AN ENTERPRISING FIRM

Gisborne Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5539, 22 July 1920, Page 6

AN ENTERPRISING FIRM

* A NEW DEPARTMENT ADDED AT _ T LOCAL BREWERY. MALTING NOW TO BE CARRIED ON IN GISBORNE. FARMERS TO BE ENCOURAGED TO GROW BARLEY.

An important new department lias been added to the Gisborne Brewery by its enterprising proprietors, Messrs D. J. Barry, Ltd. In the past this very, progressive firm has not done its own malt ng. There was no difficulty until the present year in securing ample 'supplies of malt from outside the district, the price was not excessive and regularity of shipment could be depended upon. But to-day the position is very different. Malt now costs 13s 6d per bushel, as against 6s prior to the war, and freights have gone np very considerably, and shipments liave become smaller and much less frequent than hitherto. In the circumstances Messrs D. J. Larry Ltd., recently decided to purchase all the barley “which is required m connection with their ever-growing business and in future the firm will undertake malting at its extensive premises m Aberdeen road. EXTENSIVE NEW BUILDING AND EXTRA PLANT. The introduction of this new and important department has a. considerable amount of In the first place, it has been necessa j to build a capacious malt horse in brick with a superior concrete f 001 providing 3,500 square feet of flom imce The second floor is to be uslu as a barn for the storage of barley and it is estimated that it. will Qtheihold about 3000 bags of b all ej . Gthei plant required in connection w ith .Jhe malting process is a steel (which lias been • supplied bj V r Niven and Coy., Ltd.) a special, kiln'in which to dry the malt and bunfor storage purposes. HOW MALT IS MADE. The process of malting 18 ? th “£ teresting one. lo lx ii . t .lie steep. .Train is drained and ai- «'■ V u Sdistribution of heat, moisture hag the barlqv U is Spread evenly over a section of the. malting fl°*n where during the growing process it turned as required.

NEED FOR THE UTMOST CARE T ],p nex t step in connection with nmltiim is. at the right time, to have the "rain spread in thinner iaiei which has tlie effect of stopping grov tii ml enables the grain to be atr-drieffi after which stage it is referred as malt. Xu turn, tliP n nmlt is transferred to the upper fioor of the drying kiln and spread out on LZnU Hies to a ta.tl.o t™m four to seven mcnes and laigt \olunie. of dry oir are passed through it buV sequentiy the air is shut; off and the temperature is raised to the maximum point for curing. A wise once said that beer is made on the kiln and undoubtedly there is much truth in the statement: hence the caie that must be teen at this as H. mem other stage of the process of nmlt-n a . WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE PROCESS. To the eye there does not appear to be much difference between malted barley and the barley prior to malting. In the course of the malting, however, extensive structural changes have taken place in the grain. When tasted, barley is hard- and has not a tempting flavor. But. after malting the grain is friable and gives a very pleasant aroma and oil being tasted provides a very appetising flavor. In the course of the malting the starch in the grain has been saccharined. After having been cured the malt is cooled, cleaned, graded and stored in air-tight binns.

SPECIAL SEED BARLEY AVAILABLE TO LOCAL FARMERS. Apart from the addition of malting to their business—a departure which w.ll necessitate the employment of several more hands—Mefesrs 1). J. Barry. Ltd., have decided to..lend every encouragement. to local farmers to grow barley inthis district. In the olden days quite a lot of barley was successfully grown in Poverty Bay, and “Farmer” .lones, for example, demonstrated that on the flats Chevalier barley would grow well. As a matter of fact' at one time fairly large quantities of barley were shipped from 11 v"s district. In order to revive barley-growing , here for malting purposes, Messrs D. JBarry, Ltd., have imported a 1 noted quantity of choice seed and they will sell it in small quantities to-local farmers at 12s per bushel —the landed cost. In addition the firm have also a few sacks of seed barley which Sir Thomas Mackenzie got Mack.e and Co., of White Horse Whisky fame, to specially select for the purpose of demonstrating its suitability for malting when grown in New Zealand. FULL MARKET RATES GUARANTEED TO GROWERS. It is hoped that a large number , of local farmers will accept the invitation to plant this season from five to ten acres -of barley suitable for malting purposes. On their part Messrs D. J. Barry, Ltd., undertake to buy any such crops and pay the highest market price, providing the sample is suitable wr malting. Chevalier barley is claimed to be worth from 25 to 30 per cent, above the value of Cape barley. Messrs 1). J. Barrv, Ltd., are anxious to get. the whole of their supplies of malting barley grown in this district, and the. firm is to he heartily commended on its enterprise in this direction. In addition to growing barley suitable for maTtTng purposes in this district there is no reason why hops should not. also be grown, as was demonstrated by Mr Boniface, who grew hops most successfully at Ormond many years ago. It is also“ understood that Mr J. Witty grew hops very successfully at V airoa rn the early days and sent at least on* trial shipment to London.