1911 Beverages de luxe

The water is, therefore, very "hard," and this, as Ave shall see, is of great benefit. Good water is indispensable to good brewing, bnt abso- lu tely pure water (oxide of hydrogen) is never met Avith in nature. Its solvent properties are so great that it dissolves more or less of most substances Avith Avhieh it cornes in contact. The smallest trace of organic matter renders it utterly unfit for breAving purposes; no matter how briglit and sparkling it may appear to the eye, such water Avili not "keep," and therefore the Beer whicb miglit be brewed from it would not keep either. "Hard" Avater is suitable only for Aie, not for Stout. It is this simple fact, and not mere caprice, wkich bas singled ont Dublin as the more appropriate birthplace for Stout. "Soft" water extracts more from the malt than is desired by the breAvers of Aie, Avhile the hard Burton Avater lias less affinity for the albuminous ijrinciples contained in the malt. Much in the same way when peas are boiled in soft Avater they are reduced to pulp, but if boiled in hard water their outside skin is toughened, and they retain their individual shape. It is frequently supposed that the water used for brewing at Burton is taken from the Hiver Trent. This, of course, is a mistake — it is drawn from wells. The demands made by brew- ers upon thèse wells of late years have sometimes severely taxed their resources, and the sijring Avater is now used only for con- version into Aie. But we must not linger over the crystal water, fresh from its rock depths, for Ave have to visit the maltings. Thèse great detached buildings stretch in a long and uniform line as far as the eye can carry, and they are used exclusively for the purpose of converting the barley into malt, which must be done ère it is fit for breAving. The grain best suited to brewing Beer is barley, and much dépends on the character of the soil that grows it, as Avell as on the dryness or wetness of the season. It is not every kind of barley that will make good malt, and great is the care and zeal exercised at Burton to obtain the very choicest and most suitable growths, no matter whether they be from the United Kingdom or abroad. The opération of malting is performed as f oIIoavs : The barley is first placed in shallow cisterns, Avhere it is steeped in Avater, and afterwards spread ont to the depth of a few inches on large dry in g floors. It quickly gets w&rm of its own accord, and under the com- bined influence of warmth and moisture it soon begins to sprout. When this lias proceeded a certain length it is dried by the kiln, which, of course, stops further germination, and,