Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/263

 BREWING 257 church. This was subsequently corrected by Clement VIII. and Urban VIII., and is the one now in use. Before the council of Trent, how- ever, Cardinal Quignon had published in Franco an expurgated and amended breviary, which, though condemned by the Parisian faculty of theology, was approved by Julius III. and Paul IV., passed through several editiono, and for many years was generally used by the French clergy. In the Greek church, the office book is called th$u; (order), upoUyiov (dial), or eiiXoMyiav (collection of prayers). It is very nearly the same in all the monasteries and churches, and is divided into two parts, one containing the morning, the other the evening office. The psalter is in 20 divisions, called KaBiafiara (sittings), because a rest or pause is made after each one. The Armenians and other nations have similar breviaries. BREWING, the manufacture of beer. The process consists in producing a saccharine ex- tract from barley or other grain, adding to this hops for flavoring and preserving, and causing it to undergo the vinous fermentation. Water, composing as it does about 88 parts in 100 of beer, is an important ingredient, and great at- tention should be paid to its selection. The freer it is from all decaying and impure mat- ters the better, not only as far as the quality of the product is concerned, but also its quantity, for the elimination of the impurities has been found to involve a loss. There is a difference of opinion as to whether hard or soft water is better for brewing. The celebrated English ales, Allsop's, Bass's, and Salt and co.'s, are made with very hard water containing large quantities of earthy sulphates. The brewers of Bavarian beer, however, prefer either soft water, or that which contains less mineral matter. Although grains and other substances are used in making beer, barley has been found to be the most suitable, being the most easily managed, and furnishing the best beer. There are two species of the grain in this country, Tiordeum vulgare and hordeum dhtichum, the former having four and the latter two rows of seeds in the head. Besides these there is a third species, cultivated in Europe, called hordeum hexastichum or six^rowed barley, known in Scotland by the name of bigg, a hardy plant, well adapted to cultivation in that country. The two-rowed yields the larger and heavier grain. The common four-rowed barley of this country is preferred by the malt- sters of the United States and Canada. It has a thinner husk, contains a larger proportion of starch, and is said to make the best wort. The hop, the female catkin of humulus lupulus, gives the principal flavor, and also aids in clarifying the liquor by the removal of albu- minous matter. The various parts of the cat- kin are the scales, nuts, and lupuline grains, the last being of most importance, but the other parts are all valuable. As the lupuline grains contain about two per cent, of volatile oil, it is important to have the hops well pressed at the time of gathering. They should have a uni- form golden yellow color, and when rubbed in the hands should make a yellow stain and yield a strong odor. The art of brewing may be divided into 1, malting; 2, preparing the wort ; 3, fermenting ; 4, clarifying. Malting consists of three distinct stages : 1, steeping ; 2, couching, sweating, and flooring ; 3, kiln- drying. In making malt great attention must be given to the temperature of the air. It cannot be carried on in hot weather, so that the work of the maltster is confined to the au- tumn, winter, and spring months. The steep- ing, which has for its object the expanding of the grain with water to prepare it for germina- tion, is performed in large cisterns of wood, stone, or cement. Water of ordinary tem- perature is turned in to a certain height, and as much barley is introduced as, when levelled, will allow the water to cover it to a depth of six inches. The steeping generally lasts from 50 to 65 hours. Too long a time is injurious, interfering with the germination and causing waste. The process' is completed when the grain may be easily pierced with a needle or easily bent. Some maltsters carry the process further than others, and prefer to have the grain soft enough to be mashed between the fingers. If it is continued too long, so that the contents have become milky, the barley is spoiled for malting ; it has lost the capacity to germinate. Barley imbibes about 50 per cent, of its weight of water in the process of steep- ing, and increases in bulk about 20 per cent. It is well to wash it several times while steep- ing with fresh water. This causes no waste, prevents souring, and therefore promotes the uniform germination of the seed. After the steeping has been carried to the proper point, the water has to be drawn off and the barley placed upon the couching floor, which is usually constructed of stone or cement. The tem- perature of the room should be between 50 and 55 F., to allow the maltster to have the best control of the process. Still, the process can be conducted with fair results until it reaches 60. When it rises above that tem- perature malting should be discontinued. When taken from the steep the malt is placed upon the floor in beds about 18 inches high, and far enough apart to allow of the necessary spread- ing afterward, and there allowed to lie for 12 hours, when it is turned over, but without being spread. In 12 hours after this, or 24 after removal from the steep, the grain has at- tained its greatest bulk. The kernels are no longer wet on the surface, and to the touch feel almost dry. The couch, however, soon begins to grow warm, and gradually increases in tem- perature, until at about the end of the second day it has reached 60 or 65 F. It gives off an agreeable fruity odor resembling that of apples, and a dew appears upon the surface of the grain. This is the sweating stage, during which the germination commences. The fibrils of the radicle sprout from the tips of the ker-