BREWING.
334
working is, by putting to it a pint of warm sweet wort,
of your first letting off, the heat to be about half the de-
gree of milk-warm: then give the vessel that contains it
a shake, and it will soon gather strength, and be fit for
use.
With respect to the quantity of hops necessary to be
used, remember, that half a pound of good hops is suffici-
ent for a bushel of malt.
The last, and most simple operation in the business of
brewing is that of tunning, the general methods of
doing which are, either by having it carried into the cel-
lar on men's shoulders, or conveying it thither by means
of leathern pipes commonly used for that purpose.
Your casks being perfectly clean, sweet and dry, and
placed on the stand ready to receive the liquor, first skim
off the top-barm, then proceed to fill your casks quite
full, and immediately bung and peg them close. Bore
a hole with a tap-borer near the summit of the stave, at
the same distance from the top, as the lower tap-hole is
from the bottom, for working through that upper hole,
which is a clean and more effectual method than work-
ing it over the cask; for, by the above method, being so
closely confined, it soon sets itself into a convulsive mo-
tion of working, and forces itself fine, provided you at-
tend to the filling of your casks five or six times a day.
This ought to be carefully attended to, for, by too long
an omission, it begins to settle, and being afterwards dis-
turbed, it raises a sharp fermentation, which produces
an incessant working of a spurious froth that may conti-
nue for some weeks, and, after all, give your beer a dis-
agreeable taste.
One material caution necessary to be kept in remem-
brance is this: That however careful you may be in at-
tending to all the preceding particulars, yet if your casks
are not kept in good order, still the brewing may be
spoiled. New casks are apt to give liquor a bad taste,
if they are not well scalded and seasoned several days suc-
cessively before they are used; and old casks, if they stand
any time out of use, are apt to grow musty.
Having
BREWING. 335
Having thus gone through the practical part of brew-
ing, and brought the liquor from the mash-tub to the
cask, we shall now proceed to
S E C T. VIII.
Containing the proper Management of Malt Liquors, with
some necessary Observations on the Whole.
IN order to keep strong beer in a proper state of pre-
servation, remember, that when once the vessel is
broached, regard must be paid to the time in which it
may be expended; for, if there happens to be a quick
draught for it, then it will last good to the very bottom;
but if there is likely to be but a slow draught, then do not
draw off quite half before you bottle it, otherwise it will
grow flat, dead, or sour.
In proportion to the quantity of liquor which is in-
closed in one cask, so will it be a shorter or longer time
in ripening. A vessel, which contains two hogsheads
of beer, will require twice as much time to perfect itself as
one of a hogshead; and is found by experience, that no
vessel should be used for strong beer (which is intended
to be kept) less than a hogshead, as one of that quantity,
if it is fit to draw in a year, will have body enough to
support it for two, three, or four years, provided it has a
sufficient strength of malt and hops, which is the case
with Dorchester beer.
With respect to the management of small beer, the
first consideration should be to make it tolerably good in
quality, which in various instances will be found truly
economical; for if it is not good, servants, for whom it
is principally calculated, will be feeble in summer time,
incapable of strong work, and subject to various disorders.
Besides, when the beer is bad, a great deal will be thrown
away, whereas, on the contrary, good wholesome drink
will be valued, and consequently taken care of. It is
advisable therefore, where there is a good cellaring, to
brew a stock of small beer in March or October, or
in both months, to be kept, if possible, in hogsheads.
The
BREWING. 336
The beer brewed in March should not be tapped till
October, nor that brewed in October till the March
following; having this regard to the quantity, that a
family, of the same number of working-people, will drink
at least a third more in summer than in winter.
In order to fine beer, some people, who brew with
high-dried barley-malt, put a bag, containing about
three pints of wheat into every hogshead of liquor,
which has had the desired effect, and made the beer
drink soft and mellow. Others again, have put about
three pints of wheat-malt into a hogshead, which has
produced the like effect.
But all malt liquors, however well they may be
brewed, may be spoiled by bad cellaring; be subject to
ferment in the cask, and consequently turn thick and
sour. When this happens to be the case, the best way of
bringing the liquor to itself is, to open the bung-hole of
the cask for two or three days; and if that does not stop
the fermentation, then put in about two or three pounds
of oyster-shells, washed, dried well in an oven, and then
beaten to a fine powder. After you have put it in, stir
it a little, and it will soon settle the liquor, make it fine,
and take off the sharp taste. Then you find this effected
draw it off into another vessel, and put a small bag of
wheat, or wheat-malt into it, in proportion to the size of
the vessel. It sometimes occurs, that such fermentations
will happen in liquor from a change of weather, if it is in
a bad cellar, and will, in a few months, fall fine of itself,
and grow mellow.
