THE LONDON and COUNTRY BREWER
1736

CHAP. II.
Of Making Malts.

As I have previously described the kind of ground that produces the best barley for brewing, I now would like to discuss making it into malt.

To do this, the Barley is put into a lead or tile Cistern which holds five, ten or more Quarters, that is covered with water four or six Inches above the Barley to allow for its Swell; here it lyes five or six Tides as the Malster calls it, reckoning twelve Hours to the Tide, according as the Barley is in body or in dryness; for that which comes off Clays, or has been wash'd and damag'd by Rains, requires less time than the dryer Grain that was inned well and grew on Gravels or Chalks; the smooth plump Corn imbibing the water more kindly, when the lean and steely Barley will not so naturally; but to know when it is enough, is to take a Corn end-ways between the Fingers and gently crush it, and if it is in all parts mellow, and the husk opens or starts a little from the body of the Corn, then it is enough: The nicety of this is a material Point; for if it is infus'd too much, the sweetness of the Malt will be greatly taken off, and yield the less Spirit, and so will cause deadness and sourness in Ale or Beer in a short time, for the goodness of the Malt contributes much to the preservation of all Ales and Beers. Then the water must be drain'd from it very well, and it will come equal and better on the floor, which may be done in twelve or sixteen Hours in temperate weather, but in cold, near thirty. From the Cistern it is put into a square Hutch or Couch, where it must lye thirty Hours for the Officer to take his Gage, who allows four Bushels in the Score for the Swell in this or the Cistern, then it must be work'd Night and Day in one or two Heaps as the weather is cold or hot, and turn'd every four, six or eight Hours, the outward part inwards and the bottom upwards, always keeping a clear floor that the Corn that lies next to it be not chill'd; and as soon as it begins to come or spire, then turn it every three, four or five Hours, as was done before according to the temper of the Air, which greatly governs this management, and as it comes or works more, so must the Heap be spreaded and thinned larger to cool it. Thus it may lye and be work'd on the floor in several parallels, two or three Foot thick, ten or more Foot broad, and fourteen or more in length to Chip and Spire; but not too much nor too soft; and when it is come enough, it is to be turned twelve or sixteen times in twenty-four Hours, if the Season is warm, as in March, April or May; and when it is fixed and the Root begins to be dead, then it must be thickned again and carefully kept often turned and work'd, that the growing of the Root may not revive, and this is better done with the Shoes off than on; and here the Workman's Art and Diligence in particular is tryed in keeping the floor clear and turning the Malt often, that it neither moulds nor Aker-spires, that is, that the Blade does not grow out at the opposite end of the Root; for if it does, the flower and strength of the Malt is gone, and nothing left behind but the Aker-spire [spike?], Husk and Tail: Now when it is at this degree and fit for the Kiln, it is often practised to put it into a Heap and let it lye twelve Hours before it is turned, to heat and mellow, which will much improve the Malt if it is done with moderation, and after that time it must be turned every six Hours during twenty four; but if it is overheated, it will become like Grease and be spoiled, or at least cause the Drink to be unwholsome; when this Operation is over, it then must be put on the Kiln [oven] to dry four, six or twelve Hours, according to the nature of the Malt, for the pale sort requires more leisure and less fire than the amber or brown sorts: Three Inches thick was formerly thought a sufficient depth for the Malt to lye on the Hair-cloth, but now six is often allowed it to a fault; fourteen or sixteen Foot square will dry about two Quarters if the Malt lyes four Inches thick, and here it should be turned every two, three or four Hours keeping the Hair-cloth clear: The time of preparing it from the Cistern to the Kiln is uncertain; according to the Season of the Year; in moderate weather three Weeks is often sufficient. If the Exciseman takes his Gage on the floor he allows ten in the Score, but he sometimes Gages in Cistern, Couch, Floor and Kiln, and where he can make most, there he fixes his Charge: When the Malt is dryed, it must not cool on the Kiln, but be directly thrown off, not into a Heap, but spreaded wide in an airy place, till it is thoroughly cool, then put it into a Heap or otherwise dispose of it.

DRYING OF MALTS

There are several methods used in drying of Malts, as the Iron Plate-frame, the Tyle-frame, that are both full of little Holes: The Brass-wyred and Iron-wyred Frame, and the Hair-cloth; the Iron and Tyled one, were chiefly Invented for drying of brown Malts and saving of Fuel, for these when they come to be thorough hot will make the Corns crack and jump by the fierceness of their heat, so that they will be roasted or scorch'd in a little time, and after they are off the Kiln, to plump the body of the Corn and make it take the Eye, some will sprinkle water over it that it may meet with the better Market. But if such Malt is not used quickly, it will slacken and lose its Spirits to a great degree, and perhaps in half a Year or less may be taken by the Whools [weevils?] and spoiled: Such hasty dryings or scorchings are also apt to bitter the Malt by burning its skin, and therefore these Kilns are not so much used now as formerly: The Wyre-frames indeed are something better, yet they are apt to scorch the outward part of the Corn, that cannot be got off so soon as the Hair-cloth admits of, for these must be swept, when the other is only turned at once; however these last three ways are now in much request for drying pale and amber Malts, because their fire may be kept with more leisure, and the Malt more gradually and truer dyed, but by many the Hair-cloth is reckoned the best of all.

