A Practical Handbook on the Distillation of Alcohol from Farm Products

by F. B. Wright

After the barley is in proper condition the vat or tank is opened and the water drained away. The draining should be complete, and therefore the grain should be left to drain about 12 hours.

Germinating. The grain is now taken to the malting floor. In practice it is well to locate the steeping vat above the malting floor, so that the steeped grain may be run down on to the floor without inconvenience.

It is best to first spread the grains out on the floor to a depth of a few inches in order that it may somewhat dry out. This is not necessary when it has not been steeped to a great extent.

After 10 or 12 hours of drying, the grain is placed in a heap until warm to the touch, which may occur in from 12 to 24 hours. It is then disposed in a layer from eight inches to 20 inches thick. This is called the “wet couch.” The lower the temperature the thicker the couch should be. It should be turned every six or eight hours in this stage.

The heat so germinated after 25 or 30 hours produces at the end of each grain a small white rootlet. The grain in the middle of the layer is the first to sprout, as it is the warmest, hence the couched grain should be frequently turned so as to give all the grains a uniform heat, and a uniform germination. At this period the grains beneath the surface are dampish to the touch.

The height of the couch is now successively lessened to layers of from six to two inches called “floors,” the height of each floor of course depending on the temperature, as before.

It is to be understood that the growing grain requires both dampness and air, hence the “floor” should not be thinned so rapidly as to deprive it of moisture, and the barley should be turned at least twice a day to give each grain a proper aeration. During this period the small white rootlets or radicals should be white and shiny. If they begin to fade, it is a sign that they lack water and the grain should be sprinkled. Germination usually requires from a week to ten days, or sometimes two weeks, depending on the previous steeping, the quality of the grain and the temperature. When the fibers or rootlets of the grain are about equal to the length of the grain, germination is complete.

It used to be considered that malt was in its best condition in eight or ten days. To-day, however, “long malt” is used,—requiring a germinating period of twenty days, being frequently moistened and turned during this time, and the temperature being kept at 65° F. This malt is very strong in diastase.

The effect of germination is to produce a change particularly favorable to mashing. The barley becomes sweetish, the gluten is partially destroyed and what is left is soluble. Thus the fecula or starch is set at liberty and free to be acted on by the yeast used in fermenting.