Page:A Practical Treatise on Brewing (4th ed.).djvu/118

102 Having thus discovered that an excess of acid has been formed, chemistry must be resorted to for discovering the cause; and when found, we shall be enabled to apply the necessary preventives.

It has been generally found that what may be called a medium temperature during fermentation, has the best chance of producing beer of the proper vinosity and preservative quality. We have seen beer brewed in this country for which the fermentation was carried on at very high temperatures, say from 80° to upwards of 90°. We are also told from very high authority (Professor Liebeg) that the fermentations for Bavarian beer, so celebrated in Germany, are carried on at very low temperatures, say from 42° to 50° F., which could only be done in this country at a very great expense. The first of these, although it answered very well for immediate use, particularly in summer, soon acquired a mawkishness in flavour, and had always a want of vinosity, which, to those unaccustomed to drink it, would not be agreeable. The Bavarian beer that we have seen is precisely similar in these respects. It very much resembles in taste the beer brewed in this country for the Indian market, but neither in vinosity nor flavour would it bear any comparison with the best British beer of a similar description. Having thus given some account of the two