Prior to 1896, rice, flaked maize (see below), and other similar preparations had been classed as malt or corn in reference to their wort-producing powers, but after that date they were deemed sugar[1] in that regard. By the new act (1880) 42 lb weight of corn, or 28 lb weight of sugar, were to be deemed the equivalent of a bushel of malt, and a brewer was expected by one of the modes of charge to have brewed at least a barrel (36 gallons) of worts (less 4% allowed for wastage) at the standard gravity for every two bushels of malt (or its equivalents) used by him in brewing; but where, owing to lack of skill or inferior machinery, a brewer cannot obtain the standard quantity of wort from the standard equivalent of material, the charge is made not on the wort, but directly on the material. By the new act, licences at the annual duty of L1 on brewers for sale, and of 6s. (subsequently modified by 44 Vict. c. 12, and 48 and 49 Vict. c. 5, &c., to 4s.) or 9s., as the case might be, on any other brewers, were required. The regulations dealing with the mashing operations are very stringent. Twenty-four hours at least before mashing the brewer must enter in his brewing book (provided by the Inland Revenue) the day and hour for commencing to mash malt, corn, &c., or to dissolve sugar; and the date of making such entry; and also, two hours at least before the notice hour for mashing, the quantity of malt, corn, &c., and sugar to be used, and the day and hour when all the worts will be drawn off the grains in the mash-tun. The worts of each brewing must be collected within twelve hours of the commencement of the collection, and the brewer must within a given time enter in his book the quantity and gravity of the worts before fermentation, the number and name of the vessel, and the date of the entry. The worts must remain in the same vessel undisturbed for twelve hours after being collected, unless previously taken account of by the officer. There are other regulations, e.g. those prohibiting the mixing of worts of different brewings unless account has been taken of each separately, the alteration of the size or shape of any gauged vessel without notice, and so on.

Taxation of Beer in Foreign Countries.—The following table shows the nature of the tax and the amount of the same calculated to English barrels.

Country. Nature of Tax. Amount per English Barrel (round numbers) United States Beer tax 5s. 9d. Germany — —— N. German Customs Malt tax 1s. 6d Union —— Bavaria Malt tax 3s. 5d. to 4s. 8d., according to quantity produced Belgium Malt tax 2s. 9d. France On Wort 4s. 1d. Holland On cubic About 1s. 9d. to 3s. contents of 3d., according to Mash-Tun or on quality Malt Austro-Hungarian Empire On Wort 6s. 8d. Russia Malt tax 5s. to 6s. 8d.

MATERIALS USED IN BREWING.—These are water, malt (q.v.), hops (q.v.), various substitutes for the two latter, and preservatives.

Water.—A satisfactory supply of water—which, it may here be mentioned, is always called liquor in the brewery—is a matter of great importance to the brewer. Certain waters, for instance, those contaminated to any extent with organic matter, cannot be used at all in brewing, as they give rise to unsatisfactory fermentation, cloudiness and abnormal flavour. Others again, although suited to the production of one type of beer, are quite unfit for the brewing of another. For black beers a soft water is a desideratum, for ales of the Burton type a hard water is a necessity. For the brewing of mild ales, again, a water containing a certain proportion of chlorides is required. The presence or absence of certain mineral substances as such in the finished beer is not, apparently, a matter of any moment as regards flavour or appearance, but the importance of the role played by these substances in the brewing process is due to the influence which they exert on the solvent action of the water on the various constituents of the malt, and possibly of the hops. The excellent quality of the Burton ales was long ago surmised to be due mainly to the well water obtainable in that town. On analysing Burton water it was found to contain a considerable quantity of calcium sulphate—gypsum—and of other calcium and magnesium salts, and it is now a well-known fact that good bitter ales cannot be brewed except with waters containing these substances in sufficient quantities. Similarly, good mild ale waters should contain a certain quantity of sodium chloride, and waters for stout very little mineral matter, excepting perhaps the carbonates of the alkaline earths, which are precipitated on boiling.

The following analyses (from W.J. Sykes, The Principles and Practice of Brewing) are fairly illustrative of typical brewing waters.

Burton Water (Pale Ale) Grains per Gallon Sodium Chloride 3.90 Potassium Sulphate 1.59 Sodium Nitrate 1.97 Calcium Sulphate 77.87 Calcium Carbonate 7.62 Magnesium Carbonate 21.31 Silica and Alumina 0.98 Dublin Water (Stout). Sodium Chloride 1.83 Calcium Sulphate 4.45 Calcium Carbonate 14.21 Magnesium Carbonate 0.90 Iron Oxide and 0.24 Alumina Silica 0.26 Mild Ale Water. Sodium Chloride 35.14 Calcium Chloride 3.88 Calcium Sulphate 6.23 Calcium Carbonate 4.01 Iron Oxide and 0.24 Alumina Silica 0.22

Our knowledge of the essential chemical constituents of brewing waters enables brewers in many cases to treat an unsatisfactory supply artificially in such a manner as to modify its character in a favourable sense. Thus, if a soft water only is to hand, and it is desired to brew a bitter ale, all that is necessary is to add a sufficiency of gypsum, magnesium sulphate and calcium chloride. If it is desired to convert a soft water lacking in chlorides into a satisfactory mild ale liquor, the addition of 30-40 grains of sodium chloride will be necessary. On the other hand, to convert a hard water into a soft supply is scarcely feasible for brewing purposes. To the substances used for treating brewing liquors already mentioned we may add kainite, a naturally deposited composite salt containing potassium and magnesium sulphates and magnesium chloride.

Malt Substitutes.—Prior to the repeal of the Malt Acts, the only substitute for malt allowed in the United Kingdom was sugar. The quantity of the latter employed was 295,865 cwt. in 1870, 1,136,434 cwt. in 1880, and 2,746,615 cwt. in 1905; that is to say, that the quantity used had been practically trebled during the last twenty-five years, although the quantity of malt employed had not materially increased. At the same time other substitutes, such as unmalted corn and preparations of rice and maize, had come into favour, the quantity of these substances used being in 1905 125,671 bushels of unmalted corn and 1,348,558 cwt. of rice, maize, &c.

The following statistics with regard to the use of malt substitutes in the United Kingdom are not without interest.

[v.04 p.0508]

Year. Quantities of Quantities of Percentage Malt and Corn Sugar, Rice, of used in Maize, &c. used Substitutes Brewing. in Brewing. to Total Material. Bushels. Bushels. 1878 59,388,905 3,825,148 6.05 1883 [2]51,331,451 [3]4,503,680 8.06 1890 [2]55,359,964 [3]7,904,708 12.48 1895 53,731,177 10,754,510 16.66 1905 51,942,368 15,706,413 23.22

The causes which have led to the largely increased use of substitutes in the United Kingdom are of a somewhat complex nature. In the first place, it was not until the malt tax was repealed that the brewer was able to avail himself of the surplus diastatic energy present in malt, for the purpose of transforming starch (other than that in malted grain) into sugar. The diastatic enzyme or ferment (see below, under Mashing) of malted barley is present in that material in great excess, and a part of this surplus energy may be usefully employed in converting the starch of unmalted grain into sugar. The brewer has found also that brewing operations are simplified and accelerated by the use of a certain proportion of substitutes, and that he is thereby enabled appreciably to increase his turn-over, i.e. he can make more beer in a given time from the same plant. Certain classes of substitutes, too, are somewhat cheaper than malt, and in view of the keenness of modern competition it is not to be wondered at that the brewer should resort to every legitimate means at his disposal to keep down costs. It has been contended, and apparently with much reason, that if the use of substitutes were prohibited this would not lead to an increased use of domestic barley, inasmuch as the supply of home barley suitable for malting purposes is of a limited nature. A return to the policy of "malt and hops only" would therefore lead to an increased use of foreign barley, and to a diminution in the demand for home barley, inasmuch as sugar and prepared cereals, containing as they do less nitrogen, &c. than even the well-cured, sun-dried foreign barleys, are better diluents than the latter. At the same time, it is an undoubted fact that an excessive use of substitutes leads to the production of beer of poor quality. The better class of brewer rarely uses more than 15-20%, knowing that beyond that point the loss of flavour and quality will in the long run become a more serious item than any increased profits which he might temporarily gain.

With regard to the nature of the substitutes or adjuncts for barley malt more generally employed, raw grain (unmalted barley, wheat, rice, maize, &c.) is not used extensively in Great Britain, but in America brewers employ as much as 50%, and even more, of maize, rice or similar materials. The maize and rice preparations mostly used in England are practically starch pure and simple, substantially the whole of the oil, water, and other subsidiary constituents of the grain being removed. The germ of maize contains a considerable proportion of an oil of somewhat unpleasant flavour, which has to be eliminated before the material is fit for use in the mash-tun. After degerming, the maize is unhusked, wetted, submitted to a temperature sufficient to rupture the starch cells, dried, and finally rolled out in a flaky condition. Rice is similarly treated.

