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lliNUFACTURING AND ADULTEBA.TING LIQUORS.
87
PBOOESS OF BREWING.
I.
TM Ha8hing.-This
operation consist.a in
placing the ground or bruised mslt in a large tub or
"
tun,"
known by the name of the
"matJh
fluJJ,"
ma–
cerating it for some time in hot water, and lastly
drawing off the wort from a hole in the bottom, over
which a bundle of straw or a strainer or false bot–
tom is placed, to prevent the malt passing out along
with the liquor. During the process of mashing, a
peculiar principle, called by chemists
diaata8e,
reacts
upon the starch also contained
in
the malt,
~d
con–
verts it first into a species of gum, called by the
French chemists "
der;d;rine,"
and then into a species
of sugar resembling that produced by the action of
sulphuric acid. The greater the quantity of starch
converted into sugar in this way, the stronger and
finer will be the wort. It therefore becomes a desi–
deratum with the brewer to mash at a temperature
that will most fully promote this object. It has been
found that the best temperature for this purpose
varies from 157° to 160°, but when more than one
liquor is used, the first should be something lower
than the former, the next may be between the two,
and the third may slightly exceed the latter, or be
about 165° or 170°. The action of the first mash is
Digitized
by