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 TREATISES published 
 
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THE ART OF BREWH^l'^ilSITyj 
 
 J 
 
 B.tlb 
 
 Chapter I. 
 Introductory. 
 
 The artificial formation of exhilarating- 
 and intoxicating liquors has been prac- 
 tised in most ages and nations. Wine, 
 which is prepared from the juice of the 
 grape, is mentioned in the earliest re- 
 cords of history. The Tartar tribes, 
 from time immemorial, manufactured 
 their kumis from the milk of the mare 
 and of the cow : the chiaca of the East 
 Indies is the produce of rice : the Mexi- 
 cans, before the arrival of the Spaniards, 
 had different kinds of cheering liquors ; 
 from the metl, or magnaiy a species of 
 aloe {Agave Mexicand) ; from certain 
 palms and from maize : and the Ger- 
 mans, in the time of Tacitus, brewed 
 zyihmn and curmi from barley, in the 
 manner in which we make our Ale and 
 Beer. 
 
 All these preparations, and numerous 
 others which we have not named, have 
 certain properties in common. They 
 constitute a genus, under the denomina- 
 tion of Vinous Liquors, because that of 
 the vine is pre-eminent. They all ac- 
 quire their inebriating quality from a 
 similar fermentation ; and all give out 
 fluids by distillation, in which that qua- 
 lity is concentrated in a far less bulk. 
 These latter fluids are called, generally, 
 Spirits, or Spirituous Liquors; and 
 have the specific names. Brandy, Ariki, 
 Arrack, Whisky, &c. each differmg from 
 the others in flavour, according to the 
 material from which it is drawn. They 
 are all, however, convertible, by subse- 
 quent distillation, into the same sort of 
 liquid, which is termed Spirit of Wine, 
 ox Alcohol. There are thus three stages 
 or three processes: the fermentation 
 which produces wine, beer, &c. ; the 
 distillation of these fermented liquors, 
 producing spirits ; and the distillation of 
 spirit, producing alcohol. 
 
 Although we were able, it is not our 
 present business to describe the various 
 processes by which vinous liquors may 
 be prepared from different substances. 
 What we here undertake is to treat of 
 the Vinification of Barley ; and, when 
 we shall have, occasionally, to speak of 
 the fermentation of other vegetables, it 
 will be solely for the purpose of eluci- 
 
 dation. The comparison of Ale '\vith^ 
 Wine will be frequent ; but for the 
 particular processes, by which the lat- 
 ter and its numerous imitations are pro- 
 duced and preserved, we must refer to 
 the Treatise on Wine-making. 
 
 Though Brewing is certainly a che- 
 mical art, it has hitherto derived little, 
 if any, advantage from the science of 
 chemistry. In fact, nothing is to be ex- 
 pected from that quarter. Of all mate- 
 rial substances, vegetables are the most 
 difficult to analyze. Their immediate 
 materials (as the results are termed) 
 are often produced, rather than founds 
 in the laboratory. The acids are con- 
 nected by an invisible chain. The 
 fecula, or starch, becomes gum, or su- 
 gar, by almost imperceptible processes. 
 The seeds of plants are endowed with a 
 vegetable life, which is absolutely ne- 
 cessary to vinous fermentation. A vivi- 
 fying power shall exist when the grain 
 is cut to atoms, which an unlucky twist 
 of the mill might have utterly destroyed. 
 Our chemists are men of the closet; and 
 the manufacturer who operates on three 
 hundred quarters of gram at a time can 
 hope for little information from gene- 
 ral theories, although upheld by the 
 analyses of twenty barleycorns and their 
 infusions in a quart bottle. 
 
 While the art of Brewing has been so 
 little indebted to the progress of chemi- 
 cal knowledge, it has been considerably 
 retarded by a power to which it had a 
 right to look for assistance, — the Legis- 
 lature of the country. The public 
 Brewer, from whom only the art could 
 receive improvement, is completely fet- 
 tered by the laws of excise. The French 
 Vigneron may flavour his wines at plea- 
 sure ; and, by means of extraneous sub- 
 stances, may prevent or cure their dege- 
 nerations ; but malt, hops, water, and 
 isinglass are the only materials of the 
 British Brewer. Under whatever cir- 
 cumstances, everything else is inexora- 
 bly prohibited. There is no distinction 
 between useful and poisonous ingre- 
 dients : all are stigmatized as illegal ; 
 and the penalty is the same for a single 
 eggshell as for a pound of opium. 
 