The sugars used are chiefly cane sugar, glucose and invert sugar—the latter commonly known as "saccharum." Cane sugar is mostly used for the preparation of heavy mild ales and stouts, as it gives a peculiarly sweet and full flavour to the beer, to which, no doubt, the popularity of this class of beverage is largely due. Invert sugar is prepared by the action either of acid or of yeast on cane sugar. The chemical equation representing the conversion (or inversion) of cane sugar is:—

C12H22O11 + H2O = C6H12O6 + C6H12O6. cane sugar water glucose fructose ——invert sugar——

Invert sugar is so called because the mixture of glucose and fructose which forms the "invert" is laevo-rotatory, whereas cane sugar is dextro-rotatory to the plane of polarized light. The preparation of invert sugar by the acid process consists in treating the cane sugar in solution with a little mineral acid, removing the excess of the latter by means of chalk, and concentrating to a thick syrup. The yeast process (Tompson's), which makes use of the inverting power of one of the enzymes (invertase) contained in ordinary yeast, is interesting. The cane sugar solution is pitched with yeast at about 55 deg. C., and at this comparatively high temperature the inversion proceeds rapidly, and fermentation is practically impossible. When this operation is completed, the whole liquid (including the yeast) is run into the boiling contents of the copper. This method is more suited to the preparation of invert in the brewery itself than the acid process, which is almost exclusively used in special sugar works. Glucose, which is one of the constituents of invert sugar, is largely used by itself in brewing. It is, however, never prepared from invert sugar for this purpose, but directly from starch by means of acid. By the action of dilute boiling acid on starch the latter is rapidly converted first into a mixture of dextrine and maltose and then into glucose. The proportions of glucose, dextrine and maltose present in a commercial glucose depend very much on the duration of the boiling, the strength of the acid, and the extent of the pressure at which the starch is converted. In England the materials from which glucose is manufactured are generally sago, rice and purified maize. In Germany potatoes form the most common raw material, and in America purified Indian corn is ordinarily employed.

Hop substitutes, as a rule, are very little used. They mostly consist of quassia, gentian and camomile, and these substitutes are quite harmless per se, but impart an unpleasantly rough and bitter taste to the beer.

Preservatives.—These are generally, in fact almost universally, employed nowadays for draught ales; to a smaller extent for stock ales. The light beers in vogue to-day are less alcoholic, more lightly hopped, and more quickly brewed than the beers of the last generation, and in this respect are somewhat less stable and more likely to deteriorate than the latter were. The preservative in part replaces the alcohol and the hop extract, and shortens the brewing time. The preservatives mostly used are the bisulphites of lime and potash, and these, when employed in small quantities, are generally held to be harmless.

BREWING OPERATIONS.—The general scheme of operations in an English brewery will be readily understood if reference be made to fig. 1, which represents an 8-quarter brewery on the gravitation system, the principle of which is that all materials to be employed are pumped or hoisted to the highest point required, to start with, and that subsequently no further pumping or hoisting is required, the materials (in the shape of water, malt, wort or hops, &c.) being conveyed from one point to another by the force of gravity.

The malt, which is hoisted to the top floor, after cleaning and grading is conveyed to the Malt Mill, where it is crushed. Thence the ground malt, or "grist" as it is now called, passes to the Grist Hopper, and from the latter to the Mashing Machine, in which it is intimately mixed with hot water from the Hot Liquor Vessel. From the mashing machine the mixed grist and "liquor" pass to the Mash-Tun, where the starch of the malt is rendered soluble. From the mash-tun the clear wort passes to the Copper, where it is boiled with hops. From the copper the boiled wort passes to the Hop Back, where the insoluble hop constituents are separated from the wort. From the hop back the wort passes to the Cooler, from the latter to the Refrigerator, thence (for the purpose of enabling the revenue officers to assess the duty) to the Collecting Vessel,[4] and finally to the Fermenting Vessels, in which the wort is transformed into "green" beer. The latter is then cleansed, and finally racked and stored.

It will be seen from the above that brewing consists of seven distinct main processes, which may be classed as follows: (1) Grinding; (2) Mashing; (3) Boiling; (4) Cooling; (5) Fermenting; (6) Cleansing; (7) Racking and Storing.

Grinding.—In most modern breweries the malt passes, on its way [v.04 p.0509] from the bins to the mill, through a cleaning and grading apparatus, and then through an automatic measuring machine. The mills, which exist in a variety of designs, are of the smooth roller type, and are so arranged that the malt is crushed rather than ground. If the malt is ground too fine, difficulties arise in regard to efficient drainage in the mash-tun and subsequent clarification. On the other hand, if the crushing is too coarse the subsequent extraction of soluble matter in the mash-tun is incomplete, and an inadequate yield results.



Mashing is a process which consists mainly in extracting, by means of water at an adequate temperature, the soluble matters pre-existent in the malt, and in converting the insoluble starch and a great part of the insoluble nitrogenous compounds into soluble and partly fermentable products. Mashing is, without a doubt, the most important of the brewing processes, for it is largely in the mash-tun that the character of the beer to be brewed is determined. In modern practice the malt and the mashing "liquor" (i.e. water) are introduced into the mash-tun simultaneously, by means of the mashing machine (fig. 2, A). This is generally a cylindrical metal vessel, commanding the mash-tun and provided with a central shaft and screw. The grist (as the crushed malt is called) enters the mashing machine from the grist case above, and the liquor is introduced at the back. The screw is rotated rapidly, and so a thorough mixture of the grist and liquor takes place as they travel along the mashing machine. The mash-tun (fig. 2) is a large metal or wooden vessel, fitted with a false bottom composed of plates perforated with numerous small holes or slits (C). This arrangement is necessary in order to obtain a proper separation of the "wort" (as the liquid portion of the finished mash is called) from the spent grains. The mash-tun is also provided with a stirring apparatus (the rakes) so that the grist and liquor may be intimately mixed (D), and an automatic sprinkler, the sparger (fig. 2, B, and fig. 3), which is employed in order to wash out the wort remaining in the grains. The sparger consists of a number of hollow arms radiating from a common centre and pierced by a number of small perforations. The common central vessel from which the sparge-arms radiate is mounted in such a manner that it rotates automatically when a stream of water is admitted, so that a constant fine spray covers the whole tun when the sparger is in operation. There are also pipes for admitting "liquor" to the bottom of the tun, and for carrying the wort from the latter to the "underback" or "copper."

The grist and liquor having been introduced into the tun (either by means of the mashing machine or separately), the rakes are set going, so that the mash may become thoroughly homogeneous, and after a short time the rakes are stopped and the mash allowed to rest, usually for a period of about two hours. After this, "taps are set"—i.e. communication is established between the mash-tun and the vessel into which the wort runs—and the sparger is started. In this manner the whole of the wort or extract is separated from the grains. The quantity of water employed is, in all, from two to three barrels to the quarter (336 lb) of malt.

In considering the process of mashing, one might almost say the process of brewing, it is essential to remember that the type and quality of the beer to be produced (see MALT) depends almost entirely (a) on the kind of malt employed, and (b) on the mashing temperature. In other words, quality may be controlled on the kiln or in the mash-tun, or both. Viewed in this light, the following theoretical methods for preparing different types of beer are possible:—(1) high kiln heats and high mashing temperatures; (2) high kiln heats and low mashing temperatures; (3) low kiln heats and high mashing temperatures; and (4) low kiln heats and low mashing temperatures. In practice all these combinations, together with many intermediate ones, are met with, and it is not too much to say that the whole science of modern brewing is based upon them. It is plain, then, that the mashing temperature will depend on the kind of beer that is to be produced, and on the kind of malt employed. For stouts and black beers generally, a mashing temperature of 148 deg. to 150 deg. F. is most usual; for pale or stock ales, 150 deg. to 154 deg. F.; and for mild running beers, 154 deg. to 149 deg. F. The range of temperatures employed in brewing English beers is a very limited one as compared with foreign mashing methods, and does not range further, practically speaking, than from 140 deg. to 160 deg. F. The effect of higher temperatures is chiefly to cripple the enzyme or "ferment" diastase, which, as already said, is the agent which converts the insoluble starch into soluble dextrin, sugar and intermediate products. The higher the mashing temperature, the more the diastase will be crippled in its action, and the more dextrinous (non-fermentable) matter as compared with maltose (fermentable sugar) will be formed. A pale or stock ale, which is a type of beer that must be "dry" and that will keep, requires to contain a relatively high proportion of dextrin and little maltose, and, in its preparation, therefore, a high mashing temperature will be employed. On the other hand, a mild running ale, which is a full, sweet beer, intended for rapid consumption, will be obtained by means of low mashing temperatures, which produce relatively little dextrin, but a good deal of maltose, i.e. sweet and readily fermentable matter.



