the Burton character. Fig. 6 (Plate II.) shows the process in operation in Messrs Allsopp’s brewery.
(B) The Stone Square System, which is only used to a certain extent (exclusively in the north of England), practically consists in pumping the fermenting wort from one to the other of two superimposed square vessels, connected with one another by means of a man-hole and a valve. These squares are built of stone and kept very cool. At the end of the fermentation the yeast (after closing the man-hole) is removed from the top square.
Racking, &c.—After the fermentation and cleansing operations are completed, the beer is racked off (sometimes after passing a few hours in a settling tank) into storage vessels or trade casks. The finest “stock” and “pale” ales are stored from six weeks to three months prior to going out, but “running” beers (mild ales, &c.) are frequently sent out of the brewery within a week or ten days of mashing. It is usual to add some hops in cask (this is called dry hopping) in the case of many of the better beers. Running beers, which must be put into condition rapidly, or beers that have become flat, are generally primed. Priming consists in adding a small quantity of sugar solution to the beer in cask. This rapidly ferments and so produces “condition.”
Fining.—As a very light article is desired nowadays, and this has to be provided in a short time, artificial means must be resorted to, in order to replace the natural fining or brightening which storage brings about. Finings generally consist of a solution or semi-solution of isinglass in sour beer, or in a solution of tartaric acid or of sulphurous acid. After the finings are added to the beer and the barrels have been well rolled, the finings slowly precipitate (or work out through the bung-hole) and carry with them the matter which would otherwise render the beer turbid.
Bottling.—Formerly it was the general custom to brew a special beer for bottling, and this practice is still continued by some brewers. It is generally admitted that the special brew, matured by storage and an adequate secondary fermentation, produces the best beer for bottling, but the modern taste for a very light and bright bottled beer at a low cost has necessitated the introduction of new methods. The most interesting among these is the “chilling” and “carbonating” system. In this the beer, when it is ripe for racking, is first “chilled,” that is, cooled to a very low temperature. As a result, there is an immediate deposition of much matter which otherwise would require prolonged time to settle. The beer is then filtered and so rendered quite bright, and finally, in order to produce immediate “condition,” is “carbonated,” i.e. impregnated under pressure with carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas).
Foreign Brewing and Beers.—The system of brewing which differs most widely from the English infusion and top fermentation method is the decoction and bottom fermentation system, so widely employed, chiefly on the continent of Europe, for the 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 cold water until a homogeneous mixture ensues, sufficient hot water is introduced into the mash-tun to raise the temperature to 85–100° F., according to circumstances. Thereupon, about one-third of the mash (including the “goods”) is transferred to the Maisch Kessel (mash copper), in which it is gradually brought to a temperature of (about) 165° F., and this heat is maintained until the mash becomes transparent. The Dickmaische, as this portion is called, is then raised to the boil, and the ebullition sustained between a quarter and three-quarters of an 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 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 order that the solids may deposit, and then another third (called the Läutermaische 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 time, the final heat being rather over 160° F. The wort, after boiling with hops and cooling, much as in the English system, is subjected to the peculiar system of fermentation called bottom fermentation. In this system the “pitching” and fermentation take place at a very 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 “bottom fermentation” (see Fermentation). The primary fermentation lasts about eleven to twelve days (as compared with three days on the English system), and the beer is then run into store (lager) casks where it remains at a temperature approaching the freezing-point of water for six weeks to six months, according to the time of the year and the class of the beer. As to the relative character and stability of decoction and infusion beers, the latter are, as a rule, more alcoholic; but the former contain more unfermented malt extract, and are therefore, broadly speaking, more nutritive. Beers of the German type are less heavily hopped and more peptonized than English beers, and more highly charged with carbonic acid, which, owing to the low fermentation and storing temperatures, is retained for a comparatively long time and keeps the beer in condition. On the other hand, infusion beers are of a more stable and stimulating character. It is impossible to keep “lager” beer on draught in the ordinary sense of the term in England. It will not keep unless placed on ice, and, as a matter of fact, the “condition” of lager is dependent to a far greater extent on the methods of distribution and storage than is the case with infusion beers. If a cask is opened it must be rapidly consumed; indeed it becomes undrinkable within a very few hours. The gas escapes rapidly when the pressure is released, the temperature rises, and the beer becomes flat and mawkish. In Germany every publican is bound to have an efficient supply of ice, the latter frequently being delivered by the brewery together with the beer.
In America the 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 process. A very low initial heat—about 100° F.—at which the mash remains for about an hour, is employed. After this the temperature is rapidly raised to 153–156° F. by running in the boiling “cooker mash,” i.e. raw grain wort from the converter. After a period the temperature is gradually increased to about 165° F. The very low initial heat, and the employment of relatively large quantities of readily transformable malt adjuncts, enable the American 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 continental “lager” system, and the beer obtained bears some resemblance to the German product. To the English 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 climate and the temperament of the people, and in this respect the modern American beer is no exception. In regard to plant and mechanical arrangements generally, the modern American breweries may serve as an object-lesson to the European brewer, although there are certainly a number of breweries in the United Kingdom which need not fear comparison with the best American plants.
It is a sign of the times and further evidence as to the growing taste for a lighter type of beer, that lager brewing in its most modern form has now fairly taken root in Great Britain, and in this connexion the process introduced by Messrs Allsopp exhibits many features of 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 vessel. From the latter the wort passes directly to the fermenting tuns, huge closed cylindrical vessels made of sheet-steel and coated with glass enamel. There the wort ferments under reduced pressure, the carbonic acid generated being removed by means of a vacuum pump, and the gas thus withdrawn is replaced by the introduction of cool sterilized 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 metabolism and the 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 green beer again cooled to 40° F. and
