“Low fermentation” is a slow process, effected at a low temperature, during which the yeast sinks to the bottom of the vats or casks. The wort, after cooling, is run into open wooden vats. In cooling, the wort is brought to as low a temperature as 8° C. (47° F.), or even 6° C. (43° F.), at which point it is maintained by cones or cylinders (styled _nageurs_, i.e., floats, by the French) floating in the fermenting vats. These floats may be filled with ice if the outside temperature requires it, as is invariably the case in summer. The duration of this fermentation is ten, fifteen, or even twenty days. The yeast, which is produced less abundantly than in the case of beer fermented at a high temperature, is gathered after the beer has been drawn off, and is partly used in subsequent fermentations. The term “_low_ fermentation” is derived partly from the lowness of the temperature during the fermenting process, and partly from the fact that the yeast is gathered at the bottom, and not at the upper part of the fermenting vessels.[7] Beer fermented at a low temperature, of which there are several varieties, differing in colour and quality, is of Bavarian origin.[8] The preference of the public for this kind of beer, and the increased facilities that such a beer affords the trade, are the two reasons why its manufacture has so greatly increased. In Austria, Bavaria, Prussia, and other Continental countries this new method of brewing is almost exclusively adopted. In the _Moniteur de la Brasserie_ of the 23rd April, 1871, may be found the following significant remarks on the increase in the production of beer fermented at a low temperature on the Continent: “The number of breweries manufacturing _high_ beer is rapidly decreasing, whilst the number of those producing _low_ beer is still more rapidly increasing. There were in Bohemia, in 1860, 281 breweries in which high fermentation was practised; in 1865, only 81 of these remained; in 1870, the number had declined to 18. On the other hand, the number of breweries practising _low_ fermentation increased from 135 in 1860 to 459 in 1865, and in 1870 had risen to 831. In 1860 there were 620 breweries in which the two methods were employed; in 1865 there were 486; in 1870 only 119 remained. The number of breweries at present existing in Bohemia amounts to 968.” In France, we are still in a period of transition; but year by year the manufacture of “low beer” is increasing, to the evident detriment of its competitor.