Diastase is not the only enzyme present in malt. There is also a ferment which renders a part of the nitrogenous matter soluble. This again is affected by temperature in much the same way as diastase. Low heats tend to produce much non-coagulable [v.04 p.0510] nitrogenous matter, which is undesirable in a stock beer, as it tends to produce fret and side fermentations. With regard to the kind of malt and other materials employed in producing various types of beer, pale ales are made either from pale malt (generally a mixture of English and fine foreign, such as Smyrna, California) only, or from pale malt and a little flaked maize, rice, invert sugar or glucose. Running beers (mild ale) are made from a mixture of pale and amber malts, sugar and flaked goods; stout, from a mixture of pale, amber and roasted (black) malts only, or with the addition of a little sugar or flaked maize.

When raw grain is employed, the process of mashing is slightly modified. The maize, rice or other grain is usually gelatinized in a vessel (called a converter or cooker) entirely separated from the mash-tun, by means of steam at a relatively high temperature, mostly with, but occasionally without, the addition of some malt meal. After about half an hour the gelatinized mass is mixed with the main mash, and this takes place shortly before taps are set. This is possible inasmuch as the starch, being already in a highly disintegrated condition, is very rapidly converted. By working on the limited-decoction system (see below), it is possible to make use of a fair percentage of raw grain in the mash-tun proper, thus doing away with the "converter" entirely.

The Filter Press Process.—The ordinary mash-tun process, as described above, possesses the disadvantage that only coarse grists can be employed. This entails loss of extract in several ways. To begin with, the sparging process is at best a somewhat inefficient method for washing out the last portions of the wort, and again, when the malt is at all hard or "steely," starch conversion is by no means complete. These disadvantages are overcome by the filter press process, which was first introduced into Great Britain by the Belgian engineer P. Meura. The malt, in this method of brewing, is ground quite fine, and although an ordinary mash-tun may be used for mashing, the separation of the clear wort from the solid matter takes place in the filter press, which retains the very finest particles with ease. It is also a simple matter to wash out the wort from the filter cake in the presses, and experience has shown that markedly increased yields are thus obtained. In the writer's opinion, there is little doubt that in the future this, or a similar process, will find a very wide application.

Boiling.—From the mash-tun the wort passes to the copper. If it is not possible to arrange the plant so that the coppers are situated beneath the mash-tuns (as is the case in breweries arranged on the gravitation system), an intermediate collecting vessel (the underback) is interposed, and from this the wort is pumped into the copper. The latter is a large copper vessel heated by direct fire or steam. Modern coppers are generally closed in with a dome-shaped head, but many old-fashioned open coppers are still to be met with, in fact pale-ale brewers prefer open coppers. In the closed type the wort is frequently boiled under slight pressure. When the wort has been raised to the boil, the hops or a part thereof are added, and the boiling is continued generally from an hour to three hours, according to the type of beer. The objects of boiling, briefly put, are: (1) sterilization of the wort; (2) extraction from the hops of substances that give flavour and aroma to the beer; (3) the coagulation and precipitation of a part of the nitrogenous matter (the coagulable albuminoids), which, if left in, would cause cloudiness and fret, &c., in the finished beer; (4) the concentration of the wort. At least three distinct substances are extracted from the hops in boiling. First, the hop tannin, which, combining with a part of the proteids derived from the malt, precipitates them; second, the hop resin, which acts as a preservative and bitter; third, the hop oil, to which much of the fine aroma of beer is due. The latter is volatile, and it is customary, therefore, not to add the whole of the hops to the wort when it commences to boil, but to reserve about a third until near the end of the copper stage. The quantity of hops employed varies according to the type of beer, from about 3 lb to 15 lb per quarter (336 lb) of malt. For mild ales and porters about 3 to 4 lb, for light pale ales and light stouts 6 to 10 lb, and for strong ales and stouts 9 to 15 lb of hops are employed.

Cooling.—When the wort has boiled the necessary time, it is turned into the hop back to settle. A hop back is a wooden or metal vessel, fitted with a false bottom of perforated plates; the latter retain the spent hops, the wort being drawn off into the coolers. After resting for a brief period in the hop back, the bright wort is run into the coolers. The cooler is a very shallow vessel of great area, and the result of the exposure of the hot wort to a comparatively large volume of air is that a part of the hop constituents and other substances contained in the wort are rendered insoluble and are precipitated. It was formerly considered absolutely essential that this hot aeration should take place, but in many breweries nowadays coolers are not used, the wort being run direct from the hop back to the refrigerator. There is much to be said for this procedure, as the exposure of hot wort in the cooler is attended with much danger of bacterial and wild yeast infection, but it is still a moot point whether the cooler or its equivalent can be entirely dispensed with for all classes of beers. A rational alteration would appear to be to place the cooler in an air-tight chamber supplied with purified and sterilized air. This principle has already been applied to the refrigerator, and apparently with success. In America the cooler is frequently replaced by a cooling tank, an enclosed vessel of some depth, capable of artificial aeration. It is not practicable, in any case, to cool the wort sufficiently on the cooler to bring it to the proper temperature for the fermentation stage, and for this purpose, therefore, the refrigerator is employed. There are several kinds of refrigerators, the main distinction being that some are vertical, others horizontal; but the principle in each case is much the same, and consists in allowing a thin film or stream of wort to trickle over a series of pipes through which cold water circulates. Fig. 5, Plate I., shows refrigerators, employed in Messrs Allsopp's lager beer brewery, at work.

Fermenting.—By the process of fermentation the wort is converted into beer. By the action of living yeast cells (see FERMENTATION) the sugar contained in the wort is split up into alcohol and carbonic acid, and a number of subsidiary reactions occur. There are two main systems of fermentation, the top fermentation system, which is that employed in the United Kingdom, and the bottom fermentation system, which is that used for the production of beers of the continental ("lager") type. The wort, generally at a temperature of about 60 deg. F. (this applies to all the systems excepting B [see below], in which the temperature is higher), is "pitched" with liquid yeast (or "barm," as it is often called) at the rate of, according to the type and strength of the beer to be made, 1 to 4 lb to the barrel. After a few hours a slight froth or scum makes its appearance on the surface of the liquid. At the end of a further short period this develops into a light curly mass (cauliflower or curly head), which gradually becomes lighter and more solid in appearance, and is then known as rocky head. This in its turn shrinks to a compact mass—the yeasty head—which emits great bubbles of gas with a hissing sound. At this point the cleansing of the beer—i.e. the separation of the yeast from the liquid—has fairly commenced, and it is let down (except in the skimming and Yorkshire systems [see below]) into the pontos or unions, as the case may be. During fermentation the temperature rises considerably, and in order to prevent an excessive temperature being obtained (70-75 deg. F. should be the maximum) the fermenting vessels are fitted with "attemperators," i.e. a system of pipes through which cold water may be run.

Cleansing.—In England the methods of applying the top fermentation system may be classified as follows: (A) The Cleansing System: (a) Skimming System, (b) Dropping System (pontos or ordinary dropping system), (c) Burton Union System. (B) The Yorkshire Stone Square System.



(A) In (a) the Skimming System the fermentation from start to finish takes place in wooden vessels (termed "squares" or "rounds"), fitted with an attemperator and a parachute or other similar skimming device for removing or "skimming" the yeast at the end of the fermentation (fig. 4). The principle of (b) the Dropping System is that the beer undergoes only the main fermentation in the "round" or "square," and is then dropped down into a second vessel or vessels, in which fermentation and cleansing are completed. The ponto system of dropping, which is now somewhat old-fashioned, consists in discharging the beer into a series of vat-like vessels, fitted with a peculiarly-shaped overflow lip. The yeast works its way out of the vessel over the lip, and then flows into a gutter and is collected. The pontos are kept filled with beer by means of a vessel placed at a higher level. In the ordinary dropping system the partly fermented beer is let down from the "squares" and "rounds" into large vessels, termed dropping or skimming "backs." These are fitted with attemperators, and parachutes for the removal of yeast, in much the same way as in the skimming system. As a rule the parachute covers the whole width of the back. (c) The Burton Union System is really an improved ponto system. A series of casks, supplied with beer at the cleansing stage from a feed vessel, are mounted so that they may rotate axially. Each cask is fitted with an attemperator, a pipe and cock at the base for the removal of the finished beer and "bottoms," and lastly with a swan neck fitting through a bung-hole and commanding a common gutter. This system yields excellent results for certain classes of beers, and many Burton brewers think it is essential for obtaining [v.04 p.0511] the Burton character. Fig. 6 (Plate II.) shows the process in operation in Messrs Allsopp's brewery.

