_Of Grinding_ Malts.
As trifling as this Article in Brewing may seem at first it very worthily
deserves the notice of all concern'd therein, for on this depends much the
good of our Drink, because if it is ground too small the flower of the
Malt will be the easier and more freely mix with the water, and then will
cause the wort to run thick, and therefore the Malt must be only just
broke in the Mill, to make it emit its Spirit gradually, and incorporate
its flower with the water in such a manner that first a stout Beer, then
an Ale, and afterwards a small Beer may be had at one and the same
Brewing, and the wort run off fine and clear to the last. Many are
likewise so sagacious as to grind their brown Malt a Fortnight before they
use it, and keep it in a dry Place from the influence of too moist an Air,
that it may become mellower by losing in a great measure the fury of its
harsh fiery Particles, and its steely nature, which this sort of Malt
acquires on the Kiln; however this as well as many other hard Bodies may
be reduced by Time and Air into a more soluble, mellow and soft Condition,
and then it will imbibe the water and give a natural kind tincture more
freely, by which a greater quantity and stronger Drink may be made, than
if it was used directly from the Mill, and be much smoother and better
tasted. But the pale Malt will be fit for use at a Week's end, because the
leisureness of their drying endows them with a softness from the time they
are taken off the Kiln to the time they are brewed, and supplies in them
what Time and Air must do in the brown sorts. This method of grinding Malt
so long before-hand can't be so conveniently practised by some of the
great Brewers, because several of them Brew two or three times a Week, but
now most of them out of good Husbandry grind their Malts into the Tun by
the help of a long descending wooden Spout, and here they save the Charge
of emptying or uncasing it out of the Bin (which formerly they used to do
before this new way was discovered) and also the waste of a great deal of
the Malt-flower that was lost when carryed in Baskets, whereas now the
Cover of the Tun presents all that Damage In my common Brewhouse at
_London_ I ground my Malt between two large Stones by the Horse-mill that
with one Horse would grind [blank space] quarters an Hour, But in the
Country I use a steel Hand-mill, that Cost at first forty Shillings;
which will by the help of only one Man grind six or eight Bushels in an
Hour, and will last a Family many Years without hardning or cutting: There
are some old-fashion'd stone Hand-mills in being, that some are Votaries
for and prefer to the Iron ones, because they alledge that these break the
Corn's body, when the Iron ones only cut it in two, which occasions the
Malt so broke by the Stones, to give the water a more easy, free and
regular Power to extract its Virtue, than the Cut-malt can that is more
confin'd within its Hull. Notwithstanding the Iron ones are now mostly in
Use for their great Dispatch and long Duration. In the Country it is
frequently done by some to throw a Sack of Malt on a Stone or Brick-floor
as soon as it is ground, and there let it lye, giving it one turn, for a
Day or two, that the Stones or Bricks may draw out the fiery Quality it
received from the Kiln, and give the Drink a soft mild Taste.