 In addition to these absurd prohibi- 
 tions, the public brewer has to struggle 
 under a direct impost, amounting, in 
 B 
 
2 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 most cases, to 50 per cent, on the first 
 cost of his materials, and from which 
 the private brewer is wholly free. The 
 duties upon ale and beer brewed 
 for sale, which were first imposed in 
 1643, have been increased, from time 
 to time, until they have reached their 
 present enormous amount. We shall 
 not stop to trace their progress, but we 
 may remark that, at a certain period, in 
 distinguishing between small beer and 
 strong, all ale or beer, sold at or above 
 ten shillings per barrel, was reckoned 
 to be strong, and was, therefore, sub- 
 jected to a higher duty. The cask which 
 contained this strong beer was then first 
 marked with an X, signifying ten ; and 
 hence the present quack-like denomina- 
 tions of XX (double X), and XXX (tre- 
 ble X), which appear, unnecessarily, on 
 the casks and in the accounts of the 
 strong- ale brewers. A curious change 
 of circumstances has rendered this letter 
 still an appropriate mark in the books 
 of excise. Ten shillings has no longer 
 any relation to the selling pricey but it is 
 now the duty per barrel. 
 
 But it is not of the amount alone, but 
 of the proportions in which the duty is 
 levied, that the brewers, as well as their 
 customers, have occasion to complain. 
 Small beer is charged only at the rate 
 of two shillings the barrel ; and by small 
 beer is understood all ale or beer that is 
 sold to the customer at, or under, the 
 price of twenty-four shillings. All that 
 is sold above this price is accounted 
 strong, and is Hable to the ten shillings 
 duty. The strength of the beer, which 
 ought to be the criterion, is here out of 
 the question ; for, if any gentleman were 
 to go to his ale brewer, and say that he 
 wanted an article better than small beer, 
 for which he would pay eight or ten 
 shillings more, the brewer could not 
 furnish it, because, if he charged more 
 than twenty-four shillings per barrel, he 
 would have to pay the ten shillings duty , 
 so that he could not give a better article 
 for thirty-two shillings a barrel than for 
 twenty-four. A cheap table ale is never- 
 theless much in demand, and is often 
 furnished at forty shillings, or less. The 
 temptation to evade the strong ale duty 
 is great, and, consequently, as appears 
 from the numerous convictions, the 
 mixing of strong beer with small beer is 
 not uncommon. Were the duty, by some 
 means, proportioned to the strength, 
 this would seldom be done. But we 
 should write a volume were we to detail 
 all the frauds and inconveniences con^ 
 
 sequent upon the absurdities of the pre- 
 sent brewery laws. In small works, 
 unless the brewer will consent to adopt 
 the measures of those whose consciences 
 are not too confined, he will seldom 
 succeed in his business. 
 
 It may be thought that we have dwelt 
 too long on this subject, but we shall 
 have frequent occasions to show that 
 the laws of excise must undergo some 
 change before the art of brewing can be 
 much advanced, without involving the 
 trade in total ruin. It is now preserved 
 m consequence of the ignorance, or the 
 indolence, of the servants in private 
 families. The tax on public brewers is 
 beyond all ordinary bounds. AVere a 
 penny a quartern loaf levied upon the 
 bakers, their ovens would soon be cold ; 
 and yet we consent to pay twopence 
 upon every pot of porter which we drink. 
 In proof, the following is a statement of 
 the expense at which any private gentle- 
 man, who understands the manipula- 
 tions, might brew porter of as good a 
 quality as any that is usually sold in 
 London : — 
 
 Shillings. 
 
 1 Quarter of Malt, at 65*. perquar.r= 6-5 
 
 3 Quarters of Barley, at 40s. per quar.= 120 
 
 32 lbs. of Hops, at 112s. per cwt.= 32 
 
 Colouring, either from patent Malt ) r 
 
 or burnt Sugar . . j 
 
 Cost of Materials 
 
 222 
 
 To this there is nothing to add but 
 the labour which, to those who keep 
 men-servants, costs nothing. The grains 
 and yeast may be considered as an in- 
 demnification for the coals. If the 
 brewing were properly managed, it would 
 produce fifteen barrels of porter, of the 
 average London strength, at a price 
 under Jif teen shillings a barrel, or five 
 farthings a pot. This calculation was 
 made in 1827, and the value would, of 
 course, vary with the alteration of prices, 
 but the sketch here given is sufficient to 
 prove that, under the present laws, were 
 the art of brewing generally under- 
 stood, the trade of a public brewer could 
 exist only upon the earnings of the poor; 
 for all who could muster a few pounds 
 would brew for themselves. We have 
 supposed raw grain, not so much on 
 account of the saving of malt-duty as of 
 its making a better beverage ; but even 
 were the porter made wholly of malt 
 the saving would be enormous. Thus : 
 
 Shillings. 
 4 Quarters of Malt, at 65s. per quar.=:260 
 32 lbs. of Hops, at 112s. per cwt. 32 
 Colouring .... 5 
 
BREWING. 
 
 These materials would produce fifteen 
 barrels of good porter, at less than 20*. 
 per barrel, which is little more than three- 
 halfpence the pot. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Of Brewing Utensils. 
 