(B) The Stone Square System, which is only used to a certain extent (exclusively in the north of England), practically consists in pumping the fermenting wort from one to the other of two superimposed square vessels, connected with one another by means of a man-hole and a valve. These squares are built of stone and kept very cool. At the end of the fermentation the yeast (after closing the man-hole) is removed from the top square.

Racking, &c.—After the fermentation and cleansing operations are completed, the beer is racked off (sometimes after passing a few hours in a settling tank) into storage vessels or trade casks. The finest "stock" and "pale" ales are stored from six weeks to three months prior to going out, but "running" beers (mild ales, &c.) are frequently sent out of the brewery within a week or ten days of mashing. It is usual to add some hops in cask (this is called dry hopping) in the case of many of the better beers. Running beers, which must be put into condition rapidly, or beers that have become flat, are generally primed. Priming consists in adding a small quantity of sugar solution to the beer in cask. This rapidly ferments and so produces "condition."

Fining.—As a very light article is desired nowadays, and this has to be provided in a short time, artificial means must be resorted to, in order to replace the natural fining or brightening which storage brings about. Finings generally consist of a solution or semi-solution of isinglass in sour beer, or in a solution of tartaric acid or of sulphurous acid. After the finings are added to the beer and the barrels have been well rolled, the finings slowly precipitate (or work out through the bung-hole) and carry with them the matter which would otherwise render the beer turbid.

Bottling.—Formerly it was the general custom to brew a special beer for bottling, and this practice is still continued by some brewers. It is generally admitted that the special brew, matured by storage and an adequate secondary fermentation, produces the best beer for bottling, but the modern taste for a very light and bright bottled beer at a low cost has necessitated the introduction of new methods. The most interesting among these is the "chilling" and "carbonating" system. In this the beer, when it is ripe for racking, is first "chilled," that is, cooled to a very low temperature. As a result, there is an immediate deposition of much matter which otherwise would require prolonged time to settle. The beer is then filtered and so rendered quite bright, and finally, in order to produce immediate "condition," is "carbonated," i.e. impregnated under pressure with carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas).

FOREIGN BREWING AND BEERS.—The system of brewing which differs most widely from the English infusion and top fermentation method is the decoction and bottom fermentation system, so widely employed, chiefly on the continent of Europe, for the production of beers of the "lager" type.

The method pursued in the decoction system is broadly as follows:—After the grist has been mashed with cold water until a homogeneous mixture ensues, sufficient hot water is introduced into the mash-tun to raise the temperature to 85-100 deg. F., according to circumstances. Thereupon, about one-third of the mash (including the "goods") is transferred to the Maisch Kessel (mash copper), in which it is gradually brought to a temperature of (about) 165 deg. F., and this heat is maintained until the mash becomes transparent. The Dickmaische, as this portion is called, is then raised to the boil, and the ebullition sustained between a quarter and three-quarters of an hour. Just sufficient of the Dickmaische is returned to the mash-tun proper to raise the temperature of the whole to 111-125 deg. F., and after a few minutes a third is again withdrawn and treated as before, to form the second "thick mash." When the latter has been returned to the mash-tun the whole is thoroughly worked up, allowed to stand in order that the solids may deposit, and then another third (called the Laeutermaische or "clear mash") is withdrawn, boiled until the coagulable albuminoids are precipitated, and finally reconveyed to the mash-tun, where the mashing is continued for some time, the final heat being rather over 160 deg. F. The wort, after boiling with hops and cooling, much as in the English system, is subjected to the peculiar system of fermentation called bottom fermentation. In this system the "pitching" and fermentation take place at a very low temperature and, compared with the English system, in very small vessels. The fermenting cellars are maintained at a temperature of about 37-38 deg. F., and the temperature of the fermenting wort does not rise above 50 deg. F. The yeast, which is of a different type from that employed in the English system, remains at the bottom of the fermenting tun, and hence is derived the name of "bottom fermentation" (see FERMENTATION). The primary fermentation lasts about eleven to twelve days (as compared with three days on the English system), and the beer is then run into store (lager) casks where it remains at a temperature approaching the freezing-point of water for six weeks to six months, according to the time of the year and the class of the beer. As to the relative character and stability of decoction and infusion beers, the latter are, as a rule, more alcoholic; but the former contain more unfermented malt extract, and are therefore, broadly speaking, more nutritive. Beers of the German type are less heavily hopped and more peptonized than English beers, and more highly charged with carbonic acid, which, owing to the low fermentation and storing temperatures, is retained for a comparatively long time and keeps the beer in condition. On the other hand, infusion beers are of a more stable and stimulating character. It is impossible to keep "lager" beer on draught in the ordinary sense of the term in England. It will not keep unless placed on ice, and, as a matter of fact, the "condition" of lager is dependent to a far greater extent on the methods of distribution and storage than is the case with infusion beers. If a cask is opened it must be rapidly consumed; indeed it becomes undrinkable within a very few hours. The gas escapes rapidly when the pressure is released, the temperature rises, and the beer becomes flat and mawkish. In Germany every publican is bound to have an efficient supply of ice, the latter frequently being delivered by the brewery together with the beer.

In America the common system of brewing is one of infusion mashing combined with bottom fermentation. The method of mashing, however, though on infusion lines, differs appreciably from the English process. A very low initial heat—about 100 deg. F.—at which the mash remains for about an hour, is employed. After this the temperature is rapidly raised to 153-156 deg. F. by running in the boiling "cooker mash," i.e. raw grain wort from the converter. After a period the temperature is gradually increased to about 165 deg. F. The very low initial heat, and the employment of relatively large quantities of readily transformable malt adjuncts, enable the American brewer to make use of a class of malt which would be considered quite unfit for brewing in an English brewery. The system of fermentation is very similar to the continental "lager" system, and the beer obtained bears some resemblance to the German product. To the English palate it is somewhat flavourless, but it is always retailed in exceedingly brilliant condition and at a proper temperature. There can be little doubt that every nation evolves a type of beer most suited to its climate and the temperament of the people, and in this respect the modern American beer is no exception. In regard to plant and mechanical arrangements generally, the modern American breweries may serve as an object-lesson to the European brewer, although there are certainly a number of breweries in the United Kingdom which need not fear comparison with the best American plants.

It is a sign of the times and further evidence as to the growing taste for a lighter type of beer, that lager brewing in its most modern form has now fairly taken root in Great Britain, and in this connexion the process introduced by Messrs Allsopp exhibits many features of interest. The following is a brief description of the plant and the methods employed:—The wort is prepared on infusion lines, and is then cooled by means of refrigerated brine before passing to a temporary store tank, which serves as a gauging vessel. From the latter the wort passes directly to the fermenting tuns, huge closed cylindrical vessels made of sheet-steel and coated with glass enamel. There the wort ferments under reduced pressure, the carbonic acid generated being removed by means of a vacuum pump, and the gas thus withdrawn is replaced by the introduction of cool sterilized air. The fermenting cellars are kept at 40 deg. F. The yeast employed is a pure culture (see FERMENTATION) bottom yeast, but the withdrawal of the products of yeast metabolism and the constant supply of pure fresh air cause the fermentation to proceed far more rapidly than is the case with lager beer brewed on ordinary lines. It is, in fact, finished in about six days. Thereupon the air-supply is cut off, the green beer again cooled to 40 deg. F. and [v.04 p.0512] then conveyed by means of filtered air pressure to the store tanks, where secondary fermentation, lasting three weeks, takes place. The gases evolved are allowed to collect under pressure, so that the beer is thoroughly charged with the carbonic acid necessary to give it condition. Finally the beer is again cooled, filtered, racked and bottled, the whole of these operations taking place under counter pressure, so that no gas can escape; indeed, from the time the wort leaves the copper to the moment when it is bottled in the shape of beer, it does not come into contact with the outer air.

The preparation of the Japanese beer sake (q.v.) is of interest. The first stage consists in the preparation of Koji, which is obtained by treating steamed rice with a culture of Aspergillus oryzae. This micro-organism converts the starch into sugar. The Koji is converted into moto by adding it to a thin paste of fresh-boiled starch in a vat. Fermentation is set up and lasts for 30 to 40 days. The third stage consists in adding more rice and Koji to the moto, together with some water. A secondary fermentation, lasting from 8 to 10 days, ensues. Subsequently the whole is filtered, heated and run into casks, and is then known as sake. The interest of this process consists in the fact that a single micro-organism—a mould—is able to exercise the combined functions of saccharification and fermentation. It replaces the diastase of malted grain and also the yeast of a European brewery. Another liquid of interest is Weissbier. This, which is largely produced in Berlin (and in some respects resembles the wheat-beer produced in parts of England), is generally prepared from a mash of three parts of wheat malt and one part of barley malt. The fermentation is of a symbiotic nature, two organisms, namely a yeast and a fission fungus (the lactic acid bacillus) taking part in it. The preparation of this peculiar double ferment is assisted by the addition of a certain quantity of white wine to the yeast prior to fermentation.

