"In addition to English malt, brewers use some kind of malt made from foreign barley; for experience has shown, that beers brewed from a grist containing a proportion of foreign malt drain more easily in the mash tun, come into condition more quickly, and clarify more readily, than if the beer were brewed solely from English malt. Malts made from foreign barleys contain relatively smaller amounts of soluble albuminoids, and their lightness and large amount of husk help to make a buoyant mash, which drains easily. The barleys from which these malts are derived are grown and harvested under ideal conditions, and this, doubtless, accounts in a measure for the light, dry, and delicate flavour which such malts impart to beer.
Brewers fully recognise that two malts mashed separately under identical conditions will produce beers of very different character. Since it is most important that the beer of a brewery should be constant in flavour, the brewer tries to maintain a standard by using a mixed grist comprised of two or more malts. Thus if a brewer should be brewing a pale ale from a grist consisting of a mixture of a Pale English, Hungarian, and Californian malts, the chances of this mixed grist producing a wort of fairly uniform flavour and composition would be greater, than if one of the three malts were used. Again, if one of the malts showed some defect, the result would not be so unsatisfactory as if it were used alone. The proportions in which different malts are mixed calls for great judgment and care on the part of the brewer. Pale malt forms the principal constituent of most grists, London stout being excepted, the colour of the beer being adjusted by adding certain proportions of amber, brown, and black malts, or caramels.
Stock and export beers are mashed at a higher temperature than beers brewed for rapid consumption. The following table shows the approximate composition of the grist used in some typical beers and also the mashing heats:—
Beer
Mashing temperature
Grist
Pale or Stock Ale
151 - 153º F
Pale English malt
Foreign malt (Smyrna or Californian)
Flaked maize
Invert sugar
Mild Ale
145 - 148º F
Pale English malt
Amber malt
Foreign malt (Smyrna or Californian)
Flaked maize
Invert sugar
London Stout
148 - 150º F
Pale English malt
Amber malt
Roasted malt
Foreign malt
Invert sugar
For London porter a somewhat similar grist would be used. A portion of the roasted malt would be replaced by caramel, and raw cane sugar might be used in place of some of the malt. London porter is usually brewed with from 15 to 20 per cent. of substitutes.
Beer
Mashing temperature
Grist
Irish Stout
148 - 150º F
Pale English malt
Amber malt
Foreign malt (Smyrna or Californian)
Maize
Roasted malt or barley
The composition of these grists is, of course, only approximate, and varies according to the discretion of the brewer. There are, however, certain well-defined differences. In the superior beers a smaller percentage of malt substitutes are used than in running beer. In some Irish stouts and porters no substitutes are used, but this is not invariably the case. In Ireland practically no mild ale is brewed, porter and stout being the beverage of the country."
"The Brewing Industry" by Julian L. Baker, 1905, pages 75-77.
