Crossville chronicle. [volume] (Crossville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1915-02-24
Copyright. 1914. by A. S. Gray,<
MANUFACTURE OF MALT.

MANUFACTURE OF MALT.
The more we investigate the causes
which have made each individual what
WINGED that every being has affilia
tons which link him with the whole
past; that there is a continuity OF
germ plasm and also of protoplasm
which goes back to the very begin
ming of life on this globe; and that
If we could only know all the factors
which are concerned in producing any
single organism, however simple it
might be, in all its relations and pro-
portions, we could explain the uni
verse from top to bottom and evolve
an infallible remedy for all our ills.
Consequently the study of the begin
ming of life in any organism Is i'm
mensely interesting and illuminating
to such of us as are not egotists and do
not insist on learning in the most ex-
pcnsive of all schools-that of per-
sona1 experience. Hence, the open
minded the study of the manufacture
of malt should be most suggestive and
instructive
Any live seed or grain can be malt.
ed; and barley, oats, rice, wheat. rye
and maize are used, but because Of its
flavor and other important qualities
barley is the prime favorite for this
purpose. The average time required
to malt barley is II days. Tie oper-
alton is started by Sleeping or soak
ing the barley corns in tanks of water
for about -forty-eight to seventy hours
After the barley is removed from the
sleeping tanks it is made up into rec
tangular heaps sixteen to twenty
inches deep known as position No. l.,
or the COUCH" the object of this be-
ing to enable it to gather heat and
start active terminating 1t usually
remains in couch twelve to twenty
four hours, or until the interior of the
heap registers a temperature Of 60
degrees Fahrenheit. At this point the
barley is moved to position No. 2, or
young floor" and there thinly and
evenly spread in order that 1t may be
controlled. When termination begins
engines are secreted and these act on
the reserve material, starch and pro-
teins of the endosperm, converting
them into simpler compounds, capable
of diffusing to various parts of the
growing germ.
But the limited termination which
constitutes the mailing process re-
tains all the soluble compounds in the
finished malt. Starch and the proteins
are reformed, the former being de-
posted in the tissues of the germ and
the cells of the scutellum which previ-
ously we're almost free from starch;
the protein matter deposited in the
latter disappears to considerable
extent and the protoplasmic content
of the cells constituting the root
which protrudes from the base of the
grain.
After the first rootlet has broken
through the EMS of the sheath it is
followed by others until there sre per-
haps FIVE or more The cOtyledonary
sheath, or seed leaf, begins 20 elongate
on the third or fourth day c. germina-
ton and ruptures the true covering
of the grain; it then grows upward
between this and the husk and forms
the acrospire or "spire" of the malt
ster.
About the eighth day the grain is
moved to position No. 9, known as
"old floor" where it is spread thinly
and slowly allowed to dry for the pur-
pose of whitening it's roots. At this
stage the acrospire should be about
three-fourths the distance UP the
corn. The treatment now requires
thickening the piece up to about ten
inches. The rootlets now having with
cred and died off, the temperature in
crease resulting from thickening the
grain pile is accompanied by little If
any increase in the growth Of the
acrospire, the action being confined
chiefly to the mellowing of the grain
by the engines. Under normal con.
ditions the temperature in "old piece"
is allowed to rise as high as about
seventy degrees during the six hours
previous to loading it into the kiln.
At this stage the moisture content is
about forty per cent and it is easily
possible to break down the corn be-
tween the thumb and finger; the |
grain is soft, mealy and soluble; it |
is mostly digested. The next stage |
consists in loading the malt into the
kiln and there thoroughly drying it
to stop all further digestion, then
roa sting it for the desired flavor.
Animal life is but q continuation
of plant life, '. part of cycle. hut q