproduce those 

 conditions. The following problems are being studied: — 

 (1) the effect of varying temperatures with constant 

 air current; (2) varying air current with constant tempera- 

 ture; (3) the influence of moisture content of the hops; 

 (4) the effect of burning varying amounts of sulphur; (5) the 

 effect of products of combustion of open fires; (6) the use of 

 dried air; (7) variation of height of air above fire; and (8) the 

 influence of the weather. 



Comparative brewing trials of certain varieties of the hop 

 are being made under the auspices of the Committee by a well- 

 known London firm of brewers in order to test the respective 

 brewing values of these varieties. 



The chemical investigations are designed to determine those 

 constituents of the hop which are most useful to the brewing 

 industry, the methods of evaluation so far employed being 

 purely empirical. The problem now being investigated is the 

 isolation and identification of the constituent, or constituents, 

 on which the preservative or antiseptic properties of the hop 

 depend. This investigation is under the direction of Dr. F. L. 

 Pyman at the Municipal School of Technology, Manchester, 

 which possesses special facilities for this work. The results 

 of past researches point to the probability of the constituents 

 containing the antiseptic or preservative qualities being found 

 in the soft resins of the hop. In order to obtain material for 

 investigation, the investigators have extracted the soft resins 

 from a large quantity of sulphured and unsulphured hops and 

 the extracts are now being examined^ It is estimated that these 

 chemical investigations will cost about £600 per annum. 



