THE BREWER.
1. Brewing is the art of preparing a liquor, which has received the general denomination of beer. This beverage can be brewed from any kind of farinaceous grain; but, on various accounts, barley is usually preferred. It is prepared for the brewer's use by converting it into malt, which is effected by the following process.
2. The grain is soaked in a cistern of water about two days, or until it is completely saturated with that fluid. It is then taken out, and spread upon a floor in a layer nearly two feet thick. When the inside of this heap begins to grow warm, and the kernels to germinate, the maltster checks the rapid growth of the grain in that situation by changing it to the outside. This operation is continued, until the saccharine matter in the barley has been sufficiently evolved by the natural process of germination.
3. The grain is next transferred to the kiln, which is an iron or tile floor, perforated with small holes, and moderately heated beneath with a fire of coke or stone coal. Here, the grain is thoroughly dried, and the principle of germination completely destroyed. The malt thus made is prepared for being brewed, by crushing it in a common mill, or between rollers. Malting, in Great Britain, and in some other parts of Europe, is a business distinct from brewing; but, in the United States, the brewers generally make their own malt.
4. The first part of the process of brewing is called mashing. This is performed in a large tub, or tun, having two bottoms. The upper one, consisting of several moveable pieces, is perforated with a great number of small holes; the other, though tight and immoveable at the edges, has several large holes, furnished with ducts, which lead to a cistern beneath.
5. The malt, designed for one mashing, is spread in an even layer on the upper bottom, and thoroughly saturated and incorporated with water nearly boiling, by means of iron rakes, which are made to revolve and move round in the tub by the aid of machinery. The water, together with the soluble parts of the malt, at length passes off, through the holes before mentioned, into the reservoir beneath.
6. The malt requires to be mashed two or three times in succession with fresh quantities of water; and the product of each mashing is appropriated to making liquors of different degrees of strength.
7. The product of the mashing-tun is called wort, which, being transferred to a large copper kettle, is boiled for a considerable time with a quantity of hops, and then drawn off into large shallow cisterns, called coolers. When the mixture has become cool enough to be submitted to fermentation, it is drawn off into the working tun.
8. The fermentation is effected with yeast, which, acting on the saccharine matter, disengages carbonic acid gas. This part of the process requires from eighteen to forty-eight hours, according to the degree of heat which may be in the atmosphere.
9. The beer is then drawn off into casks of different dimensions, in which it undergoes a still further fermentation, sometimes called the brewer's cleansing. During this fermentation, the froth, or yeast, works out at the bung-hole, and is received in a trough, on the edges of which the casks have been placed. The froth thus discharged from the beer, is the yeast used by the brewers.
10. The products of the brewery are denominated beer, ale, and porter. The difference between these liquors arises, chiefly, from the manner in which the malt has been prepared, the relative strength imparted to each, and the extent to which the fermentation has been carried.
11. There are several kinds of beer; such as table beer, half and half, and strong beer. They are adapted to use soon after being brewed, and differ from each other but little, except in the degree of their strength.
12. Ale and porter are called stock liquors; because, not being designed for immediate consumption, they are kept for a considerable time, that they may improve in quality. Porter is usually prepared for consumption by putting it into bottles. This is done either at the brewery, or in bottling establishments. In the latter case, the liquor is purchased in large quantities from the brewer by persons who make it their business to supply retailers and private families.
13. We have evidence that fermented liquor was in use three thousand years ago. It was first used in Egypt, whence it passed into adjacent countries, and afterward into Spain, France, and England. It was sometimes called the wine of barley; and one kind of it was denominated Pelusian drink, from the city Pelusium, where it was first made.
14. Among the nations of modern times, the English are the most celebrated for brewing good liquors. London porter is especially in great repute, not only in that city, but in distant countries. Much fermented liquor of the different kinds, is consumed in the United States, where it is also made in considerable perfection.