Occupations > British wine-maker, and domestic brewer

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BREWING.
here overlook the value which is derived from the
use of the thermometer also; for, strictly speak¬
ing, the one is of little service without the aid of
the other, especially in brewing.
By the thermometer we ascertain the degree of
heat which is capable of penetrating into the malt
and dissolving the farina, and consequently of ex¬
tracting the substance. Without the use of this
instrument we would not be able to regulate the
heat of the water necessary for effecting this end;
but by employing it once we can proceed with¬
out fear or danger of failure. Were we to use the
water at too high a temperature we would lose
upwards of one-fourth of all the malt that had
been wetted, as it would go into paste, in conse¬
quence of the water hardening its surface, and
thereby shutting up the pores. There would, in
this case, be no possibility of properly mashing
the malt afterwards; and, instead of being consis¬
tently mixed, it would present to us balls, or hard
lumps of impervious glutinous paste, the centres
of each being composed of unwetted malt, which
would remain closed up in this paste, and totally
useless. If, on the other hand, we use water at
too low a temperature, the farina will not be dis¬
solved ; and, besides the loss which will be experi¬
enced in the deficiency of gravity in the extract,
the liquor will not be so transparent. These evils,
however, are not so material as that formerly men-