Brewing (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1912. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... PREFACE GREAT as is the debt of gratitude which the brewing industry owes to the labours of scientific men, it has been more than repaid by the immense services which that industry has indirectly rendered to the advancement of modern science. It may be said without exaggeration that in respect of the number of scientific investigations of the first order of importance to which it has given rise, the brewing industry stands easily pre-eminent among the industries of mankind, and that without the stimulus furnished by the desire to arrive at the meaning of some of the more important phenomena connected with the brewing of beer, both chemical and biological science would probably be the poorer to-day by some of their most valued intellectual achievements. In support of this statement it is only necessary to refer to the investigation of the chemical and other changes occurring during the growth of the barleycorn, the elucidation of the mechanism of the hydrolysis of starch by diastase, the nature of enzyme action, and last, but not least, the numerous researches into the nature of fermentation, with all the wonderful chemical and biological facts which those researches have revealed. Whilst all this is indisputably true, it is unfortunately a fact that about no other industry do so much ignorance and misconception exist, even on the part of intelligent and well-educated people. The brewing of beer is regarded by many as an operation of a simple and more or less mechanical description, which is not of sufficient importance to merit study or of sufficient interest to claim a share of their attention. It is in the hope of doing something, even though it be but little, to correct this widelyspread impression, that I have most willingly accepted the invitation ...