BREWING CHEMISTRY.—The principles of brewing technology belong for the most part to physiological chemistry, whilst those of the cognate industry, malting, are governed exclusively by that branch of knowledge. Alike in following the growth of barley in field, its harvesting, maturing and conversion into malt, as well as the operations of mashing malt, fermenting wort, and conditioning beer, physiological chemistry is needed. On the other hand, the consideration of the saline matter in waters, the composition of the extract of worts and beers, and the analysis of brewing materials and products generally, belong to the domain of pure chemistry. Since the extractive matters contained in wort and beer consist for the most part of the transformation products of starch, it is only natural that these should have received special attention at the hands of scientific men associated with the brewing industry. It was formerly believed that by the action of diastase on starch the latter is first converted into a gummy substance termed dextrin, which is then subsequently transformed into a sugar—glucose. F.A. Musculus, however, in 1860, showed that sugar and dextrin are simultaneously produced, and between the years 1872 and 1876 Cornelius O'Sullivan definitely proved that the sugar produced was maltose. When starch-paste, the jelly formed by treating starch with boiling water, is mixed with iodine solution, a deep blue coloration results. The first product of starch degradation by either acids or diastase, namely soluble starch, also exhibits the same coloration when treated with iodine. As degradation proceeds, and the products become more and more soluble and diffusible, the blue reaction with iodine gives place first to a purple, then to a reddish colour, and finally the coloration ceases altogether. In the same way, the optical rotating power decreases, and the cupric reducing power (towards Fehling's solution) increases, as the process of hydrolysis proceeds. C. O'Sullivan was the first to point out definitely the influence of the temperature of the mash on the character of the products. The work of Horace T. Brown (with J. Heron) extended that of O'Sullivan, and (with G.H. Morris) established the presence of an intermediate product between the higher dextrins and maltose. This product was termed maltodextrin, and Brown and Morris were led to believe that a large number of these substances existed in malt wort. They proposed for these substances the generic name "amyloins." Although according to their view they were compounds of maltose and dextrin, they had the properties of mixtures of these two substances. On the assumption of the existence of these compounds, Brown and his colleagues formulated what is known as the maltodextrin or amyloin hypothesis of starch degradation. C.J. Lintner, in 1891, claimed to have separated a sugar, isomeric with maltose, which is termed isomaltose, from the products of starch hydrolysis. A.R. Ling and J.L. Baker, as well as Brown and Morris, in 1895, proved that this isomaltose was not a homogeneous substance, and evidence tending to the same conclusion was subsequently brought forward by continental workers. Ling and Baker, in 1897, isolated the following compounds from the products of starch hydrolysis—maltodextrin-[alpha], C_{36}H_{62}O_{31}, and maltodextrin-[beta], C_{24}H_{42}O_{21} (previously named by Prior, achroodextrin III.). They also separated a substance, C_{12}H_{22}O_{11}, isomeric with maltose, which had, however, the characteristics of a dextrin. This is probably identical with the so-called dextrinose isolated by V. Syniewski in 1902, which yields a phenylosazone melting at 82-83 deg. C. It has been proved by H. Ost that the so-called isomaltose of Lintner is a mixture of maltose and another substance, maltodextrin, isomeric with Ling and Baker's maltodextrin-[beta].

The theory of Brown and Morris of the degradation of starch, although based on experimental evidence of some weight, is by no means universally accepted. Nevertheless it is of considerable interest, as it offers a rational and consistent explanation of the phenomena known to accompany the transformation of starch by diastase, and even if not strictly correct it has, at any rate, proved itself to be a practical working hypothesis, by which the mashing and fermenting operations may be regulated and controlled. According to Brown and Morris, the starch molecule consists of five amylin groups, each of which corresponds to the molecular formula (C{12}H{20}O{10}){20}. Four of these amylin radicles are grouped centrally round the fifth, thus:—

(C{12}H{20}O{10}){20} (C{12}H{20}O{10}){20} / (C{12}H{20}O{10}){20} / (C{12}H{20}O{10}){20} (C{12}H{20}O{10}){20}

By the action of diastase, this complex molecule is split up, undergoing hydrolysis into four groups of amyloins, the fifth or central group remaining unchanged (and under brewing conditions unchangeable), forming the substance known as stable dextrin. When diastase acts on starch-paste, hydrolysis proceeds as far as the reaction represented by the following equation:—

5(C{12}H{20}O{10}){20} + 80 H2O starch. water. = 80 C{12}H{22}O{11} + (C{12}H{20}O{10}){20} maltose. stable dextrin.

The amyloins are substances containing varying numbers of amylin (original starch or dextrin) groups in conjunction with a proportional number of maltose groups. They are not separable into maltose and dextrin by any of the ordinary means, but exhibit the properties of mixtures of these substances. As the process of hydrolysis proceeds, the amyloins become gradually poorer in amylin and relatively richer in maltose-groups. The final products of transformation, according to Brown and J.H. Millar, are maltose and glucose, which latter is derived from the hydrolysis of the stable dextrin. This theory may be applied in practical brewing in the following manner. If it is desired to obtain a beer of a stable character—that is to say, one containing a considerable proportion of high-type amyloins—it is necessary to restrict the action of the diastase in the mash-tun accordingly. On the other hand, for mild running ales, which are to "condition" rapidly, it is necessary to provide for the presence of sufficient maltodextrin of a low type. Investigation has shown that the type of maltodextrin can be regulated, not only in the mash-tun but also on the malt-kiln. A higher type is obtained by low kiln and high mashing temperatures than by high kiln and low mashing heats, and it is possible therefore to regulate, on scientific lines, not only the quality but also the type of amyloins which are suitable for a particular beer.

The chemistry of the nitrogenous constituents of malt is equally important with that of starch and its transformations. Without nitrogenous compounds of the proper type, vigorous fermentations are not possible. It may be remembered that yeast assimilates nitrogenous compounds in some of their simpler forms—amides and the like. One of the aims of the maltster is, therefore, to break down the protein substances present in barley to such a degree that the wort has a maximum nutritive value for the yeast. Further, it is necessary for the production of stable beer to eliminate a large proportion of nitrogenous matter, and this is only done by the yeast when the proteins are degraded. There is also some evidence that the presence of albumoses assists in producing the foaming properties of beer. It has now been established definitely, by the work of A. Fernbach, W. Windisch, F.Weiss and P. Schidrowitz, that finished malt contains at least two proteolytic enzymes (a peptic and a pancreatic enzyme).



[v.04 p.0513]

The presence of different types of phosphates in malt, and the important influence which, according to their nature, they exercise in the brewing process by way of the enzymes affected by them, have been made the subject of research mainly by Fernbach and A. Hubert, and by P.E. Petit and G. Labourasse. The number of enzymes which are now known to take part in the brewing process is very large. They may with utility be grouped as follows:—

Name. Role or Nature. +- Cytase Dissolves cell walls of of starch granules. In the malt +- Diastase A Liquefies starch or mash-tun. +- Diastase B Saccharifies starch. +- Proteolytic Enzymes -+- (1) Peptic. +- (2) Pancreatic. +- Catalase Splits peroxides.

In fermenting +- Invertase Inverts cane sugar. wort and ——-+- Glucase Splits maltose into glucose. yeast. +- Zymase Splits sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—W.J. Sykes, Principles and Practice of Brewing (London, 1897); Moritz and Morris, A Text-book of the Science of Brewing (London, 1891); H.E. Wright, A Handy Book for Brewers (London, 1897); Frank Thatcher, Brewing and Malting (London, 1898); Julian L. Baker, The Brewing Industry (London, 1905); E.J. Lintner, Grundriss der Bierbrauerei (Berlin, 1904); J.E. Thausing, Die Theorie und Praxis der Malzbereitung und Bierfabrikation (Leipzig, 1898); E. Michel, Lehrbuch der Bierbrauerei (Augsburg, 1900); E. Prior, Chemie u. Physiologie des Malzes und des Bieres (Leipzig, 1896). Technical journals: The Journal of the Institute of Brewing (London); The Brewing Trade Review (London); The Brewers' Journal (London); The Brewers' Journal (New York); Wochenschrift fuer Brauerei (Berlin); Zeitschrift fuer das gesammte Brauwesen (Munich).

(P. S.)

[1] They were classified at 28 lb in 1896, but since 1897 the standard has been at the rate of 32 lb to the bushel.

[2] Inclusive of rice and maize.

[3] Exclusive of rice and maize.

[4] As a rule there is no separate "collecting vessel," duty being assessed in the fermenting vessels.

