Here's a summary of what they have to say about malt and malting.
The Brewers (Malt Purchases) Order, 1917. Dated February 3rd 1917. Order 1917 no. 132.
Prohibited maltsters from selling malt without the permission of the Food Controller. Brewers were prohibited from buying or making malt.
"1. Except under the authority of the Food Controller no maltster or dealer in malt shall on or after the 10th February, 1917, agree to sell any malt to any brewer for sale or make delivery to any brewer for sale of any malt other than deliverable under contracts made before that date.
2. Except under the authority of the Food Controller, no brewer for sale shall on or after the 10th February, 1917, agree to buy any malt or take delivery of any malt other than deliverable under contracts made before that date.
3. Except under the authority of the Food Controller, no brewer for sale shall manufacture any malt from barley agreed to be bought on or after the 10th February, 1917."
The Malt (Restriction) Order, 1917. Dated February 20, 1917. Order 1917 no. 159.Prohibited maltsters from making malt from any grains without the permission of the Food Controller.
The Malt (Restriction on Shipping) Order, 1917. Dated March 21, 1917. Order 1917 no. 259.
Prohibited exporting malt from Ireland to Great Britain or from Great Britain to Ireland without permission of the Food Controller.
The Malt (Restriction) No. 2 Order, 1917. Dated April 12, 1917. Order 1917 no. 345.
Prohibited maltsters from making malt from any grains without the permission of the Food Controller.
Prohibited maltsters from selling malt without the permission of the Food Controller.
Prohibited the use of malt for any purpose without the permission of the Food Controller, except for brewers making their premitted barrelage.
The Malt (Restriction) Order, 1917. Dated February 26, 1918. Order 1918 no. 225.
Prohibited maltsters from making malt or malt extract without the permission of the Food Controller.
Prohibited maltsters from selling malt without the permission of the Food Controller.
Prohibited the use of malt or malt extract for any purpose without the permission of the Food Controller, except for brewers making their premitted barrelage.
Order, Dated the 30th December, 1918, revoking the The Malt (Restriction on Shipping) Order, 1917. Order 1918 no. 1755.
Revoked Order 1917 no. 259.
Now wasn't that fun? No sign of any rules forbidding the manufacture of dark malt. I wonder where they could be hiding?
What interests me about beer myths is how they start. As I said in the discussion on the 'IPA had to be hoppy and strong to make it to India' myth, I think the usual answer is that people work back from a particular product and speculate why it's like that. The dominance of porter in Ireland is therefore explained by reference to the taste of Guinness rather than to contemporary sources.
ReplyDeleteI was interested in the reference in the orders to black beer and spruce beer. Black beer must have been the Yorkshire, Mathers type of beer, still made I think, which seems a derivative of the Middle Ages beer known as mum or mumme, something of a pan-European in its day. Spruce beer pops up in various kitchen literature and brewing manuals of the 1800's and earlier. Both these types must have had sufficient currency circa-1915 to warrant being mentioned.
ReplyDeleteSpruce beer was formerly popular in Quebec. There were two types, alcoholic and non-. By my time, the alcoholic one had disappeared but possibly was being made unofficially in some rural areas. It had a sharp, resiny, pine-like taste. When I first tasted North American microbrews 25 years ago the taste often reminded me of those spruce beers.
I cannot recall reading that the French provinces in France ever had such things and I wonder if they came in with the influx of Britishers after England took Quebec in the 1770's, hard to say.
Gary