When Hops have been dear, many have used the Seeds of Wormwood, the they buy in the London Seed Shops instead of them: Others Daucus or wild Carrot Seed, that grows in our common Fields, which many of the poor People in this Country gather and dry in their Houses against their wanting of them: Others that wholsome Herb h.o.r.ehound, which indeed is a fine Bitter and grows on several of our Commons.
But before I conclude this Article, I shall take notice of a Country Bite, as I have already done of a London one, and that is, of an Arch Fellow that went about to Brew for People, and took his opportunity to save all the used Hops that were to be thrown away, these he washed clean, then would dry them in the Sun, or by the Fire, and sprinkle the juice of h.o.r.ehound on them, which would give them such a greenish colour and bitterish taste, that with the help of the Screw-press he would sell them for new Hops.
Hops in themselves are known to be a subtil grateful Bitter, whose Particles are Active and Rigid, by which the viscid ramous parts of the Malt are much divided, that makes the Drink easy of Digestion in the Body; they also keep it from running into such Cohesions as would make it ropy, valid and sour, and therefore are not only of great use in boiled, but in raw worts to preserve them sound till they can be put into the Copper, and afterwards in the Tun while the Drink is working, as I have before hinted.
Here then I must observe, that the worser earthy part of the Hop is greatly the cause of that rough, harsh unpleasant taste, which accompany both Ales and Beers that have the Hops so long boiled in them as to tincture their worts with their, mischievous Effects; for notwithstanding the Malt, be ever so good, the Hops, if boiled too long in them, will be so predominant as to cause a nasty bad taste, and therefore I am in hopes our Malt Liquors in general will be in great Perfection, when Hops are made use of according to my Directions, and also that more Grounds will be planted with this most serviceable Vegetable than ever, that their Dearness may not be a disencouragement to this excellent Practice.
For I know an Alehouse-keeper and Brewer, who, to save the expence of Hops that were then two Shillings per Pound, use but a quartern instead of a Pound, the rest he supplied with Daucus Seeds; but to be more particular, in a Mug of this Person"s Ale I discovered three several Impositions. First, He underboil"d his Wort to save its Consumption: Secondly, He boiled this Seed instead of the Hop; and Thirdly, He beat the Yeast in for some time to encrease the strength of the Drink; and all these in such a Legerdemain manner as gull"d and infatuated the ignorant Drinker to such a degree as not to suspect the Fraud, and that for these three Reasons: First, The underboil"d wort being of a more sweet taste than ordinary, was esteemed the Produce of a great allowance of Malt. Secondly, The Daucus Seed encreased their approbation by the fine Peach flavour or relish that it gives the Drink; and Thirdly, The Yeast was not so much as thought of, since they enjoyed a strong heady Liquor. These artificial Qualities, and I think I may say unnatural, has been so prevalent with the Vulgar, who were his chief Customers, that I have known this Victualler have more Trade for such Drink than his Neighours, who had much more wholsome at the same time; for the Daucus Seed tho" it is a Carminative, and has some other good Properties, yet in the unboil"d Wort it is not capable of doing the Office of the Hop, in breaking thro" the clammy parts of it; the Hop being full of subtil penetrating Qualities, a Strengthener of the Stomach, and makes the Drink agreeble, by opposing Obstructions of the Viscera, and particularly of the Liver and Kidneys, as the Learned maintain, which confutes the old Notion, that Hops are a Breeder of the Stone in the Bladder.
CHAP. XI.
Of Boiling Malt Liquors.
Altho" I have said an Hour and a half is requisite for boiling October Beer, and an Hour for Ales and small Beer; yet it is to be observed, that an exact time is not altogether a certain Rule in this Case with some Brewers; for when loose Hops are boiled in the wort so long till they all sink, their Seeds will arise and fall down again; the wort also will be curdled, and broke into small Particles if examin"d in a Hand-bowl, but afterwards into larger, as big as great Pins heads, and will appear clean and fine at the Top. This is so much a Rule with some, that they regard not Time but this Sign to shew when the Wort is boiled enough; and this will happen sooner or later according to the Nature of the Barley and its being well Malted; for if it comes off Chalks or Gravels, it generally has the good Property of breaking or curdling soon; but if of tough Clays, then it is longer, which by some Persons is not a little valued, because it saves time in boiling, and consequently the Consumption of the Wort.
