Berliner Weissbier - the long version (part 3)

Here's the next exciting installment of Weissbier from "Die Herstellung Obergähriger Biere" by Schönfeld, published in 1902. Hey you at the back! I can see your eyelids drooping. Stay awake.

Not Boiling the Wort
Two reasons are usually given for not boiling the wort:

1. So that the lactobacillus necessary to make Weissbier sour which is in the malt isn't killed during mashing. But Schönfelds own bacteriological investigation shows that a normal mash at 76.25º C is enough to kill all the yeast and bacteria in the malt. Also, he was unable to find lactobacillus in the spent grains or wort. He concludes concludes that the lactobacillus in the fermentation does not come from the malt.
2. That a boiled wort tastes different from an unboiled wort. This is true, but he doubts if a short boil of 15 minutes changes the flavour much. If it were true, Weissbier brewed using an infusion mash would taste different from one using a decoction mash where part of the wort is boiled for 15 to 20 minutes. But there isn't a detectable difference between decoction and infusion Weissbier. Boiling for 2 -3 hours, as for a Lagerbier, would change the flavour appreciably. 15 to 20 minutes boiling doesn't. In a test carries out at the Institute of Gährungsgewerbe, experienced Weissbier drinkers couldn't tell the difference betweeen beers witth no boil and those where a short boil was employed. Boiling also aids head retention by destroting the enzymes before fermentation starts.

Tomorrow, we finally get to fermentation.