Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-07-16
THE GAZETTE.
FRIDAY MORNING, JULY Is, 1858
THE MANUFACTURE AND USE VI
LAGER BEER.


LAGER BEER.
Tho b,s;ness of brewing lager beer has
become one OF great extent IN Philadelphia
there being now about forty individuals en-
gagged in it's manufacture, and who own ex'
tensiye vaults for its storage. The manutae-
tnre of lager originated about fifty years ago,
in Bavaria; from thence it came into sener-
al use throughout Germany. The first lager
beer made in this country vas about eighteen
wears ago. but at that time it did not meet
with yery general favor. Subsequently brew
cries were established in this city, when the
superiori,y of the article over the first manu-
featured began to attract attention, ard now
PhiladeIpbia lager is we'll known in every
mart of the country. Lager beer ls only
made in winter, and slowed away in casks,
in extensive vaults, principally, on the Schuyi-
kill. where it remains until summer, hence
the name of lager, siguifying, IN German,
storage or STOCK The beer sold in winter Is
known, in German, as Schenk beer, because
il ia made for present use. 10 making lager,
the barley, which is obtained from Canada,
New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, &C., Is
transformed into malt by soaking and drying,
similar to its preparation when intended tor
ale or porter. Phe malt is passed through
grooyed rollers, placed sufficiently close to-
eether 10 crush each grain, and when the
brewino ia TO commence the crushed malt
nut into a large vat, and hot water poured
over it. in which it is allowed to infuse for
about two hours; it is then called md=h.-
From this vat the mash is pumped of into
large copper boiler, and boiled for half an
hour or 30. This process Is peculiar to the
manufacture Of lager beer. and serves to ex,
tract larger portion of the saccharlne and
coloring matters than the simple Infusion OF
the malt. The clear liquor thus extracted is
then pumped up into another vat, and boiled
with the requisite quantity of hops, by which
a pleasant and bitter favor is impaired, and
confers on the beer the property of keeping
without injury. This boiling is done IN cop
per boilers and is continued until the sac
charometer indicates from 40 to 70 pounds
Of saccharine matter to the barrel. When
the LIQUOR or wort has been sufficiently boiled,
it is drawn off from the vat, and cooled, as
rapidly as possible, to near the ordioary tenn
perature Of the air, go as to prevent the II.
regular acid fermentation to which it would
otherwise be liable. The cooling is accom-
plished by means of large, shallow boxes, or
elevated floors, with the edges raised seven
or eight inches, which are placed permanent
~ in large rooms, near windows having
Venitian blinds, 80 as to permit free cree
lation Of air. After being cooled, the wort
is run down into large fermenting watts, and
then mixed with sufficient quantity OF yeast
where it remains from eight to ten days be-
fore fermentation is completed.
The yeast used for making lager must be
obtained from q previous brewing OF the
same liquor, and the fermentation which
takes place from it is called the downward
fermentation, because the yeast settles at the
bottom Of the vat, instead of rising to the top
as it does in other malt liquors. The lager
is then placed to casks in the vault, where
the air is excluded as much az possible, the
vault being divided off into rooms Of sbou
SO feet and only one room opened at a time
One of the peculisrities of lager beer is the
flavor impaired to it by the casks. The
casks, previous to use have their interior
completely coated With rosin; this is done by
pouring quantity of melted rosin into the
cask while the head is out, and ignitlng 1t
after it has been in blaze for few minute:
the head is put in, which extingusbes the
fire, but the rosin still remains bot and IL
auid. The cask is then rolled about, SO as tc
coat every part of the interior. This rosir
imparts triHe Of it pitcby flavor to the beer
To give some idea of the extent to which
this business is conducted, it is only necessa
~ to state, that one vault, Bergner's, neal
Fairmouut, will hold about 5000 barrels
containing $4,000 gallons of lager. The
entire amount made in the city during the
winter months is estimated at lOOOOO bar
rels, each OF which contains about - gallons
making total of 100000 gallons. The
lager is drawn off for consumers, principally
in quarter casks, holding ABBOTT eight gallons
or from 90 to 100 glasses, which are sold al
from 81 so to 81 rs per cask. To mana
facture this quantity of lager, over 2Oo, oOI
/ ,shels of malt are required. Those who
retail lager depend upon hot weather to make
great profits by it's sale, for in cold weather
the beer is to many rather insipid. Great
care is also required on the part of retailers
to keep their beer good and palatable--a
deep, cool, sub-cellar being required to store
it in, so as to keep up the same temperature
as the vault from which it was taken. The
beer sold in places where from thirty to sew
enty casks are sold per day, enjoys the best
reputation, because each oask is emptied be-
fore the beer has . chance to become warm,
and hence fiat and stale.-Phila. Ledger
TRENCH DYEING AND SECURING ES
TABLISHMENT, 249, KING srREET-
Grape Shawls, Satins, Silks, Merinos, Wooden
and Cotton Goods in general, dyed in any color
l. II