It is also to be observed, that pale Malt Worts will not break so soon in the Copper, as the brown Sorts, but when either of their Worts boil, it should be to the purpose, for then they will break sooner and waste less than if they are kept Simmering, and will likewise work more kindly in the Tun, drink smoother, and keep longer.
Now all Malt Worts may be spoiled by too little or too much boiling; if too little, then the Drink will always taste raw, mawkish, and be unwholsome in the Stomach, where, instead of helping to dilute and digest our Food, it will cause Obstructions, Colicks, Head-achs, and other misfortunes; besides, all such underboil"d Drinks are certainly exposed to staleness and sowerness, much sooner than those that have had their full time in the Copper. And if they are boiled too long, they will then thicken (for one may boil a Wort to a Salve) and not come out of the Copper fine and in a right Condition, which will cause it never to be right clear in the Barrel; an Item sufficient to shew the mistake of all those that think to excel in Malt Liquors, by boiling them two or three Hours, to the great Confusion of the Wort, and doing more harm than good to the Drink.
But to be more particular in those two Extreams, it is my Opinion, as I have said before, that no Ale Worts boiled less than an Hour can be good, because in an Hour"s time they cannot acquire a thickness of Body any ways detrimental to them, and in less than an Hour the ramous viscid parts of the Ale cannot be sufficiently broke and divided, so as to prevent it running into Cohesions, Ropyness and Sowerness, because in Ales there are not Hops enough allowed to do this, which good boiling must in a great measure supply, or else such Drink I am sure can never be agreeable to the Body of Man; for then its cohesive Parts being not thoroughly broke and comminuted by time and boiling, remains in a hard texture of Parts, which consequently obliges the Stomach to work more than ordinary to digest and secrete such parboiled Liquor, that time and fire should have cured before: Is not this apparent in half boil"d Meats, or under-bak"d Bread, that often causes the Stomach a great fatigue to digest, especially in those of a sedentary Life; and if that suffers, "tis certain the whole Body must share in it: How ignorant then are those People, who, in tipling of such Liquor, can praise it for excellent good Ale, as I have been an eye-witness of, and only because its taste is sweetish, (which is the nature of such raw Drinks) as believing it to be the pure Effects of the genuine Malt, not perceiving the Landlord"s Avarice and Cunning to save the Consumption of his Wort by shortness of boiling, tho" to the great Prejudice of the Drinker"s Health; and because a Liquid does not afford such a plain ocular Demonstration, as Meat and Bread does, these deluded People are taken into an Approbation of indeed an Ignis fatuus, or what is not.
To come then to the Crisis of the Matter, both Time and the Curdling or Breaking of the Wort should be consulted; for if a Person was to boil the Wort an Hour, and then take it out of the Copper, before it was rightly broke, it would be wrong management, and the Drink would not be fine nor wholsome; and if it should boil an Hour and a half, or two Hours, without regarding when its Particles are in a right order, then it may be too thick, so that due Care must be had to the two extreams to obtain it its due order; therefore in October and keeping Beers, an Hour and a quarter"s good boiling is commonly sufficient to have a thorough cured Drink, for generally in that time it will break and boil enough, and because in this there is a double Security by length of boiling, and a quant.i.ty of Hops shifted; but in the new way there is only a single one, and that is by a double or treble allowance of fresh Hops boiled only half an Hour in the Wort, and for this Practice a Reason is a.s.signed, that the Hops being endowed with discutient apertive Qualities, will by them and their great quant.i.ty supply the Defect of underboiling the Wort; and that a further Conveniency is here enjoyed by having only the fine wholsome strong flowery spirituous Parts of the Hop in the Drink, exclusive of the phlegmatick nasty earthy Parts which would be extracted if the Hops were to be boiled above half an Hour; and therefore there are many now, that are so attach"d to this new Method, that they won"t brew Ale or October Beer any other way, vouching it to be a true Tenet, that if Hops are boiled above thirty Minutes, the wort will have some or more of their worser Quality. The allowance of Hops for Ale or Beer, cannot be exactly adjusted without coming to Particulars, because the Proportion should be according to the nature and quality of the Malt, the Season of the Year it is brew"d in, and the length of time it is to be kept.
For strong brown Ale brew"d in any of the Winter Months, and boiled an Hour, one Pound is but barely sufficient for a Hogshead, if it be Tapp"d in three Weeks or a Month.
If for pale Ale brewed at that time and for that Age, one Pound and a quarter of Hops; but if these Ales are brewed in any of the Summer Months, there should be more Hops allowed.