 Although the names and general use 
 of the principal brewing utensils are al- 
 most universally known, yet a few re- 
 marks, upon their construction, may be 
 of advantage to those who have not had 
 experience in their erection. 
 
 $ 1. — Of Grinding Machines. 
 
 Malt is prepared for the mash-tun in 
 two different ways, — by crushing, or by 
 grinding. In the former case the malt 
 is made to pass between two cylindric 
 rollers, close enough to burst the skin 
 and bruise the kernel. This answers 
 the purpose very well with regard to 
 good malt ; but when we have occasion 
 to make use of raw grain, or of grain 
 that has not been sufficiently malted, 
 there is a certain loss of materials which 
 would be secured by grinding. The 
 cause of this loss will appear afterwards, 
 when we treat of the means of producing 
 a saccharine extract. 
 
 Grinding is best performed by mill- 
 stones cut sharp for the purpose. Pri- 
 vate families cannot generally afford 
 the expense of mill-stones, which, be- 
 sides, are not now erected, like the 
 querns of our ancestors, so as to be 
 turned by a man. In the neighbour- 
 hood of corn-mills, the miller could do 
 this duty ; but his multure is seldom 
 determinate. A steel-mill is the best 
 succedaneum. It may be had of any 
 size, and, consequently, at various 
 prices, from three to ten guineas ; and, 
 we believe, there is no law to prevent a 
 machine of this kind from serving a 
 whole neighbourhood, unless it may be 
 in special cases of thirlage. 
 
 By whatever machine the barley, or 
 malt, is ground, it ought to be cut sharp 
 and small ; especially the former, which 
 must on no account be powdered into 
 dust, but cut into particles like sand or 
 well-ground oatmeal ; and, for this pur- 
 pose, if not already hard, it must be 
 dried on a kiln. Those who use small 
 quantities may purchase the barley in 
 that state, but licensed brewers, be it 
 remembered, must not use it at all. 
 The malt needs not to be ground so fine. 
 Neither should it be kept above a day 
 or two in a ground state, because all 
 
 sorts of meal are apt to heat by rea- 
 son of a fermentation that would ter- 
 minate in putridity. We have known 
 it clotted so hard that it required to be 
 broken by a mallet ; and the flavour, in 
 consequence, was spoiled. 
 
 § 2.— Liquor and Wort Coppers y and 
 
 Underback. 
 Water, in the language of the brew- 
 house, is termed Liquor; the cut (or 
 bruised) malt, or grain, is Grist ; when 
 put into the mash-tun it is called the 
 Goods ; and the extract made from these 
 goods, by infusion in hot liquor, is 
 termed Wort. The liquor- copper, then, 
 is a boiler chiefly used in heating 
 water, for the purpose of infusing 
 the goods in the mash-tun, or for sup- 
 plying any part of the brewhouse where 
 hot water is required ; and the wort- 
 copper is that in which the worts are 
 boiled, along with the hops, for the pur- 
 pose of giving bitterness, flavour, and 
 (as is generally believed) a preservative 
 quality. In small works, and particu- 
 larly in private families, one boiler is 
 made to answer the double purpose of 
 a liquor and a wort copper ; but this 
 is done ahvays at some loss, and fre- 
 quently at the risk of destruction to the 
 whole brewing. When the first mash 
 (or infusion) is ready to be drained, it 
 must be drained into a vessel called an 
 UNDERBACK, because the copper is not 
 ready to receive it ; being employed in 
 heating liquor for the second mash. 
 The same happens in the third and 
 fourth mashes, if there are so many ; 
 and the wort, thus remaining so long in 
 the underback, gradually becomes tepid, 
 generally contracts a disagreeable fla- 
 vour, and often turns into that peculiar 
 state of acidity which the brewers de- 
 signate by the denomination of blinked. 
 This last evil, however, (which admits 
 of no remedy) is sometimes occasioned 
 by improper heats in the mash- tun ; 
 but there the accident is more easily 
 guarded against, because it never oc- 
 curs unless the heat of the mashing 
 liquor has either been too low, or has 
 been allowed to stand too long upon 
 the goods. If the last runnings of the 
 mash be free from any tincture of 
 acidity, and if they can then be imme- 
 diately carried to the copper and sub- 
 mitted to heat, the mishap of blinking 
 will always be prevented ; and this, by 
 the assistance of two coppers, can be 
 readily accomplished. 
 