Malts are dryed with several sorts of Fuel; as the Coak, Welch-coal, Straw, Wood and Fern, &c. But the Coak [Modern: "coke" a high quality fuel made from coal" is reckoned by most to exceed all others for making Drink of the finest Flavour and pale Colour, because it sends no smoak forth to hurt the Malt with any offensive tang, that Wood, Fern and Straw are apt to do in a lesser or greater degree; but there is a difference even in what is call'd Coak, the right sort being large Pit- coal chark'd or burnt in some measure to a Cinder, till all the Sulphur is consumed and evaporated away, which is called Coak, and this when it is truly made is the best of all other Fuels; but if there is but one Cinder as big as an Egg, that is not thoroughly cured, the smoak of this one is capable of doing a little damage, and this happens too often by the negligence or avarice of the Coak-maker: There is another sort by some wrongly called Coak, and rightly named Culme or Welch-coal [Welsh coal], from Swanzey in Pembrokeshire, being of a hard stony substance in small bits resembling a shining Coal, and will burn without smoak, and by its sulphureous effluvia cast a most excellent whiteness on all the outward parts of the grainy body: In Devonshire I have seen their Marble or grey Fire-stone burnt into Lime with the strong fire that this Culme makes, and both this and the Chark'd Pit-coal affords a most sweet moderate and certain fire to all Malt that is dryed by it.

Straw is the next sweetest Fuel, but Wood and Fern worst of all.

Some I have known put a Peck or more of Peas, and malt them with five
Quarters of Barley, and they'll greatly mellow the Drink, and so will
Beans; but they won't come so soon, nor mix so conveniently with the Malt,
as the Pea will.

I knew a Farmer, when he sends five Quarters of Barley to be Malted, puts in half a Peck or more of Oats amongst them, to prove he has justice done him by the Maker, who is hereby confin'd not to Change his Malt by reason others won't like such a mixture.

But there is an abuse sometimes committed by a necessitous Malster, who to come by Malt sooner than ordinary, makes use of Barley before it is thoroughly sweated in the Mow [pile of grain], and then it never makes right Malt, but will be steely and not yield a due quantity of wort, as I knew it once done by a Person that thrashed the Barley immediately from the Cart as it was brought out of the Field, but they that used its Malt suffered not a little, for it was impossible it should be good, because it did not thoroughly Chip or Spire on the floor, which caused this sort of Malt, when the water was put to it in the Mash-tub, to swell up and absorb the Liquor, but not return its due quantity again, as true Malt would, nor was the Drink of this Malt ever good in the Barrel, but remain'd a raw insipid beer, past the Art of Man to Cure, because this, like Cyder made from Apples directly off the Tree, that never sweated out their phlegmatick crude juice in the heap, cannot produce a natural Liquor from such unnatural management; for barley certainly is not fit to make Malt of until it is fully mellowed and sweated in the Mow, and the Season of the Year is ready for it, without both which there can be no assurance of good Malt: Several instances of this untimely making Malt I have known to happen, that has been the occasion of great quantities of bad Ales and Beers, for such Malt, retaining none of its Barley nature, or that the Season of the Year is not cold enough to admit of its natural working on the Floor, is not capable of producing a true Malt, it will cause its Drink to stink in the cask instead of growing fit for use, as not having its genuine Malt-nature to cure and preserve it, which all good Malts contribute to as well as the Hop.

There is another damage I have known accrue to the Buyer of Malt by Mellilet [millet?], a most stinking Weed that grows amongst some Barley, and is so mischievously predominant, as to taint it to a sad degree because its black Seed like that of an Onion, being lesser than the Barley, cannot be entirely separated, which obliges it to be malted with the Barley, and makes the Drink so heady that it is apt to fuddle the unwary by drinking a small quantity.

This Weed is so natural to some Ground that the Farmer despairs of ever extirpating it, and is to be avoided as much as possible, because it very much hurts the Drink that is made from Malt mixed with it, by its nauseous Scent and Taste, as may be perceived by the Ointment made with it that bears its Name: I knew a Victualler that bought a parcel of Malt that this weed was amongst, and it spoiled all the Brewings and Sale of the Drink, for it's apt to cause Fevers, Colicks and other Distempers in the Body.

ABOUT DARNEL

Darnel [Lolium temulentum, also poison darnel or cockle] is a rampant Weed and grows much amongst some Barley, especially in the bad Husbandman's [farmer] Ground, and most where it is sown with the Seed-barley: It does the least harm amongst Malt, because it adds a strength to it, and quickly intoxicates, if there is much in it; but where there is but little, the Malster regards it not, for the sake of its inebriating quality.

DEALING WITH OTHER SEEDS AND WEEDS

There are other Weeds or Seeds that annoy the Barley; but as the Screen, Sieve and throwing [winnowing] will take most of them out, there does not require here a Detail of their Particulars. Oats malted as Barley is, will make a weak, soft, mellow and pleasant Drink, but Wheat when done so, will produce a strong heady nourishing well-tasted and fine Liquor, which is now more practised then ever.

London and Country Brewer - Preface and Contents