For October or March brown Beer, a Hogshead made from Eleven Bushels of Malt, boiled an Hour and a quarter to be kept Nine Months, three Pounds and a half ought to be boiled in such Drink at the least.
For October or March, pale Beer made from fourteen Bushels, boiled an Hour and a quarter, and kept Twelve Months, six Pound ought to be allowed to a Hogshead of such Drink, and more if the Hops are shifted in two Bags, and less time given the Wort to boil.
Now those that are of Opinion, that their Beer and Ales are greatly improved by boiling the Hops only half an Hour in the Wort, I joyn in Sentiment with them, as being very sure by repeated Experience it is so; but I must here take leave to dissent from those that think that half an Hour"s boiling the Wort is full enough for making right sound and well relished Malt Drinks; however of this I have amply and more particularly wrote in my Second Book of Brewing in Chapter IV, where I have plainly publish"d the true Sign or Criterion to know when the Wort is boiled just enough, and which I intend to publish in a little time.
CHAP. XII.
Of Foxing or Tainting Malt Liquors.
Foxing is a misfortune, or rather a Disease in Malt Drinks, occasioned by divers Means, as the Nastiness of the Utensils, putting the Worts too thick together in the Backs or Cooler, Brewing too often and soon one after another, and sometimes by bad Malts and Waters, and the Liquors taken in wrong Heats, being of such pernicious Consequence to the great Brewer in particular, that he sometimes cannot recover and bring his Matters into a right Order again under a Week or two, and is so hateful to him in its very Name, that it is a general Law among them to make all Servants that Name the word Fox or Foxing, in the Brewhouse to pay Sixpence, which obliges them to call it Reynards; for when once the Drink is Tainted, it may be smelt at some Distance somewhat like a Fox; It chiefly happens in hot weather, and causes the Beer and Ale so Tainted to acquire a fulsome sickish taste, that will if it is receive"d in a great degree become Ropy like Treacle, and in some short time turn Sour. This I have known so to surprize my small Beer Customers, that they have asked the Drayman what was the matter: He to act in his Master"s Interest tells them a Lye, and says it is the goodness of the Malt that causes that sweetish mawkish taste, and then would brag at Home how cleverly he came off. I have had it also in the Country more than once, and that by the idleness and ignorance of my Servant, who when a Tub has been rinced out only with fair Water, has set it by for a clean one but this won"t do with a careful Master for I oblige him to clean the Tub with a Hand-brush, Ashes, or Sand every Brewing, and so that I cannot sc.r.a.pe any Dirt up under my Nail. However as the Cure of this Disease has baffled the Efforts of many, I have been tempted to endeavour the finding out a Remedy for the great Malignity, and shall deliver the best I know on this Score.
And here I shall mention the great Value of the Hop in preventing and curing the Fox in Malt Liquors. When the Wort is run into the Tub out of the mashing Vat, it is a very good way to throw some Hops directly into it before it is put into the Copper, and they will secure it against Sourness and Ropyness, that are the two Effects of fox"d Worts or Drinks, and is of such Power in this respect, that raw Worts may be kept some time, even, in hot weather, before they are boiled, and which is necessary; where there is a large Quant.i.ty of Malt used to a little Copper; but it is certain that the stronger Worts will keep longer with Hops than the smaller Sorts: So likewise if a Person has fewer Tubs than is wanting, and he is apprehensive his Worts will be Fox"d by too thick lying in the Coolers or working Tubs, then it will be a safe way to put some fresh Hops into such Tubs and work them with the Yeast as I have before hinted; or in case the Drink is already Foxed in the Fat or Tun, new Hops should be put in and work"d with it, and they will greatly fetch it again into a right Order; but then such Drink should be carefully taken clear off from its gross nasty Lee, which being mostly Tainted, would otherwise lye in the Barrel, corrupt and make it worse.
Some will sift quick Lime into foxed Drinks while they are working in the Tun or Vat, that its Fire and Salts may break the Cohesions of the Beer or Ale, and burn away the stench, that the Corruption would always cause; but then such Drink should by a Peg at the bottom of the Vat be drawn off as fine as possible, and the Dregs left behind.