 The expense of two coppers in place 
 
BREWING. 
 
 of one may be urged as an objection ; 
 but the expense of one, on the ordinary 
 construction, is often as much as both 
 would be, if the coppersmith were pro- 
 perly directed. Coppers are generally 
 made of twice or thrice the weight that 
 is necessary. The sides can scarcely 
 be too thin, and the bottom, if it will 
 bear the weight of a man to stand while 
 cleaning it, is of quite sufficient thick- 
 ness. It should in all cases be well 
 hammered and raised inwards, like the 
 bottom of a wine-bottle ; which not only 
 strengthens it, but allows the worts to 
 drain with more rapidity from the hops. 
 In family coppers, the bottom can be 
 scoured without any great pressure or 
 weight. 
 
 Beside the saving in price, a thin- 
 bottomed copper is much more easily 
 heated, and less liable to wear, than a 
 thick one. The inner surface of the 
 bottom can never be hotter than the 
 fluid which it contains : the outer sur- 
 face is of course as hot as the flame 
 which envelopes it. In a liquor copper, 
 therefore, the inside can never exceed 
 the heat of boiling water; and, if we 
 could imagine a copper-bottom to be 
 infinitely thin, the heat of the side next 
 the fire would be absorbed, by passing 
 through the copper as fast as it were 
 generated. It is on this principle that 
 water may be made to boil on a folded 
 piece of writing-paper. On the other 
 hand, when the^bottom of the boiler is 
 thick, the outer surface is submitted to 
 the heat of the fire some time before it 
 communicates with the liquor within. 
 The metal becomes oxidated, and comes 
 off in scales, or, if the scales remain, 
 they render it more impervious to the 
 lieat, so as in some cases to take double 
 the time of a thin bottom, before the 
 liquor can be brought to the requisite 
 heat. The difference of wear is an 
 obvious consequence. We have our- 
 selves made use of a twenty barrel 
 liquor copper, which (the discharge 
 cock included) did not weigh three hun- 
 dred pounds, and we found it quite 
 sound at the end of fifteen years, with- 
 out having needed the slightest repair 
 during all that period. The London 
 allowance for a copper of that size 
 would be eight or nine hundred weight. 
 
 With respect to the size of brewing- 
 coppers, the liquor and wort coppers 
 should be alike, and the contents of 
 each must be regulated by the sort of 
 beer to be brewed. If small beer alone, 
 with three mashes ^ the first mash would 
 
 require from three to four barrels of hot 
 liquor per quarter of malt, according to 
 the quality ; and, as it is always con- 
 venient to have more liquor than is 
 needed for the mash, so as to get the 
 second mash liquor ready in time, he 
 who would brew small beer in this way, 
 ought to have a copper which would 
 contain five barrels of liquor for every 
 quarter of malt that he intends to brew 
 at a time. Were he to brew strong ale, 
 with small beer in succession, or porter 
 alone, a copper containing about three 
 barrels for every quarter of the mash 
 would be a sufficient size. We are 
 aware that many public, as well as 
 private brewers, contrive to manage 
 with a single copper, by means of pan- 
 covers and other clumsy shifts ; but our 
 business is to teach the most convenient 
 (which will always be found the most 
 profitable) method of conducting the 
 operation. 
 
 § 3. — Of the Furnace. 
 Although the construction of the fire- 
 place and other building {settmg) of the 
 copper is usually entrusted to the brick- 
 layer, yet a well-going furnace is of such 
 importance to the brewer, that we cannot 
 pass over it in silence. In most manu- 
 factories, an ill-l)uilt fireplace is merely 
 the cause of additional destruction of 
 fuel, and unnecessary delay ; but, in the 
 brewery, the consequence is often more 
 serious. If, for example, the second 
 mashing liquor cannot be raised to the 
 proper heat within a few minutes of a 
 given time, the whole brewing of the day 
 is in imminent danger of being lost. 
 We shall, therefore, describe our method 
 of setting a copper, the utility of which 
 we have experienced for many years. 
 It has the double advantage of being 
 cheap, and, at the same time, equally 
 applicable to coppers of any size. 
 
 There are a few general remarks which 
 apply to every plan of setting. The 
 furnace-bars, or grating on which the 
 fuel is burnt, should bear a fixed propor- 
 tion to the lower surface of the copper 
 on which the heat is expended ; but in 
 this respect the artists do not materially 
 differ. The same may be said of the 
 height between the furnace-bars and the 
 bottom of the vessel, which can scarcely 
 be less than twelve, or more than 
 eighteen, inches. The ash-pit should be 
 as wide as the furnace-bars, and may 
 descend as low as we please. Allowing 
 the furnace-bars to be an inch and a 
 half wide, and half an inch asunder, the 
 
BREWING. 
 
 air will be admitted, to supply the fire, 
 through an area equal to one-fourth of 
 the area of the fireplace. This air has 
 to pass into the chimney, in an expanded 
 form, accompanied with the smoke and 
 vapour of the fuel, and in that state will 
 occupy about double its former bulk. 
 The chimney ought, therefore, to have 
 a sectional area equal to half that of 
 the fireplace ; and, if so, it will only be the 
 want of height in the chimney that can 
 prevent a proper draught. These things 
 being premised, 
 