BREWSTER, SIR DAVID (1781-1868), Scottish natural philosopher, was born on the 11th of December 1781 at Jedburgh, where his father, a teacher of high reputation, was rector of the grammar school. At the early age of twelve he was sent to the university of Edinburgh, being intended for the clerical profession. Even before this, however, he had shown a strong inclination for natural science, and this had been fostered by his intimacy with a "self-taught philosopher, astronomer and mathematician," as Sir Walter Scott called him, of great local fame—James Veitch of Inchbonny, who was particularly skilful in making telescopes. Though he duly finished his theological course and was licensed to preach, Brewster's preference for other pursuits prevented him from engaging in the active duties of his profession. In 1799 he was induced by his fellow-student, Henry Brougham, to study the diffraction of light. The results of his investigations were communicated from time to time in papers to the Philosophical Transactions of London and other scientific journals, and were admirably and impartially summarized by James D. Forbes in his preliminary dissertation to the eighth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The fact that other philosophers, notably Etienne Louis Malus and Augustin Fresnel, were pursuing the same investigations contemporaneously in France does not invalidate Brewster's claim to independent discovery, even though in one or two cases the priority must be assigned to others.

The most important subjects of his inquiries are enumerated by Forbes under the following five heads:—(1) The laws of polarization by reflection and refraction, and other quantitative laws of phenomena; (2) The discovery of the polarizing structure induced by heat and pressure; (3) The discovery of crystals with two axes of double refraction, and many of the laws of their phenomena, including the connexion of optical structure and crystalline forms; (4) The laws of metallic reflection; (5) Experiments on the absorption of light. In this line of investigation the prime importance belongs to the discovery (1) of the connexion between the refractive index and the polarizing angle, (2) of biaxial crystals, and (3) of the production of double refraction by irregular heating. These discoveries were promptly recognized. So early as the year 1807 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon Brewster by Marischal College, Aberdeen; in 1815 he was made a member of the Royal Society of London, and received the Copley medal; in 1818 he received the Rumford medal of the society; and in 1816 the French Institute awarded him one-half of the prize of three thousand francs for the two most important discoveries in physical science made in Europe during the two preceding years. Among the non-scientific public his fame was spread more effectually by his rediscovery about 1815 of the kaleidoscope, for which there was a great demand in both England and America. An instrument of higher interest, the stereoscope, which, though of much later date (1849-1850), may be mentioned here, since along with the kaleidoscope it did more than anything else to popularize his name, was not, as has often been asserted, the invention of Brewster. Sir Charles Wheatstone discovered its principle and applied it as early as 1838 to the construction of a cumbrous but effective instrument, in which the binocular pictures were made to combine by means of mirrors. To Brewster is due the merit of suggesting the use of lenses for the purpose of uniting the dissimilar pictures; and accordingly the lenticular stereoscope may fairly be said to be his invention. A much more valuable practical result of Brewster's optical researches was the improvement of the British lighthouse system. It is true that the dioptric apparatus was perfected independently by Fresnel, who had also the satisfaction of being the first to put it into operation. But it is indisputable that Brewster was earlier in the field than Fresnel; that he described the dioptric apparatus in 1812; that he pressed its adoption on those in authority at least as early as 1820, two years before Fresnel suggested it; and that it was finally introduced into British lighthouses mainly by his persistent efforts.

Brewster's own discoveries, important though they were, were not his only, perhaps not even his chief, service to science. He began literary work in 1799 as a regular contributor to the Edinburgh Magazine, of which he acted as editor at the age of twenty. In 1807 he undertook the editorship of the newly projected Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, of which the first part appeared in 1808, and the last not until 1830. The work was strongest in the scientific department, and many of its most valuable articles were from the pen of the editor. At a later period he was one of the leading contributors to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (seventh and eighth editions), the articles on Electricity, Hydrodynamics, Magnetism, Microscope, Optics, Stereoscope, Voltaic Electricity, &c., being from his pen. In 1819 Brewster undertook further editorial work by establishing, in conjunction with Robert Jameson (1774-1854), the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, which took the place of the Edinburgh Magazine. The first ten volumes (1819-1824) were published under the joint editorship of Brewster and Jameson, the remaining four volumes (1825-1826) being edited by Jameson alone. After parting company with Jameson, Brewster started the Edinburgh Journal of Science in 1824, sixteen volumes of which appeared under his editorship during the years 1824-1832, with very many articles from his own pen. To the transactions of various learned societies he contributed from first to last between three and four hundred papers, and few of his contemporaries wrote so much for the various reviews. In the North British Review alone seventy-five articles of his appeared. A list of his larger separate works will be found below. Special mention, however, must be made of the most important of them all—his biography of Sir Isaac Newton. In 1831 he published a short popular account of the philosopher's life in Murray's Family Library; but it was not until 1855 that he was able to issue the much fuller Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton, a work which embodied the results of more than twenty years' patient investigation of original manuscripts and all other available sources.

Brewster's relations as editor brought him into frequent communication with the most eminent scientific men, and he was naturally among the first to recognize the benefit that would accrue from regular intercourse among workers in the field of science. In an article in the Quarterly Review he threw out a suggestion for "an association of our nobility, clergy, gentry and philosophers," which was taken up by others and found speedy realization in the British Association for the Advancement of [v.04 p.0514] Science. Its first meeting was held at York in 1831; and Brewster, along with Charles Babbage and Sir John F. W. Herschel, had the chief part in shaping its constitution. In the same year in which the British Association held its first meeting, Brewster received the honour of knighthood and the decoration of the Guelphic order of Hanover. In 1838 he was appointed principal of the united colleges of St Salvator and St Leonard, St Andrews. In 1849 he acted as president of the British Association and was elected one of the eight foreign associates of the Institute of France in succession to J.J. Berzelius; and ten years later he accepted the office of principal of the university of Edinburgh, the duties of which he discharged until within a few months of his death, which took place at Allerly, Melrose, on the 10th of February 1868.

In estimating Brewster's place among scientific discoverers the chief thing to be borne in mind is that the bent of his genius was not characteristically mathematical. His method was empirical, and the laws which he established were generally the result of repeated experiment. To the ultimate explanation of the phenomena with which he dealt he contributed nothing, and it is noteworthy in this connexion that if he did not maintain to the end of his life the corpuscular theory he never explicitly adopted the undulatory theory of light. Few will be inclined to dispute the verdict of Forbes:—"His scientific glory is different in kind from that of Young and Fresnel; but the discoverer of the law of polarization of biaxial crystals, of optical mineralogy, and of double refraction by compression, will always occupy a foremost rank in the intellectual history of the age." In addition to the various works of Brewster already noticed, the following may be mentioned:—Notes and Introduction to Carlyle's translation of Legendre's Elements of Geometry (1824); Treatise on Optics (1831); Letters on Natural Magic, addressed to Sir Walter Scott (1831); The Martyrs of Science, or the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler (1841); More Worlds than One (1854).

See The Home Life of Sir David Brewster, by his daughter Mrs Gordon.

BREWSTER, WILLIAM (c. 1566-1644), American colonist, one of the leaders of the "Pilgrims," was born at Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire, England, about 1566. After studying for a short time at Cambridge, he was from 1584 to 1587 in the service of William Davison (? 1541-1608), who in 1585 went to the Low Countries to negotiate an alliance with the states-general and in 1586 became assistant to Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's secretary of state. Upon the disgrace of Davison, Brewster removed to Scrooby, where from 1590 until September 1607 he held the position of "Post," or postmaster responsible for the relays of horses on the post road, having previously, for a short time, assisted his father in that office. About 1602 his neighbours began to assemble for worship at his home, the Scrooby manor house, and in 1606 he joined them in organizing the Separatist church of Scrooby. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1607 (for which he was imprisoned for a short time), he, with other Separatists, removed to Holland in 1608 to obtain greater freedom of worship. At Leiden in 1609 he was chosen ruling elder of the Congregation. In Holland he supported himself first by teaching English and afterwards in 1616-1619, as the partner of one Thomas Brewer, by secretly printing, for sale in England, books proscribed by the English government, thus, says Bradford, having "imploymente inough." In 1619 their types were seized and Brewer was arrested by the authorities of the university of Leiden, acting on the instance of the British ambassador, Sir Dudley Carleton. Brewster, however, escaped, and in the same year, with Robert Cushman (c. 1580-1625), obtained in London, on behalf of his associates, a land patent from the Virginia Company. In 1620 he emigrated to America on the "Mayflower," and was one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony. Here besides continuing until his death to act as ruling elder, he was also—regularly until the arrival of the first pastor, Ralph Smith (d. 1661), in 1629 and irregularly afterward—a "teacher," preaching "both powerfully and profitably to ye great contentment of ye hearers and their comfortable edification." By many he is regarded as pre-eminently the leader of the "Pilgrims." He died, probably on the 10th of April 1644.