There are many that do not conceive how their Drinks become Fox"d and Tainted for several Brewings together; but I have in Chapter VI, in my Second Book, made it appear, that the Taint is chiefly retain"d and lodged in the upright wooden Pins that fasten the Planks to the Joists, and how scalding Lye is a very efficacious Liquor to extirpate it out of the Utensils in a little time if rightly applied; and one other most powerful Ingredient that is now used by the greatest Artists for curing of the same.
CHAP. XIII
Of fermenting and working of Beers and Ales, and the pernicious Practice of Beating in the Yeast detected.
This Subject in my Opinion has, long wanted a Satyrical Pen to shew the ill Effects of this unwholsome Method, which I suppose has been much discouraged and hindered hitherto, from the general use it has been under many Years, especially by the Northern Brewers, who tho" much famed for their Knowledge in this Art, and have induced many others by their Example in the Southern and other Parts to pursue their Method; yet I shall endeavour to prove them culpable of Male-practice, that beat in the Yeast, as some of them have done a Week together; and that Custom ought not to Authorize an ill Practice. First, I shall observe that Yeast is a very strong acid, that abounds with subtil spirituous Qualities, whose Particles being wrapped up in those that are viscid, are by a mixture with them in the Wort, brought into an intestine Motion, occasion"d by Particles of different Gravities; for as the spirituous Parts of the Wort will be continually striving to get up to the Surface, the glutinous adhesive ones of the Yeast will be as constant in r.e.t.a.r.ding their a.s.sent, and so prevent their Escape; by which the spirituous Particles are set loose and free from their viscid Confinements, as may appear by the Froth on the Top, and to this end a moderate warmth hastens the Operation, as it a.s.sists in opening the viscidities in which some spirituous Parts may be entangled, and unbends the Spring of the included Air: The viscid Parts which are raised to the Top, not only on account of their own lightness, but by the continual efforts and occursions of the Spirits to get uppermost, shew when the ferment is at the highest, and prevent the finer Spirits making their escape; but if this intestine Operation is permitted to continue too long, a great deal will get away, and the remaining grow flat and vapid, as Dr. Quincy well observes. Now tho" a small quant.i.ty of Yeast is necessary to break the Band of Corruption in the Wort, yet it is in itself of a poisonous Nature, as many other Acids are; for if a Plaister of thick Yeast be applied to the Wrist as some have done for an Ague, it will there raise little Pustules or Blisters in some degree like that Venomous! (As I have just reason in a particular Sense to call it) Ingredient Cantharide, which is one of the Shop Poisons. Here then I shall observe, that I have known several beat the Yeast into the Wort for a Week or more together to improve it, or in plainer terms to load the Wort with its weighty and strong spirituous Particles; and that for two Reasons, First, Because it will make the Liquor so heady, that five Bushels of Malt may be equal in strength to six, and that by the stupifying Narcotick Qualities of the Yeast; which mercenary subtilty and imposition has so prevailed to my Knowledge with the Vulgar and Ignorant, that it has caused many of them to return the next Day to the same Alehouse, as believing they had stronger and better Drink than others: But alas, how are such deceived that know no other than that it is the pure Product of the Malt, when at the same time they are driving Nails into their Coffins, by impregnating their Blood with the corrupt Qualities of this poisonous acid, as many of its Drinkers have proved, by suffering violent Head-achs, loss of Appet.i.te, and other Inconveniencies the Day following, and sometimes longer, after a Debauch of such Liquor; who would not perhaps for a great reward swallow a Spoonful of thick Yeast by itself, and yet without any concern may receive for ought they know several, dissolved in the Vehicle of Ale, and then the corrosive Corpuscles of the Yeast being mix"d with the Ale, cannot fail (when forsaken in the Ca.n.a.ls of the Body of their Vehicle) to do the same mischief as they would if taken by themselves undiluted, only with this difference, that they may in this Form be carried sometimes further in the animal Frame, and so discover their malignity in some of the inmost recesses thereof, which also is the very Case of malignant Waters, as a most learned Doctor observes.
