Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

BEER-MAKING. i6i for a new brewery to start business, as the extent of a brewer’s business is practically limited to the number of public-houses he can control. 1 he only exceptions are cer- tain brewers with a family trade, and some of the large firms of world-wide reputation. It is generally understood that Guinness, of Dublin, own no tied houses. 1 he number of men employed in breweries is enormous, the staff of a small brewery being at least 100, while the average ma' be taken as from 400 breweries. Of the total number of men em- ployed on the premises, those actually engaged in the process of beer- making is comparatively small, the reason being that everything in a brewery is done that can be done by machinery, with a view to perfect cleanliness and uni- formity in process. The manual workers are mostly cellarmen, yard- men, coopers, draymen, sawyers, carpenters, engineers, farriers, stablemen, bottlers, washers, and labellers. 7 he great attraction of employment in a brewery is that it is per- manent. Work is con- stant the whole year round, few extra hands and the regular weekly workman can count on fifty-two weeks’ wages a year. The actual process of making beer has not varied for over two centuries, but the resources of science have led to an almost absolute certainty of result. Beer is an infusion of hot water and crushed malt boiled with hops, and when cold fermented ; but this simple state- ment implies rapid fluctuations of temperature and intricate chemical changes. The chemical action that takes place is now thoroughly understood, and the changes of temperature controlled by appliances with perfect ex- actitude. Years ago the motto of the country brewer was “ Time corrects the errors of the 21 to 700 in the large operators,” which led to long and unprofitable storage , but now the aim of every brewer is to bring his beer quickly into condition for immediate sale. So rapidly is this accom- plished, that the contents of Monday’s mash tun will be ready for drinking the following Friday. The science and high technical skill the brewer now brings to bear on his calling has been principally developed in the study of natural chemical action and careful analysis of the ingredients and water used. Pasteur, it may be mentioned, THE BIG COPPER (MESSRS. WHITBREAD’S BREWERY). THIS IS HEATED BY STEAM. APERTURE IS SHOWN THROUGH WHICH HOPS ARE INTRODUCED. are carried on the interesting series of experi- ments which led to his highly important discoveries regarding micro-organisms at Whitbread’s Brewery. A minority of brewers have experimented to find substitutes for the time-honoured original materials, ac- complishing little of a satisfactory nature, but the majority have chiefly interested themselves in securing the perfect purity of their product by entirely natural methods. In many breweries the sole ingredients used are malt and hops, and in others, where invert sugar is added, it is not from any motive of economy, but to make the beer drinkable quicker. The present cheapness of hops has rendered adulteration quite unnecessary,