 Let A B E C D (fig. 1 .) be a flat piece 
 of masonry, or brickwork, level with the 
 furnace bars G F, and raised from the 
 floor to the height of the ash-pit, which 
 is immediately below the bars, and 
 where only the building is not solid. 
 Draw the dotted circle G H I K, exactly 
 equal in size to the bottom of the copper. 
 Opposite to the middle of the furnace 
 G F erect the prop I, and at H and K, 
 two other props, raising all three to the 
 height at which you mean to fix your 
 boiler above that of the furnace-bars. 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 ■ c 
 
 Place the rim of the bottom of the copper 
 upon these props, which, as proper sup- 
 ports, must be built of fire-brick or of 
 fire-stone. If the copper be very large, 
 intermediate props maybe built (always 
 in the dotted circle), so as to support it 
 for a time, were one of them to give way. 
 Let the surrounding part of the build- 
 ing a, a, a, &c. be carried upwards, 
 higher than the bottom of the copper, 
 by ten, twelve, fifteen, or any number 
 of inches at pleasure, leaving a vacuity 
 b, b, b, &c. around the copper to the 
 height thus fixed upon, when it is to be 
 covered at top by means of bricks lean- 
 ing from the wall a, a, a, &c.,' to the 
 
 sides of the copper, the aperture not 
 requiring a greater width at that height 
 than the length of a brick : nor, indeed, 
 in any place, need the aperture be more 
 than from nine to twelve inches wide, 
 unless the boiler be very large, in which 
 case it may be covered by an arch. The 
 prop 1, should be continued across this 
 vacuity, and raised so as the flame, 
 when it has reached the roof of the 
 aperture, shall just have sufficient room 
 to pass easily over on both sides, into 
 the chimney c, d, e,f, as represented at 
 fig. 3, in which the prop I is marked 
 on a section by the same letter I. By 
 keeping the entry to the chimney at this 
 
BREWING. 
 
 height, the whole exposed part of the 
 copper will be wrapped in flame ; for it 
 should always be kept in mind that the 
 flame will rise as high and no higher 
 
 than the opening by which it is allowed 
 to enter the chimney. 
 
 Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the 
 same scale, with the copper in its place. 
 
 The lower part of this copper, being in 
 the form of a truncated cone, allows the 
 bottom (literally so called) to be smaller, 
 and consequently lighter, than if the 
 vessel had been cylindrical ; while the 
 flame, raiounting up the sides at a, a, 
 gives the same heating power, as if the 
 bottom had been of a diameter equal to 
 the hue b c. After the circular vacuity 
 is closed at b and c, the building round 
 the copper (until again closed at the 
 top) should be kept three or four inches 
 from the sides, as represented at // ; and 
 this thin zone of air will prevent the 
 escape of the radiant heat, more effec- 
 tually than would be done by two feet 
 of solid masonry. The sides of the 
 furnace are sloped to keep the fuel upon 
 the bars, as in the lines de and fg. 
 This section is presumed to be made at 
 the inner end of the furnace, where the 
 ash-hole h ends. The j)lace of the fur- 
 nace door (which is cut off in front) is 
 represented by the dotted rectangle d, f, 
 i, k. The lighter shade I, seen behind this 
 rectangle, is the prop 1 mentioned at 
 ijig. 1.) The other two props H and K, 
 are here also shown by the same letters. 
 Fig, 3 is another section of the 
 copper and its building, through the line 
 E F on the plan fig. 1 . F is a section 
 of the furnace ; I is a central section of 
 the prop I so often mentioned ; and K 
 
 is the prop K of fig. 1., the other 
 prop being supposed to be cut away. 
 The dark shade a is part of the open 
 space which surrounds the lower part of 
 the copper ; and 6 is a portion of the 
 same open space, the rest being covered 
 by the prop I, over which prop, and on 
 both sides of it, the flame ascends to 6, 
 entering the chimney cdefaic. The 
 dark narrow spaces II, represent the 
 same zone which was explained in 
 /^. 2. 
 
 It will be observed, that the discharge 
 pipe, mn, has to pass through the 
 flame ; it must, consequently, be a sim- 
 ple copper tube, riveted to the boiler, 
 and joined to the cock, 7?, by Sijiange at n. 
 This will, however, in a twenty-barrel 
 copper, save a hundred weight, at least, 
 of lead, which the coppersmiths usually 
 pour into a socket, when joining a cock 
 to a boiler, and which is weighed to the 
 purchaser as copper. To be sure, were 
 it not for this base metal, as well as the 
 excessive weight of the whole, the cop- 
 persmith would be obliged to charge 
 more per lb. for his labour. We do 
 not mention these things as frauds, but 
 as absurdities. 
 