Secondly, They alledge for beating the Yeast into Wort, that it gives it a fine tang or relish, or as they call it at London, it makes the Ale bite of the Yeast; but this flourish indeed is for no other reason than to further its Sale, and tho" it may be agreeable to some Bigots, to me it proves a discovery of the infection by its nauseous taste; however my surprize is lessen"d, when I remember the Plymouth People, who are quite the reverse of them at Dover and Chatham; for the first are so attach"d to their white thick Ale, that many have undone themselves by drinking it; nor is their humour much different as to the common Brewers brown Ale, who when the Customer wants a Hogshead, they immediately put in a Handful of Salt and another of Flower, and so bring it up, this is no sooner on the Stilling but often Tapp"d, that it may carry a Froth on the Top of the Pot, otherwise they despise it: The Salt commonly answered its End of causing the Tiplers to become dryer by the great Quant.i.ties they drank, that it farther excited by the biting pleasant stimulating quality the Salt strikes the Palate with. The Flower also had its seducing share by pleasing the Eye and Mouth with its mantling Froth, so that the Sailors that are often here in great Numbers used to consume many Hogsheads of this common Ale with much delight, as thinking it was intirely the pure Product of the Malt.
Their white Ale is a clear Wort made from pale Malt, and fermented with what they call ripening, which is a Composition, they say, of the Flower of Malt, Yeast and Whites of Eggs, a Nostrum made and sold only by two or three in those Parts, but the Wort is brewed and the Ale vended by many of the Publicans; which is drank while it is fermenting in Earthen Steens, in such a thick manner as resembles b.u.t.ter"d Ale, and sold for Twopence Halfpenny the full Quart. It is often prescribed by Physicians to be drank by wet Nurses for the encrease of their Milk, and also as a prevalent Medicine for the Colick and Gravel. But the Dover and Chatham People won"t drink their b.u.t.t-Beer, unless it is Aged, fine and strong.
Of working and fermenting London Stout Beer and Ale.
In my Brewhouse at London, the Yeast at once was put into the Tun to work the Stout Beer and Ale with, as not having the Conveniency of doing otherwise, by reason the After-worts of small Beer comes into the same Backs or Coolers where the strong Worts had just been, by this means, and the shortness of time we have to ferment our strong Drinks, we cannot make Reserves of cold Worts to mix with and check the too forward working of those Liquors, for there we brewed three times a Week throughout the Year, as most of the great ones do in London, and some others five times. The strong Beer brewed for keeping is suffered to be Blood-warm in the Winter when the Yeast is put into it, that it may gradually work two Nights and a Day at least, for this won"t admit of such a hasty Operation as the common brown Ale will, because if it is work"d too warm and hasty, such Beer won"t keep near so long as that fermented cooler. The brown Ale has indeed its Yeast put into it in the Evening very warm, because they carry it away the very next Morning early to their Customers, who commonly draw it out in less than a Week"s time. The Pale or Amber Ales are often kept near it, not quite a Week under a fermentation, for the better incorporating the Yeast with Wort, by beating it in several times for the foregoing Reasons.
Of working or fermenting Drinks brewed by Private Families.
I mean such who Brew only for their own use, whether it be a private Family or a Victualler. In this Case be it for Stout Beers, or for any of the Ales; the way that is used in Northamptonshire, and by good Brewers elsewhere; is, to put some Yeast into a small quant.i.ty of warm Wort in a Hand-bowl, which for a little while swims on the Top, where it works out and leisurely mixes with the Wort, that is first quite cold in Summer, and almost so in Winter; for the cooler it is work"d the longer it will keep, too much Heat agitating the spirituous Particles into too quick a motion, whereby they spend themselves too fast, or fly away too soon, and then the Drink will certainly work into a blister"d Head that is never natural; but when it ferments by moderate degrees into a fine white curl"d Head, its Operation is then truly genuine, and plainly shews the right management of the Brewer. To one Hogshead of Beer, that is to be kept nine Months, I put a Quart of thick Yeast, and ferment it as cool as it will admit of, two Days together, in October or March, and if I find it works too fast, I check it at leisure by stirring in some raw Wort with a Hand-bowl: So likewise in our Country Ales we take the very same method, because of having them keep some time, and this is so nicely observed by several, that I have seen them do the very same by their small Beer Wort; now by these several Additions of raw Wort, there are as often new Commotions raised in the Beer or Ale, which cannot but contribute to the rarefaction and comminution of the whole; but whether it is by these joining Principles of the Wort and Yeast, that the Drink is rendered smoother, or that the spirituous Parts are more entangled and kept from making their Escape, I can"t determine; yet sure it is, that such small Liquors generally sparkle and knit out of the Barrel as others out of a Bottle, and is as pleasant Ale as ever I drank.
Others again for b.u.t.t or Stout Beer will, when they find it works up towards a thick Yeast, mix it once and beat it in again with the Hand-bowl or Jett; and when it has work"d up a second time in such a manner, they put it into the Vessel with the Yeast on the Top and the Sediments at Bottom, taking particular Care to have some more in a Tub near the Cask to fill it up as it works over, and when it has done working, leave it with a thick Head of Yeast on to preserve it.
