soaked, partly sprouted cereal grain comes from an Indo-European root meaning “soft.” Words that are related to malt include melt, mollusc (p 226), and mollify Lager From the times of Egypt and Sumeria to the Middle Ages, brewers made beer without much control over the temperature of fermentation, and with yeasts that grew at the surface of the liquid The beer fermented in a few days, and it was consumed within days or weeks Sometime around 1400, in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, there evolved a new kind of beer It was fermented in cool caves over the period of a week or more, and with a special yeast that grew below the surface of the liquid Then it was packed in ice for several months before it was drawn off the yeast sediment for drinking The cool, slow fermentation gave the beer a distinctive, relatively mild flavor, and the cold temperature and long settling time produced a sparkling-clear appearance This lager beer (from the German lagern, “to store,” “to lay down”) remained distinctly Bavarian until the 1840s, when the special yeast and techniques were taken to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, to Copenhagen, and to the United States, and became the prototype of most modern beers England and Belgium are the only major producers that still brew most of their beer in the original way, at warm temperatures and with top-fermenting yeasts England: Bottles and Bubbles, Specialty Malts The English were late to accept hops, but pioneered in the making of bottled beer Ordinary ale — the original English word for beer — was fermented in an open tank, and like wine it lost all its carbon dioxide to the air: the bubbles simply rose to the surface and burst Some residual yeast might grow while the liquid was stored in a barrel, but it would lose its light gassiness as soon as the barrel was tapped Sometime around 1600, it was ... Copenhagen, and to the United States, and became the prototype of most modern beers England and Belgium are the only major producers that still brew most of their beer in the original way, at warm temperatures and. .. the original way, at warm temperatures and with top-fermenting yeasts England: Bottles and Bubbles, Specialty Malts The English were late to accept hops, but pioneered in the making of bottled beer Ordinary ale — the original English word for... fermented in an open tank, and like wine it lost all its carbon dioxide to the air: the bubbles simply rose to the surface and burst Some residual yeast might grow while the liquid was stored in a barrel, but it would