_OF GRINDING._
Malt must be ground, in order to facilitate the action of the water on
the grain, which otherwise would be obstructed by the outward skins.
Every corn should be cut, but not reduced to a flour or meal, for, in
this state, the grist would not be easily penetrable. It is therefore
sufficient that every grain be divided into two or three parts, nor is
there any necessity for varying this, for one sort of drink more than
another. In every brewing the intention of grinding is the same; and
the transparency of the liquor, mentioned by some on this occasion,
depends, by no means, on the cut of the corn.
It has been a question, whether the motion of the mill did not
communicate some heat to the malt; should this be the case, it can be
but in a very small degree; and, what may arise from hence, will be
lost by shooting the grain out of the sacks, or uncasing the grist
into the mash ton. Of late years it has been recommended, instead of
grinding the malt, to bruise it between two iron cylinders: if, by this
means, some of the fine mealy parts are prevented from being lost in
air, it must be very inconsiderable, and, perhaps, not equal to the
disadvantage of the water not coming in immediate contact with the
flour of the grain. In brewing, not all, but only a certain portion of
the constituent parts of the malt are requisite; these, heated water
alone is sufficient to procure, so that, upon the whole, the difference
between bruising and grinding the grain can be of no great consequence.
We have before observed, malt, by being ground and exposed for some
time to the air, more readily imbibes moisture than when whole, and the
dampness, thus absorbed, being in reality so much cold water, a grist,
that has been long ground, is capable of being impressed with hotter
waters than otherwise it would require. In country places, where the
quantity brewed consists only of a few bushels of malt, and make so
small a volume as to be incapable to maintain an uniform heat, where
the people are ignorant, that a certain degree is necessary to form
a proper extract with; and where, instead of this, boiling water is
indifferently applied, the effects of these errors are in some measure
prevented, by grinding the malts a considerable time, as a month or six
weeks before the brewing, and by the excess of fire readily escaping
from so small a quantity. This method, from the inconstant state of
the air, and from the impossibility of acting up to rule, must be very
uncertain and fortuitous, so that few or no arguments are necessary
to explode it. The truth is, the merit of country ales, so often
mentioned, proceeds from the forbearing to use the drink, but when
it is in the fittest state. Thus time not only corrects the errors of
the operators, but also gives them, in the eyes of the consumers, the
credit of an extraordinary knowledge and unmerited ability.