Page:A Practical Treatise on Brewing (4th ed.).djvu/34

18 twenty-six hours, but longer if thought necessary. It is then spread out upon the floor to a thickness greater or less, according to the season and temperature of the atmosphere, at the discretion of the maltster. The rootlets now begin to make their appearance, and great care must be taken to turn the corn occasionally, but gently, so as to prevent any of the fibres shooting out too long, or wiry, as it is technically called. A short bushy root is most desirable. But each variety of barley exhibits different lengths of rootlets. Thus the chevalier is very different from the common barley and the bigg.

No definite rules can be laid down as to how often the floor or piece of malt may require to be turned during the process; this must be left to the skill and judgment of the operator.

Although the law does not permit water to be sprinkled on the corn until after a certain period, when in our opinion it should be no longer necessary, yet the maltster is allowed to sprinkle water upon the bare floor before turning the corn either forward or backward, and this may often be found very beneficial.

Some maltsters have now adopted the thermometer as a sure guide during the process: whenever that instrument indicates an increase of temperature of so many degrees, the malt is turned. This, however, is not a certain criterion. The