 It would be out of our way to dwell 
 long upon the erection of furnaces, and, 
 therefore, we have left many of the de- 
 tails unnoticed. For our own part, we 
 
BREWING. 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 have generally found ash-pit doors and 
 upper dampers more troublesome than 
 useful — especially the latter — which are 
 seldom so tight as to prevent a stream 
 of cold air from entering the chimney, 
 and thus disturbing the draught. We 
 must not, however, neglect to mention 
 what we have found from experience to 
 be a great improvement in furnace-doors. 
 These are often extremely troublesome. 
 By their warping when thin, and shaking 
 the building Vvhen weighty, they are 
 perpetual sources of vexation. The im- 
 provement we allude to is cheap and 
 simple, and by it we get immediate ac- 
 cess to the furnace, without having to 
 shove the coals through a passage two 
 feet deep, which is made solely to keep 
 the door steady on its hinges. The iron 
 frame in front of the furnace is, in this 
 case which we recommend, like that of 
 the ordinary door-way, except that it is 
 quite flat, (without any projection for 
 latch or hinge,) and has a horizontal 
 plate, about three inches broad, on a 
 level with the bars, on which the sub- 
 stitute for a door is to rest. This door 
 is a square, or rectangular fire-brick, 
 (what is termed a Welsh tile,) about 
 two inches thick, and of sufficient size to 
 cover the opening of the fire-place, and 
 an inch or two more on each side and 
 at top, as far as the front-plate will 
 allow. This tile is surrounded by a well- 
 fitted hoop of iron, which, by means of 
 a screw on one side, presses the other 
 sides together so as to keep the tile 
 firm. On the middle of the upper side 
 
 of the hoop is a staple, by which it is 
 attached to a light iron chain, and the 
 tile is so balanced, that when suspended 
 the sides hang perpendicular. The chain 
 is then passed over a pulley, so as the 
 tile may drop directly before the fire- 
 place, upon the plate above mentioned ; 
 when a weight exactly counterbalancing 
 the tile is attached to the other end, so 
 that this door may be raised, or lowered, 
 at pleasure, with a very slight effort. By 
 means of two or more pulleys, the coun- 
 tervailing weight may, like a bell-pull, 
 be sent to any corner of the brew- 
 house.* 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 Of Brewing Utensils {continued). 
 
 § \.— Of the Mash-Tun. 
 
 Simple as it still is, the mash-tun of 
 former times was yet simpler than now. 
 It was a tub with a hole in its centre, 
 which was plugged by means of a round 
 shaft of wood that stood perpendicularly 
 through the goods. When the mash 
 was to be drawn off, this shaft, which 
 was called the Tap-tree, was loosened 
 (but not altogether pulled out) from the 
 hole, which, being conical, allowed the 
 worts to descend in a small stream into 
 the underback ; and the filtration was 
 assisted by a wisp of straw that had 
 previously been wound about the tap- 
 
 * We are indebted for our knowledge of this useful 
 contrivance to the late Mr. Parkes, wiio has do- 
 scribed it in his " Chemical Kssays, Vol. II.' 
 
BREWING. 
 
 tree, close to that part which acted as a 
 pkig to the tun. It is hence that the 
 brewers still use the phrases of setting- 
 tap in the sense of beginning to let off 
 the worts from the goods; and tap- 
 spending, or tap-spent, to announce that 
 the goods are draining, or drained. In- 
 stead of this rude instrument, a false 
 bottotn, pierced with holes, is univer- 
 sally used ; and the liquor, which was 
 formerly poured upon the top of the 
 malt, is now, in most cases, carried 
 down the inside of the mash-tun, by a 
 trough, and made to enter between the 
 two bottoms, whence, rising upwards 
 through the holes of the false bottom, 
 it forces its way among the goods, with 
 which it is then intimately mixed by the 
 mashing-machine, or with mashing- 
 oars. 
 
 The size of the mash-tun must be 
 regulated by the quantity of malt and 
 the quality of the beer for which it is to 
 be employed. From this may be calcu- 
 lated the largest space that will require 
 to be occupied by the goods and liquor 
 of the mash ; after which, five or six 
 inches additional depth miist be allowed, 
 to leave room for the agitation when 
 mashing. Tlie liquor between the bot- 
 toms is not effective, and should, there- 
 fore, be as little as possible, consistent 
 with the prevention of the risk of 
 choking, with any deposite that might 
 fall from the goods. An inch between 
 the bottoms will be quite sufficient ; in 
 small areas, less. The holes of the false 
 bottom should be burnt rather than 
 bored, lest the pores of the wood should 
 collapse with the hot liquor, which might 
 put the first brewing in danger. To 
 prevent this risk, by making wider holes, 
 would be still worse : the holes should 
 be conical ; the lower part from a quar- 
 ter to three-eighths of an inch diameter ; 
 but at the upper surface they ought not 
 to exceed an eighth ; the bottom should 
 fit the sides of the mash-tun, and its 
 parts should meet so as not to leave a 
 chink. 
 