In some country places remote from principal towns,
it is a practice to dip whisks into yeast, then beat it well,
and hang up the whisks, with the yeast in them, to dry;
and if there be no brewing till two months afterwards,
the beating and stirring one of the whisks in new wort
will soon raise a working or fermentation. It is a rule,
that all liquor should be worked well in the tun, before it
is put into the vessel, otherwise it will not easily grow
fine. Some follow the rule of beating down the yeast
pretty often while it is in the tun, and keep it there working
for two or three days, observing to put it into the vessel,
just
BREWING. 337
just when the yeast begins to fall. This liquor is in
general very fine, whereas, on the contrary, that which
is put into the vessel soon after it is brewed will be several
months before it comes to a proper state of perfection.
We have before taken notice of the season for brewing
malt liquors to keep. But it may not be improper fur-
ther to observe, that if the cellars are subject to the heat
of the sun, or warm summer air, it will be best to brew
in October, that the liquor may have time to digest be-
fore the warm season comes on; and if cellars are subject
to damp, and to receive water, the best time will be to
brew in March. Some experienced brewers always
choose to brew with the pale malt in March, and the
brown in October; supposing, that the pale malt, being
made with a less degree of fire than the other, wants the
summer sun to ripen it; and so, on the contrary, the
brown, having had a larger share of the fire to dry it, is
more capable of defending itself against the cold of the
winter season.
All that remains further to be said relative to the ma-
nagement of malt liquors we shall preserve in.
S E C T. IX
Containing the proper Method of bottling Malt Liquors.
AS a necessary preparation for executing this business
properly, great attention must be paid to your bottles,
which must first be well cleaned and dried; for wet bot-
tles will make the liquor turn mouldy or mothery, as it is
called; and by wet bottles a great deal of good beer is
frequently spoiled. Though the bottles may be clean
and dry, yet, if the corks are not new and sound, the
liquor will be still liable to be damaged; for, if the air
can get into the bottles, the liquor will grow flat, and
never rise. Many who have flattered themselves they
knew how to be saving, by using old corks on this occa-
sion, have spoiled as much liquor as stood them in four or
five pounds, only for want of laying out three or four
shillings. If bottles are corked as they should be, it
will
BREWING. 338
will be difficult to draw the cork without a screw; and to
secure the drawing of the cork without breaking, the
screw ought to go through the cork, and then the air
must necessarily find a passage where the screw has passed.
If a cork has once been in a bottle, though it has not
been drawn with a screw, yet that cork will turn musty
as soon as exposed to the air, and will communicate its
ill flavour to the bottle in which it is next put, and spoil
the liquor that way. In the choice of corks, take those
that are soft and clear from specks. You may also ob-
serve, in the bottling of liquor, that the top and middle
of the hogshead are the strongest, and will sooner rise in
the bottles than the bottom. When you begin to bottle
a vessel of any liquor, be sure not to leave it till all is
completed, otherwise it will have different tastes.
If you find a vessel of liquor begins to grow flat
whilst it is in common draught, bottle it, and into every
bottle put a piece of loaf sugar of about the size of a
walnut, which will make it rise and come to itself: and,
to forward its ripening, you may set some bottles in hay
in a warm place; but straw will not assist its ripening.
If you should have the opportunity of brewing a good
stock of small beer in March and October, some of it
may be bottled at the end of six months, putting into
every bottle a lump of loaf sugar; which, in the summer,
will make it a very pleasant and refreshing drink. Or if
you happen to brew summer, and are desirous of
brisk small beer, as soon as it has done working, bottle
it as before directed.
Where your cellars happen not to be properly calcu-
lated for the preservation of your beer, you may use the
following expedient: Sink holes in the ground, put into
them large oil jars, and fill up the earth close about the
sides. One of the jars will hold about two dozen bot-
tles, and will keep the liquor in proper order; but care
must be taken that the tops of the jars are kept close
covered. In winter time, when the weather is frosty,
shut up all the lights or windows of your cellars, and
cover them close with horse-dung, which will keep your
beer in a very proper and temperate state.