Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE MALTING INDUSTRY. 43 roots, but is also beginning to develop the part which would afterwards become the blade. This part, technically known as the acrospire, but familiar to the maltster as the “ back,” begins at the root end of the grain, and travels up under the skin of the barley-corn towards the opposite end. At the present stage it is only just beginning to be visible through the skin, but in the course of the next eight or nine days the backs work their way to nearly the full length of the corns, ploughing and turning having been carried out every day, and water sprinkled on the pieces once or twice when they have shown signs of becoming too dry to grow. When the “ backs ” are about three-parts of the length of the grains, the maltster checks the growth by ceasing to sprinkle the pieces and heaping them up rather more thickly. This soon results in the rootlets withering off and the backs ceasing to grow farther along- the corns. We will now pause for a moment in the description of the malting process to consider what has taken place during the germination of the corn. Minute life organisms, known as enzymes, have been at work, and one of them has had the special function of destroying the cells which confined the starch in the original barley, and a com at this stage crumbles when broken open. Another enzyme called diastase has the power of converting starch into sugar, and Nature has provided for the nourishment of the young plants by secreting in the grains a quantity of this diastase, which would have gradually converted all the starch of the grain if the plant had been allowed to grow. However, when the piece is withered off the body of the grain is still starch, but there is present in it also this enzyme, which in the brewer’s mash-tun will convert it into a fermentable sugar. Let us now return to our “ piece,” which is at present withering off on the malt floor. 1 he pieces on the other floors have been grown in exactly the same way, and they are now all loaded on to the kiln, which is similar in construction to the barley drying kiln already described. The kilning lasts for about four days, the temperature gradually rising. The malt, having been periodically “ turned ” on the kiln, is now thoroughly dry, and has a pleasant biscuity flavour. All that now remains to do, is to separate the rootlets or “ culms,” as these are useless to the brewer. This is done by passing the malt over a screen, or sieve, which allows the culms to fall through, and the finished malt is then kept in dry stores till it is sent away to the brewers. 1'he above is a brief description of tli£ malting process as generally carried out; •.hough a new system, which has found favour in America and Germany, is being introduced. This consists in growing the corn in revolving cylinders, through which air is passed, either moist or dry as required, and of a suitable temperature; but the systém has not been generally adopted. s 7 1 G. E. M. Cowell. A CARTLOAD OF BARLEY. Photo: Cassell & Co., Ltd.