 We must advertise the private brewer, 
 that, if he brew with a mixture of 
 raw grain, it may sometimes happen 
 that the goods in the first mash will 
 sink to the lower part of the mash-tun 
 and leave the wort floating above, with- 
 out being able to filtrate through the 
 condensed mass. To prepare for this 
 contingency, the upper part of the 
 trough that passes down the inner cir- 
 cumference of the tun and leads to the 
 space between the bottoms, should be 
 
 pierced with holes in the same manner 
 as the false bottom. These holes, when 
 not needed, may be shut by an interior 
 trough, or by boards ; and, when there 
 is occasion to let off the worts from the 
 top of the mash, the interior trough, or 
 boards, may be pushed downwards, a,nd 
 the supernatant worts will pass through 
 the holes, down the trunk, and, commu- 
 nicating with the space between the bot- 
 toms, may be drawn ofP in the same 
 manner as if they had filtrated through 
 the goods. With the second mash, this 
 process will seldom, if ever, be neces- 
 sary. In these observations we have 
 supposed the mash-tun trough to be a 
 close tube, but some give it only three 
 sides, trusting to the inner surface of 
 the tun (to which it is applied) for the 
 fourth. 
 
 § 2.— Of Mashing Machines. 
 
 Concerning mashing machines, we 
 have very few observations to make. In 
 large works they save much of human 
 labour ; but we should imagine that, 
 until the mash extends to twenty quar- 
 ters, they produce very little saving, un- 
 less under peculiar circumstances ; 
 such as the advantage of a waterfall, 
 where the power costs nothing. In 
 small works, and in private families, it 
 is wholly out of the question. Oars are 
 there the cheapest and the best mash- 
 ing instruments. 
 
 § 3.— Of the Hop-back. 
 
 After the wort is sufficiently boiled, 
 along with the hops, it has to be carried 
 into the coolers. If an airy situation 
 can be had for this purpose, below the 
 level of the discharge -cock of the wort- 
 copper, the wort may be run off into 
 the cooling-backs, either by means of a 
 pipe or an open shoot, and the hops se- 
 parated by means of a drainer in a cor- 
 ner of the first cooler, or back as it is 
 termed by the excise ; but when they 
 cannot be cooled except at a higher 
 elevation, the worts must be carried 
 thither, either by hand, or by means of a 
 pump. This pump may be placed di- 
 rectly into the copper ; but, in that case, 
 if the hops be in a great proportion, 
 they will need to be inclosed in a net to 
 prevent any accident from the choking 
 of the valves. The ordinary way is to 
 empty the copper into a hop -back, either 
 round or square, on the upper part of 
 which is fixed a drainer, (a perforated 
 smaller vessel,) to keep back the hops. 
 The pump is placed in the hop-back, 
 
BREWING. 
 
 and from thence raises the wort to the 
 coolers. This wort-pump must differ 
 from the common suction pump, if we 
 expect immediate action. The lower 
 valve must be placed at, or near, the 
 bottom of the back ; for that of the pis- 
 ton rod must be immersed in the fluid, 
 as long as it gives out steam, before the 
 action of the pump will be free. The 
 valves, too, should be of metal, to resist 
 the heat. 
 
 § 4.-0/ the Coolers. 
 
 It is of importance that the worts 
 when drawn from the copper should be 
 cooled, as speedily as possible, to that 
 degree which fits them for the ferment- 
 ing tun. This is more especially ne- 
 cessary in summer, and, therefore, the 
 cooling back should be placed in that 
 quarter where there is the best succes- 
 sion of fresh air ; and the worts, if it can 
 at all be prevented, ought never to lie 
 above two inches deep in the coolers. 
 This should regulate their size. The 
 word Coolers is used in the plural, be- 
 cause two of these are indispensable 
 when we make two kinds of beer from 
 the same brewing ; and even in single 
 Gyles, if we make a Return. The two 
 latter terms will be afterwards ex- 
 plained. One cooler ought to be placed 
 so as to run into the other ; and this, 
 when we have occasion to speak of it, 
 we shall call i\\Q first cooler, — the other 
 the second. Sometimes three, or even 
 four coolers are used, but these are 
 more for conveniency than necessity. 
 
 Various contrivances have been pro- 
 posed, and some of them adopted, for 
 expediting the cooling of worts. That 
 which is most commonly practised is 
 the fanning machine, which is placed 
 immediately above the cooler ; and by 
 the rapid revolution of its horizontal 
 boards, or arms, produces a whirlpool 
 of air which assists the ascent and dis- 
 persion of the steam. Whether or not 
 this has any effect against the preser- 
 vative quality of the beer, we are unable 
 to determine. Reasoning a priori we 
 should judge it to be unfavourable ; but 
 we have no support from experience. 
 The fanners are employed only in the 
 summer season, when beer for keeping 
 is never brewed. 
 