But for Ale that is not to be kept very long, they Hop it accordingly, and beat the Yeast in every four or five Hours for two Days successively in the warm weather, and four in the Winter till the Yeast begins to work heavy and sticks to the hollow part of the Bowl, if turned down on the same, then they take all the Yeast off at Top and leave all the Dregs behind, putting only up the clear Drink, and when it is a little work"d in the Barrel, it will be fine in a few Days and ready for drinking. But this, last way of beating in the Yeast too long, I think I have sufficiently detected, and hope, as it is how declining, it will never revive again, and for which reason I have in my second Book encouraged all light fermentations, as the most natural for the Malt Liquor and the human Body.
Of forwarding and r.e.t.a.r.ding the fermentation of malt Liquors.
In case Beer or Ale is backward in working, it is often practised to cast some Flower out of the Dusting Box, or with the Hand over the Top of the Drink, which will become a sort of Crust or Cover to help to keep the Cold out: Others will put in one or two Ounces of powder"d Ginger, which will so heat the Wort as to bring it forward: Others will take a Gallon Stone Bottle and fill it with boiling water, which being well Cork"d, is put into the working Tub, where it will communicate a gradual Heat for some time and forward the fermentation: Others will reserve some raw Wort, which they heat and mix with the rest, but then due Care must be taken that the Pot in which it is heated has no manner of Grease about it lest it impedes, instead of promoting the working, and for this reason some nice Brewers will not suffer a Candle too near the Wort, lest it drop into it. But for r.e.t.a.r.ding and keeping back any Drink that is too much heated in working, the cold raw Wort, as I have said before, is the most proper of any thing to check it with, tho" I have known some to put one or more Pewter Dishes into it for that purpose, or it may be broke into several other Tubs, where by its shallow lying it will be taken off its Fury. Others again, to make Drink work that is backward, will take the whites of two Eggs and beat them up with half a Quartern of good Brandy, and put it either into the working Vat, or into the Cask, and it will quickly bring it forward if a warm Cloth is put over the Bung. Others will tye up Bran in a coa.r.s.e thin Cloth and put it into the Vat, where by its spungy and flowery Nature and close Bulk it will absorp a quant.i.ty of the Drink, and breed a heat to forward its working. I know an Inn-keeper of a great Town in Bucks that is so curious as to take off all the top Yeast first, and then by a Peg near the bottom of his working Tub, he draws off the Beer or Ale, so that the Dreggs are by this means left behind. This I must own is very right in Ales that are to be drank soon, but in Beers that are to lye nine or twelve Months in a b.u.t.t or other Cask, there certainly will be wanted some Feces or Sediment for the Beer to feed on, else it must consequently grow hungry, sharp and eager; and therefore if its own top and bottom are not put into a Cask with the Beer, some other Artificial Composition or Lee should supply its Place, that is wholsomer, and will better feed with such Drink than its own natural Settlement, and therefore I have here inserted several curious Receipts for answering this great End.
CHAP. XIV.
Of an Artificial Lee for Stout or Stale Beer to feed on.