See Ashbel Steele's Chief of the Pilgrims; or the Life and Time of William Brewster (Philadelphia, 1857); and a sketch in William Bradford's History of the Plimouth Plantation (new ed., Boston, 1898).

BREZE the name of a noble Angevin family, the most famous member of which was PIERRE DE BREZE (c. 1410-1465), one of the trusted soldiers and statesmen of Charles VII. He had made his name as a soldier in the English wars when in 1433 he joined with Yolande, queen of Sicily, the constable Richmond and others, in chasing from power Charles VII.'s minister La Tremoille. He was knighted by Charles of Anjou in 1434, and presently entered the royal council. In 1437 he became seneschal of Anjou, and in 1440 of Poitou. During the Praguerie he rendered great service to the royal cause against the dauphin Louis and the revolted nobles, a service which was remembered against him after Louis's accession to the throne. He fought against the English in Normandy in 1440-1441, and in Guienne in 1442. In the next year he became chamberlain to Charles VII., and gained the chief power in the state through the influence of Agnes Sorel, superseding his early allies Richmond and Charles of Anjou. The six years (1444-1450) of his ascendancy were the most prosperous period of the reign of Charles VII. His most dangerous opponent was the dauphin Louis, who in 1448 brought against him accusations which led to a formal trial resulting in a complete exoneration of Breze and his restoration to favour. He fought in Normandy in 1450-1451, and became seneschal of the province after the death of Agnes Sorel and the consequent decline of his influence at court. He made an ineffective descent on the English coast at Sandwich in 1457, and was preparing an expedition in favour of Margaret of Anjou when the accession of Louis XI. brought him disgrace and a short imprisonment. In 1462, however, his son Jacques married Louis's half-sister, Charlotte de Valois, daughter of Agnes Sorel. In 1462 he accompanied Margaret to Scotland with a force of 2000 men, and after the battle of Hexham he brought her back to Flanders. On his return he was reappointed seneschal of Normandy, and fell in the battle of Montlhery on the 16th of July 1465. He was succeeded as seneschal of Normandy by his eldest son Jacques de Breze (c. 1440-1490), count of Maulevrier; and by his grandson, husband of the famous Diane de Poitiers, Louis de Breze (d. 1531), whose tomb in Rouen cathedral, attributed to Jean Goujon and Jean Cousin, is a splendid example of French Renaissance work.

The lordship of Breze passed eventually to Claire Clemence de Maille, princess of Conde, by whom it was sold to Thomas Dreux, who took the name of Dreux Breze, when it was erected into a marquisate. HENRI EVRARD, marquis de Dreux-Breze (1762-1829), succeeded his father as master of the ceremonies to Louis XVI. in 1781. On the meeting of the states-general in 1789 it fell to him to regulate the questions of etiquette and precedence between the three estates. That as the immediate representative of the crown he should wound the susceptibilities of the deputies was perhaps inevitable, but little attempt was made to adapt traditional etiquette to changed circumstances. Breze did not formally intimate to President Bailly the proclamation of the royal seance until the 20th of June, when the carpenters were about to enter the hall to prepare for the event, thus provoking the session in the tennis court. After the royal seance Breze was sent to reiterate Louis's orders that the estates should meet separately, when Mirabeau replied that the hall could not be cleared except by force. After the fall of the Tuileries Breze emigrated for a short time, but though he returned to France he was spared during the Terror. At the Restoration he was made a peer of France, and resumed his functions as guardian of an antiquated ceremonial. He died on the 27th of January 1829, when he was succeeded in the peerage and at court by his son Scipion (1793-1845).

The best contemporary account of Pierre de Breze is given in the Chroniques of the Burgundian chronicler, Georges Chastellain, who had been his secretary. Chastellain addressed a Deprecation to Louis XI. on his behalf at the time of his disgrace.

[v.04 p.0515] BRIALMONT, HENRI ALEXIS (1821-1903), Belgian general and military engineer, son of General Laurent Mathieu Brialmont (d. 1885), was born at Venlo in Limburg on the 25th of May 1821. Educated at the Brussels military school, he entered the army as sub-lieutenant of engineers in 1843, and became lieutenant in 1847. From 1847 to 1850 he was private secretary to the war minister, General Baron Chazal. In 1855 he entered the staff corps, became major in 1861, lieutenant-colonel 1864, colonel in 1868 and major-general 1874. In this rank he held at first the position of director of fortifications in the Antwerp district (December 1874), and nine months later he became inspector-general of fortifications and of the corps of engineers. In 1877 he became lieutenant-general. His far-reaching schemes for the fortification of the Belgian places met with no little opposition, and Brialmont seems to have felt much disappointment in this; at any rate he went in 1883 to Rumania to advise as to the fortification works required for the defence of the country, and presided over the elaboration of the scheme by which Bucharest was to be made a first-class fortress. He was thereupon placed en disponibilite in his own service, as having undertaken the Bucharest works without the authorization of his sovereign. This was due in part to the suggestion of Austria, which power regarded the Bucharest works as a menace to herself. His services were, however, too valuable to be lost, and on his return to Belgium in 1884 he resumed his command of the Antwerp military district. He had, further, while in eastern Europe, prepared at the request of the Hellenic government, a scheme for the defence of Greece. He retired in 1886, but continued to supervise the Rumanian defences. He died on the 21st of September 1903.

In the first stage of his career as an engineer Brialmont's plans followed with but slight modification the ideas of Vauban; and his original scheme for fortifying Antwerp provided for both enceinte and forts being on a bastioned trace. But in 1859, when the great entrenched camp at Antwerp was finally taken in hand, he had already gone over to the school of polygonal fortification and the ideas of Montalembert. About twenty years later Brialmont's own types and plans began to stand out amidst the general confusion of ideas on fortification which naturally resulted from the introduction of long-range guns, and from the events of 1870-71. The extreme detached forts of the Antwerp region and the fortifications on the Meuse at Liege and Namur were constructed in accordance with Brialmont's final principles, viz. the lavish use of armour to protect the artillery inside the forts, the suppression of all artillery positions open to overhead fire, and the multiplication of intermediate batteries (see FORTIFICATION AND SIEGECRAFT). In his capacity of inspector-general Brialmont drafted and carried out the whole scheme for the defences of Belgium. He was an indefatigable writer, and produced, besides essays, reviews and other papers in the journals, twenty-three important works and forty-nine pamphlets. In 1850 he originated the Journal de l'armee Belge. His most important publications were La Fortification du temps present (Brussels, 1885); Influence du tir plongeant et des obus-torpilles sur la fortification (Brussels, 1888); Les Regions fortifiees (Brussels, 1890); La Defense des etats et la fortification a la fin du XIX^e siecle (Brussels, 1895); Progres de la defense des etats et de la fortification permanente depuis Vauban (Brussels, 1898).

BRIAN (926-1014), king of Ireland, known as BRIAN BORU, BOROMA, or BOROIMHE (from boroma, an Irish word for tribute), was a son of a certain Kennedy or Cenneide (d. 951). He passed his youth in fighting against the Danes, who were constantly ravaging Munster, the northern part of which district was the home of Brian's tribe, and won much fame in these encounters. In 976 his brother, Mathgamhain or Mahon, who had become king of Thomond about 951 and afterwards king of Munster, was murdered; Brian avenged this deed, became himself king of Munster in 978, and set out upon his career of conquest. He forced the tribes of Munster and then those of Leinster to own his sovereignty, defeated the Danes, who were established around Dublin, in Wicklow, and marched into Dublin, and after several reverses compelled Malachy (Maelsechlainn), the chief king of Ireland, who ruled in Meath, to bow before him in 1002. Connaught was his next objective. Here and also in Ulster he was successful, everywhere he received hostages and tribute, and he was generally recognized as the ardri, or chief king of Ireland. After a period of comparative quiet Brian was again at war with the Danes of Dublin, and on the 23rd of April 1014 his forces gained a great victory over them at Clontarf. After this battle, however, the old king was slain in his tent, and was buried at Armagh. Brian has enjoyed a great and not undeserved reputation. One of his charters is still preserved in Trinity College, Dublin.

See E.A. D'Alton, History of Ireland, vol. i. (1903).

BRIANCON, a strongly fortified town in the department of Hautes-Alpes in S.E. France. It is built at a height of 4334 ft. on a plateau which dominates the junction of the Durance with the Guisane. The town itself is formed of very steep and narrow, though picturesque streets. As it lies at the foot of the descent from the Mont Genevre Pass, giving access to Turin, a great number of fortifications have been constructed on the heights around Briancon, especially towards the east. The Fort Janus is no less than 4000 ft. above the town. The parish church, with its two towers, was built 1703-1726, and occupies a very conspicuous position. The Pont d'Asfeld, E. of the town, was built in 1734, and forms an arch of 131 ft. span, thrown at a height of 184 ft. across the Durance. The modern town extends in the plain at the S.W. foot of the plateau on which the old town is built and forms the suburb of Ste Catherine, with the railway station, and an important silk-weaving factory. Briancon is 511/2 m. by rail from Gap. The commune had a civil population in 1906 of 4883 (urban population 3130), while the permanent garrison was 2641—in all 7524 inhabitants.

