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FOREIGN BREWING AND BEERS
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See also:FOREIGN See also:BREWING AND BEERS .—The See also:system of brewing which differs most widely from the See also:English infusion and See also:top See also:fermentation method is the decoction and bottom fermentation system, so widely employed, chiefly on the See also:continent of See also:Europe, for the See also:production of beers of the " lager " type. The method pursued in the decoction system is broadly as follows:—After the grist has been mashed with See also:cold See also:water until a homogeneous mixture ensues, sufficient hot water is introduced into the mash-See also:tun to raise the temperature to 85–soo° F., according to circumstances. Thereupon, about one-third of the mash (including the " goods ") is transferred to the Maisch Kessel (mash See also:copper), in which it is gradually brought to a temperature of (about) 165° F., and this See also:heat is maintained until the mash becomes transparent. The Dickmaische, as this portion is called, is then raised to the See also:boil, and the ebullition sustained between a See also:quarter and three-quarters of an See also:hour. Just sufficient of the Dickmaische is returned to the mash-tun proper to raise the temperature of the whole to 111–125° F., and after a few minutes a third is again withdrawn and treated as before, to See also:form the second " thick mash." When the latter has been returned to the mash-tun the whole is thoroughly worked up, allowed to stand in See also:order that the solids may See also:deposit, and then another third (called the Lautermaische or " clear mash ") is withdrawn, boiled until the coagulable albuminoids are precipitated, and finally reconveyed to the mash-tun, where the mashing is continued for some See also:time, the final heat being rather over 16o° F. The wort, after boiling with hops and cooling, much as in the English system, is subjected to the See also:peculiar system of fermentation called bottom fermentation. In this system the "pitching " and fermentation take See also:place at a very See also:low temperature and, compared with the English system, in very small vessels. The fermenting cellars are maintained at a temperature of about 37–38° F., and the temperature of the fermenting wort does not rise above 50° F. The yeast, which is of a different type from that employed in the English system, remains at the bottom of the fermenting tun, and hence is derived the name of " bottomfermentation " (see FERMENTATION). The See also:primary fermentation lasts about eleven to twelve days (as compared with three days on the English system), and the See also:beer is then run into See also:store (lager) casks where it remains at a temperature approaching the freezing-point of water for six See also:weeks to six months, according to the time of the See also:year and the class of the beer. As to the relative See also:character and stability of decoction and infusion beers, the latter are, as a See also:rule, more alcoholic; but the former contain more unfermented See also:malt See also:extract, and are therefore, broadly speaking, more nutritive. Beers of the See also:German type are less heavily hopped and more peptonized than English beers, and more highly charged with carbonic See also:acid, which, owing to the low fermentation and storing temperatures, is retained for a comparatively See also:long time and keeps the beer in See also:condition. On the See also:ether See also:hand, infusion beers are of a more See also:stable and stimulating character. It is impossible to keep " lager " beer on See also:draught in the See also:ordinary sense of the See also:term in See also:England. It will not keep unless placed on See also:ice, and, as a See also:matter of fact, the " condition " of lager is dependent to a far greater extent on the methods of See also:distribution and storage than is the See also:case with infusion beers. If a cask is opened it must be rapidly consumed; indeed it becomes undrinkable within a very few See also:hours. The See also:gas escapes rapidly when the pressure is released, the temperature rises, and the beer becomes See also:flat and mawkish. In See also:Germany every publican is See also:bound to have an efficient See also:supply of ice, the latter frequently being delivered by the brewery together with the beer. In See also:America the See also:common system of brewing is one of infusion mashing combined with bottom fermentation. The method of mashing, however, though on infusion lines, differs appreciably from the English See also:process. A very low initial heat—about sob° F. —at which the mash remains for about an hour, is employed. After this the temperature is rapidly raised to 153—156° F. by See also:running in the boiling " cooker mash," i.e. raw See also:grain wort from the converter. After a See also:period the temperature is gradually increased to about 165° F. The very low initial heat, and the employment of relatively large quantities of readily transform-able malt adjuncts, enable the See also:American See also:brewer to make use of a class of malt which would be considered quite unfit for brewing in an English brewery. The system of fermentation is very similar to the See also:continental " lager " system, and the beer obtained bears some resemblance to the German product. To the English' See also:palate it is somewhat flavourless, but it is always retailed in exceedingly brilliant condition and at a proper temperature. There can be little doubt that every nation evolves a type of beer most suited to its See also:climate and the temperament of the See also:people, and in this respect the See also:modern American beer is no exception. In regard to plant and See also:mechanical arrangements generally, the modern American breweries may serve as an See also:object-See also:lesson to the See also:European brewer, although there are certainly a number of breweries in the See also:United See also:Kingdom which need not fear comparison with the best American See also:plants. It is a sign of the times and further See also:evidence as to the growing See also:taste for a lighter type of beer, that lager brewing in its most modern form has now fairly taken See also:root in See also:Great See also:Britain, and in this connexion the process introduced by Messrs Allsopp exhibits many features of See also:interest. The following is a brief description of the plant and the methods employed:—The wort is prepared on infusion lines, and is then cooled by means of refrigerated brine before passing to a temporary store tank, which serves as a gauging See also:vessel. From the latter the wort passes directly to the fermenting tuns, huge closed cylindrical vessels made of See also:sheet-See also:steel and coated with See also:glass See also:enamel. There the wort ferments under reduced pressure, the carbonic acid generated being removed by means of a vacuum See also:pump, and the gas thus withdrawn is replaced by the introduction of cool sterilized See also:air. The fermenting cellars are kept at 40° F. The yeast employed is a pure culture (see FERMENTATION) bottom yeast, but the withdrawal of the products of yeast See also:metabolism and the See also:constant supply of pure fresh air cause the fermentation to proceed far more rapidly than is the case with lager beer brewed on ordinary lines. It is, in fact, finished in about six days. Thereupon the air-supply is cut off, the See also:green beer again cooled to 40° F. and then conveyed by means of filtered air pressure to the store tanks, where secondary fermentation, lasting three weeks, takes place. The gases evolved are allowed to collect under pressure, so that the beer is thoroughly charged with the carbonic acid necessary to give it condition. Finally the beer is again cooled, filtered, racked and bottled, the whole of these operations taking place under See also:counter pressure, so that no gas can See also:escape; indeed, from the time the wort leaves the copper to the moment when it is bottled in the shape of beer, it does not come into contact with the See also:outer air. The preparation of the See also:Japanese beer See also:sake (q.v.) is of interest. The first See also:stage consists in the preparation of Koji, which is obtained by treating steamed See also:rice with a culture of Aspergillus oryzae. This micro-organism converts the See also:starch into See also:sugar. The Koji is converted into mote by adding it to a thin See also:paste of fresh-boiled starch in a vat. Fermentation is set up and lasts for 30 to 40 days. The third stage consists in adding more rice and Koji to the mote, together with some water. A secondary fermentation, lasting from 8 to to days, ensues. Subsequently the whole is filtered, heated and run into casks, and is then known as sake. The interest of this process consists in the fact that a single micro-organism—a mould—is able to exercise the combined functions of saccharification and fermentation. It replaces the diastase of malted grain and also the yeast of a European brewery. Another liquid of interest is Weissbier. This, which is largely produced in See also:Berlin (and in some respects resembles the See also:wheat-beer produced in parts of England), is generally prepared from a mash of three parts of wheat malt and one See also:part of See also:barley malt. The fermentation is of a symbiotic nature, two organisms, namely a yeast and a fission fungus (the lactic acid bacillus) taking part in it. The preparation of this peculiar See also:double ferment is assisted by the addition of a certain quantity of See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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