This Article, as it is of very great Importance in the curing of our malt Liquors, requires a particular regard to this last management of them, because in my Opinion the general misfortune of the b.u.t.t or keeping Beers drinking so hard and harsh, is partly owing to the nasty foul Feces that lye at the bottom of the Cask, compounded of the Sediments of Malt, Hops and Yeast, that are, all Clogg"d with gross rigid Salts, which by their long lying in the b.u.t.t or other Vessel, so tinctures the Beer as to make it partake of all their raw Natures: For such is the Feed, such is the Body, as may be perceived by Eels taken out of dirty Bottoms, that are sure to have a muddy taste, when the Silver sort that are catched in Gravelly or Sandy clear Rivers Eat sweet and fine: Nor can this ill property be a little in those Starting (as they call it in London) new thick Beers that were carry"d directly from my Brewhouse, and by a Leather Pipe or Spout conveyed into the b.u.t.t as they stood in the Cellar, which I shall further demonstrate by the Example of whole Wheat, that is, by many put into such Beer to feed and preserve it, as being reckoned a substantial Alcali; however it has been proved that such Wheat in about three Years time has eat into the very Wood of the Cask, and there Hony-comb"d it by making little hollow Cavities in the Staves. Others there are that will hang a Bag of Wheat in the Vessel that it mayn"t touch the Bottom, but in both Cases the Wheat is discovered to absorp and collect the saline acid qualities of the Beer, Yeast and Hop, by which it is impregnated with their sharp qualities, as a Toast of Bread is put into Punch or Beer, whose alcalous hollow Nature will attract and make a Lodgment of the acid strong Particles in either, as is proved by eating the inebriating Toast, and therefore the Frenchman says, the English are right in putting a Toast into the Liquor, but are Fools for eating it: Hence it is that such whole Wheat is loaded with the qualities of the unwholsome Settlements or Grounds of the Beer, and becomes of such a corroding Nature, as to do this mischief; and for that reason, some in the North will hang a Bag of the Flower of malted Oats, Wheat, Pease and Beans in the Vessels of Beer, as being a lighter and mellower Body than whole Wheat or its Flower, and more natural to the Liquor: But whether it be raw Wheat or Malted, it is supposed, after this receptacle has emitted its alcalous Properties to the Beer, and taken in all it can of the acid qualities thereof, that such Beer will by length of Age prey upon that again, and so communicate its pernicious Effects to the Body of Man, as Experience seems to justify by the many sad Examples that I have seen in the Destruction of several l.u.s.ty Brewers Servants, who formerly scorn"d what they then called Flux Ale, to the preference of such corroding consuming Stale Beers; and therefore I have hereafter advised that such b.u.t.t or keeping Beers be Tapp"d at nine or twelve Months end at furthest, and then an Artificial Lee will have a due time allowed it to do good and not harm.
An Excellent Composition for feeding b.u.t.ts or keeping Beers with.
Take a Quart of French Brandy, or as much of English, that is free from any burnt Tang, or other ill taste, and is full Proof, to this put as much Wheat or Flower as will knead it into a Dough, put it in long pieces into the Bung Hole, as soon as the Beer has done working, or afterwards, and let it gently fall piece by piece to the bottom of the b.u.t.t, this will maintain the Drink in a mellow freshness, keep staleness off for some time, and cause it to be the stronger as it grows Aged.
ANOTHER.
Take one Pound of Treacle or Honey, one Pound of the Powder of dryed Oyster-sh.e.l.ls or fat Chalk, mix them well and put it into a b.u.t.t, as soon as it has done working or some time after, and Bung it well, this will both fine and preserve the Beer in a soft, smooth Condition for a great while.
ANOTHER.
Take a Peck of Egg-sh.e.l.ls and dry them in an Oven, break and mix them with two Pound of fat Chalk, and mix them with water wherein four Pounds of coa.r.s.e Sugar has been boiled, and put it into the b.u.t.t as aforesaid.
To fine and preserve Beers and Ales by boiling an Ingredient in the Wort.
This most valuable way I frequently follow both for Ale, b.u.t.t-beer and Small Beer, and that is, in each Barrel Copper of Wort, I put in a Pottle, or two Quarts of whole Wheat as soon as I can, that it may soak before it boils, then I strain it thro" a Sieve, when I put the Wort in cooling Tubs, and if it is thought fit the same Wheat may be boiled in a second Copper: Thus there will be extracted a gluey Consistence, which being incorporated with the Wort by boiling, gives it a more thick and ponderous Body, and when in the Cask, soon makes a Sediment or Lee, as the Wort is more or less loaded with the weighty Particles of this fizy Body; but if such Wheat was first parched or baked in an Oven, it would do better, as being rather too raw as it comes from the Ear.
Another Way.
A Woman, who lived at Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, and had the best Ale in the Town, once told a Gentleman, she had Drink just done working in the Barrel, and before it was Bung"d would wager it was fine enough to Drink out of a Gla.s.s, in which it should maintain a little while a high Froth; and it was true, for the Ivory shavings that she boiled in her Wort, was the Cause of it, which an Acquaintance of mine accidentally had a View of as they lay spread over the Wort in the Copper; so will Hartshorn shavings do the same and better, both of them being great finers and preservers of malt Liquors against staleness and sourness, and are certainly of a very alcalous Nature. Or if they are put into a Cask when you Bung it down, it will be of service for that purpose; but these are dear in Comparison of the whole Wheat, which will in a great measure supply their Place, and after it is used, may be given to a poor Body, or to the Hog.
To stop the Fret in Malt Liquors.