At the present time English brewers are being denounced for substituting
properly-prepared maize, rice, and other raw grain for barley malt, and
the beers produced partly from such materials are described as being
very inferior, and even injurious to health. That such denunciations are
altogether unwarranted is evident to all who have paid any attention to
the subject, and are acquainted with the chemical changes involved in
brewing, and with the composition of the resulting beers. Unfortunately
but few comparative analyses have been published of beers made solely
from malt and beers made from malt in conjunction with raw grain, and
therefore such wild assertions as were recently uttered in the House of
Commons have remained unanswered. A German chemist, J. Hanamann, some
time since made a series of analyses of beers brewed partly from raw
grain, and his results completely controvert the theory that raw grain
beers essentially differ in composition from malt beers. Four worts were
made by the decoction system of mashing: A entirely from barley malt; B
from 60 per cent. of malt and 40 per cent. of maize; C from 60 per cent.
of malt and 40 per cent. of rice; and D from 60 per cent of malt and 40
per cent. of pure starch. The analyses of these respective worts gave
the following results:
A B C D
Sugar............... 4.96 4.08 4.84 4.87
Dextrine............ 6.05 6.83 6.35 6.60
Total extract....... 12.29 12.27 12.30 12.32
Albuminoids......... 0.82 0.78 0.68 0.42
Other substances.... 0.46 0.58 0.43 0.43
It will be seen that these worts vary very little in composition, the
chief points of difference being that those made partly from raw grain
are more dextrinous and contain less albuminoids than the wort made from
malt alone. The process of brewing was then continued as usual, and
after fermentation the resulting beers were again analyzed with the
following results:
A B C D
Alcohol............. 2.71 2.76 2.90 3.19
Sugar............... 1.05 1.12 0.98 0.35
Dextrine............ 4.54 4.31 4.42 4.74
Extract............. 6.59 6.48 6.25 5.91
Albuminoids......... 0.43 0.39 0.33 0.28
Other substances ... 0.57 0.66 0.52 0.54
It will be observed that the beers made partly from raw grain are
slightly more alcoholic, but in other respects differ but very little
from the pure malt beer, but none of them can in any way be pronounced
as really inferior or unwholesome. The beer made partly from maize is,
in fact, hardly to be distinguished in chemical composition from that
made solely from malt. These worts and beers were brewed upon the German
system, but analogous results would undoubtedly be obtained with beers
brewed from the like materials on the English system. We hope soon to be
in a position to publish some comparative analyses of beers brewed in
this country from malt combined with different kinds of raw grain; but
the analyses which we have now quoted constitute a sufficient refutation
to those who assert that brewers using raw grain are producing an
injurious or even an inferior quality of beer.--_Brewers' Guardian_.
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