Chapter XI. American Barley
Although any cereal artificially germinated is termed malt, yet,
for various reasons malt made from barley is meant when no other
designation save this general term is given. In past ages,
wheat, corn, and oats were used in brewing quite as frequently
as barley, and there are many statutory evidences, showing that
the governments of the various beer-producing countries forbade
the malting of any grain the production of which was
insufficient to supply the necessary food for the people. The
very first beer brewed in New York by the Dutch colonists, was
made of oats, there being an abundance of that grain on
Manhattan Island. The Puritans of New England, on the other
hand, seem to have malted wheat in great quantities, as appears
from an order of the General Court of Massachusetts Bay,
forbidding the use of that grain, but permitting the malting of
oats or other cereals. At the present time the use of barley is
pretty general. The quantity of barley produced throughout the
world eludes exact computation, however, because this grain is
grown in every zone and in many semi-barbarous countries, where
the collection of agricultural statistics is unknown. In regard
to hops, the case is different, for that plant is cultivated
exclusively for use in breweries, and its cultivation moves
within clearly defined geographic limits. Barley serves largely
as food; in some countries bread is made of it, to the almost
entire exclusion of other grain, and its use in cookery prevails
in all countries.
In view of these facts, we can only take into consideration the
consumption of barley in the form of malt. The data here offered
will be better understood, if it be borne in mind that all light
beers of that peculiarly vinous taste which has of late become
somewhat popular, are made of malt and rice or corn, as in the
case of the excellent Pilsen brands. The prevailing taste,
however, still calls for a brewage of a deep reddish brown
color, peculiar to heavily malted beers. This question may as
well be dropped, it being one of taste, about which, according
to an old proverb, there can be no conclusive arguments.
The production of barley in the United States expands
continually, and the repeated increases of the protective duty
on the foreign product---pointedly aimed at the Canadian
barley---have doubtless given additional impetus to this growth.
Necessarily, the business of malting has kept pace with the
rapid development of brewing, and one of the inevitable results
of the suddenly enlarged demands was the establishment of many
separate malt houses, fitted up with all modern improvements.
This progress, in turn, led, in a very large measure, to the
discontinuance of malting by brewers. At the present time, a
comparatively small number of brewers malt their own barley, it
being more profitable and, usually, more satisfactory to draw on
the maltster for the requisite supplies.
Species of Barley
Concerning the manufacture of malt, we have already said what
might appear to be of interest to the reader. The successful
pursuit of it requires not only great skill in the handling of
the grain while undergoing the interesting process of artificial
germination, but also much experience and practice in the
selection of the material. There are many species of barley,
distinguished from each other by, and named according to, the
number of rows which form the ear; thus we have two-rowed,
four-rowed, and six-rowed barley. Of these and other species a
number of varieties exist, and the quality of all varies very
materially, according to the character of the soil. In making
his purchases the maltster must be able, of course, to determine
whether the grain is of the kind that will yield good beer.
Sight, touch, and taste aid him in this, and enable him to make
sure that the grain is fully ripe, of the last harvest, not too
hard and smooth, nor excessively husky; but whether it contains
the nitrogenous compounds, starch, salts, etc., in the desirable
proportions, he is unable to determine, unless he knows the soil
where the barley grew and has tested its qualities before. Given
good raw material, the maltster's success depends upon his care
and vigilance in preparing for, continuing, and interrupting
germination at the proper time, and in judiciously handling the
grain after these stages. The process begins with steeping and
ends with kiln drying, and its object, as we have already said,
is the conversion of starch into sugar. Within the past
twenty-five years innumerable inventions have completely
revolutionized the old methods of the maltster and placed this
manufacture among the most advanced industries. From present
indications it appears that the future of malting belongs to the
pneumatic process, which is already employed in some of the
largest establishments.
Statistical exhibits show that the consumption of malt in our
country is proportionately as large as that of most beer
producing countries; and, necessarily, the cultivation of barley
in the United States is in proportion thereto. We have this
advantage over England, that we need not draw upon foreign
countries for any part of our supply of barley, except when a
particularly fine grade of grain is desired, such, for instance,
as our neighbors on the St. Lawrence raise. In case of
necessity, we might do without any foreign barley. England, on
the other hand, imports large quantities from Russia, Austria,
and the states on the North coast of Africa, and is dependent
upon these foreign supplies, added to what they obtain here.
As in the case of hops, so also in regard to barley, the
American industry might rely entirely upon domestic production,
and, in fact, for all practical purposes it is wholly
independent of foreign sources of supply. It has become so from
necessity, not from choice, for many brewers still consider
Canadian barley superior to our own, and would, without a doubt,
were it not for the prohibitive duty, import considerable
quantities of it and of malt. As matters stand, however, the
importation of malt has ceased almost entirely and the
importation of barley, bears to our exports the proportion of
about one to one hundred. The following figures state the case
clearly:
Ten Years Exportation of Barley Importation of Barley
1899 to 1908 101,226,243 bushels 1,012,941 bushels
The aggregate quantities of malt imported during the same decade
amounted to 34,658 bushels.
About three-fourths of the quantity of barley and an even larger
proportion of hops exported from our country find a ready market
in Great Britain and Ireland.
The Universal Drink of the Future
The phenomenal growth of brewing throughout the world during the
past fifty years has given rise to many speculations as to the
future of malt liquors, and many very able writers do not
hesitate to call beer the universal drink of the future.
Formerly confined to about four great states, the use of malt
liquors is now known in every civilized land; and even in
southern countries, where the grape vine abounds, beer is
gradually superseding every other beverage. In France, a wine
country without equal, the most eminent scientists advocate the
use of beer in preference to any other liquor. Spain, Italy, and
even China and Japan, are now being invaded by King Gambrinus,
and it is, indeed, only a question of time when beer shall be,
as prophesied, the universal drink. The literature, in languages
other than English and German, on the subject of beer, proves
conclusively that the best minds regard it as a worthy
undertaking to write on a question which materially affects the
welfare of the people. A story is told of a band of young
heathens, whom the Japanese Government sent to Germany to learn
the art of brewing, which has since been introduced into that
country. When the young men returned, muscular, yet rotund, with
a healthy glow upon their cheeks, and elasticity and strength in
all their movements, the ministers were so strongly impressed
with the vitalizing effects of beer, that they ordered a
merchantman to proceed to Germany, load up with beer, and return
posthaste to Japan. The result of this expedition is said to
have accelerated the establishment of the first brewery in the
Mikado's realm.
The most remarkable part of this progress of brewing is, that in
many instances, as, for example, in France, it was effected in
spite of the popular clamor against the Teutonic drink; and
still more remarkable is it that those who began by opposing its
use most bitterly, ended by advocating it most fervently.
END
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