From: bruceh@fps.com (Bruce T. Hill)
Newsgroups: alt.beer,rec.crafts.brewing
Subject: Brewing in 1903, Part 4
Date: 18 Aug 92 19:18:46 GMT
Followup-To: rec.crafts.brewing
Organization: Cray Research Superservers Inc., San Diego CA, USA

Fellow brewers and beer lovers,

Here is the 4th and final part of the Brewing and Malting section
of the "Encyclopedia Americana" published in 1903.  This article
was written by Robert Wahl, of the Wahl-Henius Institute
of Fermentology in Chicago. Illinois.

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  Wort in Hop Jack. -- The hop jack consists of a round or square iron 
tank, having a perforated false bottom or strainer and a sparger or 
sprinkler similiar to that of the mash tub.  The wort, with the hops, 
is run into the hop jack and allowed to rest until the hops have settled
so as to form a filtering material for the clarification of the wort.
As soon as this takes place the wort is pumped to the surface cooler 
or beer tank located at the top of the cellers.  After the wort has all
been removed the hops are washed out or sparged with hot water in order
to recover as much of the absorbed wort as possible.

   Surface Cooler and Beer Tank. -- The surface cooler consists of a 
shallow iron pan of a length and width very large in proportion to its
depth so as to give the wort as much surface as possible.  Hereby the 
wort is cooled quite rapidly and aerated.
   The beer tank, an iron cylindrical vessel closed at the top, is 
rapidly supplanting this cooler, since the latter, by the large 
surface it presents, endangers the wort to infections by impurities or
germs always more or less present in the air.  As soon as the wort on 
the surface cooler or in the beer tank cools to about 50 degrees R.
(145 degrees F.) the danger of its infection by impurities, bacteria, 
etc., begins.  From this stage until the beer is finally marketed, 
months later, it requires the daily, almost hourly vigilance of the 
brewer to keep it pure and free from contamination.

   Baudelot Cooler. -- This consists of a series of pipes or tubes 
arranged in vertical tiers, over the outside of which the wort flows,
while through them the cooling medium is circulated.  It is usually 
made in two sections, the upper being of copper tubes, containing 
cold water, and the lower of steel containing ammonia.

   The Cellars. -- The wort after cooling enters the cellars, where
it is fermented, stored kraeusened bunged, fined, filtered, and 
racked ready for the market.

   Fermentation of Wort. -- The wort as it comes from the cooler is 
run into fermenting tubs in which the yeast has previously been placed.
Sometimes the yeast is added after the tubs are filled with wort.  
The yeast, from one to one and a half pounds to the barrel of wort, 
is usually given, not in its natural state, but first mixed with an 
equal quantity of wort and thoroughly aerated.
   The fermentation now begins.  Within 15 to 24 hours white bubbles 
appear on the surface around the sides of the tub.  The wort at this 
time is covered with a head of thick, lumpy consistency composed 
largely of albuminoid matter.  The whole surface now soon becomes 
covered with a fine white froth, which soon changes to a frizzled 
apperance called "kraeusen" stage.  The froth head then moves toward
the centre, the fermentation becomes more active, the froth head 
rises higher and becomes darker and the fermentation now passes into 
the "high kraeusen" stage, generally after about 70 to 80 hours.  This
stage is maintained for about 48 to 72 hours when the head begins to 
collapse and deepens in color to the end of the fermentation.  The 
temperature is then gradually reduced by means of cooling attemperators
to 3 degrees R. (39 degrees F.) in the next 3 or 4 days.  Total 
duration of fermentation, 10 to 11 days.

   Storage of Beer. -- After the wort is fermented the beer is filled 
into storage vats (closed at the top) where it is stored at a 
temperature near the freezing point for about two or three months.
During this storage period there is a slight progress of secondary or 
after fermentation and the yeast settles, and, what is most important 
in bottle beer that is to be pasteurized, there is a further 
precipitation of albuminoids.

   Chip Cask Treatment. -- When sufficiently matured in stroage the 
beer is run or pumped into the chip casks, so called because in them 
wooden chips are placed to retain the sediment produced by the finings.
In the chip cask, two properties must be imparted to the beer that it 
did not posess during storage, mainly life or proper amount of carbonic
acid gas contents, and brilliancy.  Life is given the beer by addition
of 8 to 10 per cent of kraeusen, (that is, young beer in the first, or
kraeusen stage of fermentation).  This when added to the old "flat" 
storage beer continues to ferment, and, as the casks are closed the gas 
generated gives life to the whole amount of beer contained.
   For bottle beer, kraeusen made from grape sugar is used, as grape 
sugar contains no albuminoids as does the kraeusen from regular 
fermenting worts.
   Brilliancy is given to the beer by removing the yeast and other 
particles in suspension by means of finings made from isinglass.
After bunging the cask, a certain pressure only (4.5 - 5 pounds) is 
desired and any excess pressure generated above this is automatically
removed by an automatic blow-off device called the bunging apparatus.

   Filtration of Beer. -- Although beers will generally become clear
in the chip cask if they are left there long enough, they are now 
almost universally filtered after they have become moderately fine
(clear) in the chip cask.  Thereby much time is saved, also a large 
part of the finings and chips.  Furthermore, filtration furnishes a 
more brilliant beer than can generally be obtained by chip cask 
treatment only.  Modern beer filters differ considerably in 
construction, but are all alike in that they contain several of 
many compartments or cells filled with filter mass or pulp (a 
substance similiar to blotting paper) through which the beer is 
forced.  The filter mass or pulp can be used again and again, being 
washed after each use to remove the beer and sediments it collects 
during filtration.  The operation of filtration is as follows:  The 
bunging apparatus is disconnected and air pressure (15 to 20 pounds) 
is put on the chip cask and the beer thereby forced through the filter.

   Racking of Beer. -- From the filter the beer passes to the racking 
bench which must be placed at a higher level in order to cause a back 
pressure upon the filter and prevent foaming.  The racking device 
consists of two or more faucets of which one is always open so as to 
give a steady flow of beer.

   Carbonating. -- Beer is often carbonated. This is the mechanical 
forcing of carbonic acid gas into the beer by which time, labor, space,
and cost of chip casks are saved, besides obtaining a more durable beer.

   Pitching and Varnishing. -- In order to prevent the beer in wooden 
vessels from soaking into the wood, they are coated on their insides 
with an inert or insoluble substance.  This is shellac varnish for the
large brewery vessels, and pitch for the trade packages.

-- 
Bruce T. Hill @ Cray Research Superservers, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
Email: bruceh@cray.com  Phone: (619) 625-3746  FAX: (619) 625-0641
Humorous quotation:  Nobody looks good wearing _brown_lipstick_. --Frank Zappa
Newsgroups: alt.beer