I mentioned further back Scotch and English barleys as being employed for malting purposes; but as a matter of fact the produce of many countries is used, in a blend, the whole being divided into two classes, heavy and light. And in making choice of barleys it is necessary that they should be thoroughly and equally ripened, well “got” or harvested, and as far as possible presented to the brewer in the perfect husk or envelope with which nature has furnished the kernel. Ancient and modern modes of thrashing and dressing to a greater or less extent damage both the husk and the kernel, and thus at the very threshold introduce one of the causes of disease. Whenever the grain is broken or bruised it is liable to be attacked when moist by a variety of moulds which lead to more or less serious disaster. Of the different varieties of beer, “pale ale” or “bitter” is a highly-hopped beer made from the very finest selected malt and hops; whilst “mild ale,” or as it is called in Scotland “sweet ale,” is of greater gravity or strength, and is comparatively lightly hopped. “Old ale” is, naturally, the best stuff that can be brewed, in a state of maturity; and it is a peculiarity of ale {68} that, securely bottled, it will keep its strength far longer than any other fermented drink. In December 1889 some bottles of beer were found walled up in a cellar at Burton-on-Trent; and the records of the firm, as well as the shape of the bottles, shewed that the beer had been brewed nearly a hundred years before. It was as bright as a sunbeam, and quite drinkable, but had lost its bitterness, and assumed the character of sherry. But old ale, like old brandy, is of little value to the toper, in that it takes a very minute quantity to accomplish in him the desired effect—oblivion. “Audit” ales and “college” ditto require very delicate handling of the jug; and I have tasted ancient beer in Allsopp’s cellars in Burton, a wine-glassful of which would probably have put a coal-whipper on his back. It was the colour of mahogany and oh! so seductive. Porter, as most people know, is a black beer, brewed in much the same manner as the other stuff, with roasted malt to give it colour; whilst stout is simply a superior kind of porter. As for the lager beer of the Fatherland it is fermented at a very low temperature, the fermentation being longer delayed. Some years ago great stress was laid on the German system of mashing called the “thick mash,” which consisted of boiling or cooking a portion of the mash, and running it back and remixing it with the portion left in the tun; but it is now found possible to brew the finest lager beer with a slight modification of our own mashing method.