Briancon was the Brigantium of the Romans and formed part of the kingdom of King Cottius. About 1040 it came into the hands of the counts of Albon (later dauphins of the Viennois) and thenceforth shared the fate of the Dauphine. The Brianconnais included not merely the upper valley of the Durance (with those of its affluents, the Gyronde and the Guil), but also the valley of the Dora Riparia (Cesanne, Oulx, Bardonneche and Exilles), and that of the Chisone (Fenestrelles, Perouse, Pragelas)—these glens all lying on the eastern slope of the chain of the Alps. But by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) all these valleys were handed over to Savoy in exchange for that of Barcelonnette, on the west slope of the Alps. In 1815 Briancon successfully withstood a siege of three months at the hands of the Allies, a feat which is commemorated by an inscription on one of its gates, Le passe repond de l'avenir.

(W. A. B. C.)

BRIAND, ARISTIDE (1862- ), French statesman, was born at Nantes, of a bourgeois family. He studied law, and while still young took to politics, associating himself with the most advanced movements, writing articles for the anarchist journal Le Peuple, and directing the Lanterne for some time. From this he passed to the Petite Republique, leaving it to found, with Jean Jaures, L'Humanite. At the same time he was prominent in the movement for the formation of labour unions, and at the congress of working men at Nantes in 1894 he secured the adoption of the labour union idea against the adherents of Jules Guesde. From that time, Briand became one of the leaders of the French Socialist party. In 1902, after several unsuccessful attempts, he was elected deputy. He declared himself a strong partisan of the union of the Left in what is known as the Bloc, in order to check the reactionary deputies of the Right. From the beginning of his career in the chamber of deputies, Briand was occupied with the question of the separation of church and state. He was appointed reporter of the commission charged with the preparation of the law, and his masterly report at once marked him out as one of the coming leaders. He succeeded in carrying his project through with but slight modifications, and without dividing the parties upon whose support he relied. He was the principal author of the law of separation, but, not content with preparing it, he wished to apply it as well, especially as the existing Rouvier [v.04 p.0516] ministry allowed disturbances to occur during the taking of inventories of church property, a clause of the law for which Briand was not responsible. Consequently he accepted the portfolio of public instruction and worship in the Sarrien ministry (1906). So far as the chamber was concerned his success was complete. But the acceptance of a portfolio in a bourgeois ministry led to his exclusion from the Unified Socialist party (March 1906). As opposed to Jaures, he contended that the Socialists should co-operate actively with the Radicals in all matters of reform, and not stand aloof to await the complete fulfilment of their ideals.

BRIANZA, a district of Lombardy, Italy, forming the south part of the province of Como, between the two southern arms of the lake of that name. It is thickly populated and remarkable for its fertility; and being hilly is a favourite summer resort of the Milanese.

BRIARE, a town of north-central France in the department of Loiret on the right bank of the Loire, 451/2 m. S.E. of Orleans on the railway to Nevers. Pop. (1906) 4613. Briare, the Brivodorum of the Romans, is situated at the extremity of the Canal of Briare, which unites the Loire and its lateral canal with the Loing and so with the Seine. The canal of Briare was constructed from 1605 to 1642 and is about 36 m. long. The industries include the manufacture of fine pottery, and of so-called porcelain buttons made of felspar and milk by a special process; its inventor, Bapterosses, has a bust in the town. The canal traffic is in wood, iron, coal, building materials, &c. A modern hospital and church, and the hotel de ville installed in an old moated chateau, are the chief buildings. The lateral canal of the Loire crosses the Loire near Briare by a fine canal-bridge 720 yds. in length.

BRIAREUS, or AEGAEON, in Greek mythology, one of the three hundred-armed, fifty-headed Hecatoncheires, brother of Cottus and Gyges (or Gyes). According to Homer (Iliad i. 403) he was called Aegaeon by men, and Briareus by the gods. He was the son of Poseidon (or Uranus) and Gaea. The legends regarding him and his brothers are various and somewhat contradictory. According to the most widely spread myth, Briareus and his brothers were called by Zeus to his assistance when the Titans were making war upon Olympus. The gigantic enemies were defeated and consigned to Tartarus, at the gates of which the three brothers were placed (Hesiod, Theog. 624, 639, 714). Other accounts make Briareus one of the assailants of Olympus, who, after his defeat, was buried under Mount Aetna (Callimachus, Hymn to Delos, 141). Homer mentions him as assisting Zeus when the other Olympian deities were plotting against the king of gods and men (Iliad i. 398). Another tradition makes him a giant of the sea, ruler of the fabulous Aegaea in Euboea, an enemy of Poseidon and the inventor of warships (Schol. on Apoll. Rhod. i. 1165). It would be difficult to determine exactly what natural phenomena are symbolized by the Hecatoncheires. They may represent the gigantic forces of nature which appear in earthquakes and other convulsions, or the multitudinous motion of the sea waves (Mayer, Die Giganten und Titanen, 1887).

BRIBERY (from the O. Fr. briberie, begging or vagrancy, bribe, Mid. Lat. briba, signifying a piece of bread given to beggars; the Eng. "bribe" has passed through the meanings of alms, blackmail and extortion, to gifts received or given in order to influence corruptly). The public offence of bribery may be defined as the offering or giving of payment in some shape or form that it may be a motive in the performance of functions for which the proper motive ought to be a conscientious sense of duty. When this is superseded by the sordid impulses created by the bribe, a person is said to be corrupted, and thus corruption is a term sometimes held equivalent to bribery. The offence may be divided into two great classes—the one where a person invested with power is induced by payment to use it unjustly; the other, where power is obtained by purchasing the suffrages of those who can impart it. It is a natural propensity, removable only by civilization or some powerful counteracting influence, to feel that every element of power is to be employed as much as possible for the owner's own behoof, and that its benefits should be conferred not on those who best deserve them, but on those who will pay most for them. Hence judicial corruption is an inveterate vice of imperfect civilization. There is, perhaps no other crime on which the force of law, if unaided by public opinion and morals, can have so little influence; for in other crimes, such as violence or fraud, there is generally some person immediately injured by the act, who can give his aid in the detection of the offender, but in the perpetration of the offence of bribery all the immediate parties obtain what they desire, and are satisfied.

The purification of the bench from judicial bribery has been gradual in most of the European countries. In France it received an impulse in the 16th century from the high-minded chancellor, Michel de L'Hopital. In England judicial corruption has been a crime of remarkable rarity. Indeed, with the exception of a statute of 1384 (repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1881) there has been no legislation relating to judicial bribery. The earliest recorded case was that of Sir William Thorpe, who in 1351 was fined and removed from office for accepting bribes. Other celebrated cases were those of Michael de la Pole, chancellor of England, in 1387; Lord Chancellor Bacon in 1621; Lionel Cranfield, earl of Middlesex, in 1624; and Sir Thomas Parker, 1st earl of Macclesfield, in 1725. In Scotland for some years after the Revolution the bench was not without a suspicion of interested partiality; but since the beginning of the 19th century, at least, there has been in all parts of the empire a perfect reliance on its purity. The same may be said of the higher class of ministerial officers. There is no doubt that in the period from the Revolution to the end of Queen Anne's reign, when a speaker of the House of Commons was expelled for bribery, and the great Marlborough could not clear his character from pecuniary dishonesty, there was much corruption in the highest official quarters. The level of the offence of official bribery has gradually descended, until it has become an extremely rare thing for the humbler officers connected with the revenue to be charged with it. It has had a more lingering existence with those who, because their power is more of a constitutional than an official character, have been deemed less responsible to the public. During Walpole's administration there is no doubt that members of parliament were paid in cash for votes; and the memorable saying, that every man has his price, has been preserved as a characteristic indication of his method of government. One of the forms in which administrative corruption is most difficult of eradication is the appointment to office. It is sometimes maintained that the purity which characterizes the administration of justice is here unattainable, because in giving a judgment there is but one form in which it can be justly given, but when an office has to be filled many people may be equally fitted for it, and personal motives must influence a choice. It very rarely happens, however, that direct bribery is supposed to influence such appointments. It does not appear that bribery was conspicuous in England until, in the early part of the 18th century, constituencies had thrown off the feudal dependence which lingered among them; and, indeed, it is often said, that bribery is essentially the defect of a free people, since it is the sale of that which is taken from others without payment.