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MALT.
261
MALT.
Malt is the next principal agent. It differs very
much in quality, even from 16 to 25 per cent.,
and some kinds of it will differ still more. In the
very best, twenty-six pounds of fermentable mat¬
ter or saccharum have been extracted from one
bushel, whereas in other cases there will not be
twenty pounds obtained. Hence it is only by
knowing the gravity of the wort, and not by the
quantity of malt employed, that we can have a
guide to enable us to proceed with any degree of
accuracy. Were we to suppose that the malt
was deficient in saccharine matter, and draw off a
smaller portion in consequence, while, on the
contrary, this is not the case, we should then
waste the malt, which might have produced a
great deal more. On the other hand, if it were
possible to ascertain the exact value of the malt
before we drew off the extract, the waste would
have been prevented. This, to a certain extent,
can be effected by infusing a small quantity of
malt, and determining its value before we com¬
mence to draw upon a large scale.
Unquestionably the best malt should be used,
and I would recommend that which is dried at
the least degree of temperature, for it contains