 Another mode of cooling is to pass 
 the worts through cold water, by means 
 of a worm, in the manner of the distil- 
 lers ; but in that case the water would 
 need to be plentifully supplied. Be- 
 sides, it must be taken immediately from 
 the spring, for that which is exposed 
 
 for only a short time to the atmosphere, 
 acquires its temperature, and gives no 
 advantage over that of spreading the 
 wort, in thin sheets, to the open air. 
 Further — and we wish our observation 
 to be applied to every attempt at im- 
 provement in his art — the public brewer 
 ought to be very wary of introducing 
 into his work any manipulation that is 
 new. We knew a brewer whose situa- 
 tion was peculiarly adapted for the cool- 
 ing method of which we speak. He 
 practised it successfully for years, under 
 the daily surveillance of the excise. An- 
 other superior officer at length came 
 into the round. He found a clause, 
 in an Act of Parliament, which made 
 the process, in his view, illegal, although 
 xiQ\ fraudulent. The brewer was pro- 
 secuted in the Court of Exchequer. In- 
 stead of compromising the fault, \i^ fool- 
 ishly let it go to trial. He was acquitted, 
 after his ingenuity had received an eulo- 
 gium from the judges ;— but the Crown 
 never pays expenses / 
 
 The article Brewing, in the " Supple- 
 ment to the Encyclopaedia Britannica," 
 (which was written by Dr. Thomson), 
 contains the following remarks on the 
 subject of which we now treat :—" When 
 the brewer is obliged to make ale in 
 warm summer weather, it is material to 
 reduce the temperature as low as pos- 
 sible. In such cases, great advantage 
 would attend cooling the worts in coolers 
 without any roof, or covering whatever, 
 but quite open to the sky ; because, in 
 clear nights, the wort might be cooled, 
 in this way, eight or ten degrees lower 
 than the temperature ot the atmosphere. 
 The reason is obvious. It is owing to 
 the rays of heat which, in such a case, 
 radiate from the wort, and are not re- 
 turned again from the clear sky. Wort 
 being a good radiator of heat, would be 
 particularly benefited by this method of 
 cooling." " A roof, perhaps, might be 
 contrived, composed of very li2;ht mate- 
 rials, which might be easily slid off, or 
 which might turn upon a pivot." " We 
 have Httle doubt that wort might easily 
 be cooled down to the freezing point, if 
 requisite, in our warmest summer wea- 
 ther." 
 
 § 5.— Of the Fermenting Tuns.' 
 When the wort is considered as suffi- 
 ciently cool, it is carried to the Ferment- 
 ing Tuns, or the Fermenting Squares ; 
 some brewers using circular and others 
 rectangular vessels for that purpose. 
 The circular are, in our opinion, de- 
 cidedly the best. Having no corners, 
 
10 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 they are more easily kept clean ; and, 
 in low fermentations, in the winter 
 months, they are less liable to be chilled. 
 The fermenting tuns are commonly 
 termed Gyle-tuns, or Working tuna. 
 
 The size of the sfyle-tun is regulated 
 by the quantity of worts that have to 
 be fermented within it at a time. It must, 
 however, hold more than that quantity, 
 to keep room for the head of yeast 
 which rises during the progress. This 
 head, if the vessel be cylindrical, is in 
 proportion to the depth of the worts, 
 without regard to the diameter of the 
 tun. In certain modes of fermentation 
 it may rise to a third, or even half of 
 that depth. The number of tuns will 
 depend on the more or less rapid suc- 
 cession of the brewings, and the time 
 that they are suffered to remain before 
 cleansing. 
 
 There are differing opinions with re- 
 spect to using open or shut tuns, in the 
 process of fermentation. Patents have 
 been granted for particular applications 
 of the latter mode, both in France and 
 in this country, but of this we shall treat 
 more appropriately when we have to 
 investigate the nature and result of the 
 operation in the gyle-tun. 
 
 § 6. — Of cleansing Casks, Stillions, and 
 Store Vats, 
 
 When the beer has received its as- 
 signed portion of fermentation in the 
 tun, it is cleansed, that is, drawn off 
 into other vessels. These are usually 
 barrels, or other casks of a similar shape, 
 in which the fermentation is finished by 
 causing the yeast to be discharged from 
 the bung- holes into tubs, or stillions, 
 over which the barrels are placed. In 
 order to keep up this purgation until all 
 the yeast is wrought off, the casks are 
 filled up, from time to time, with other 
 beer. Some brewers take another mode, 
 and finish the purgation in the tuns, by 
 skimming off the yeast as it rises, after 
 the fermentation has become languid. 
 The comparative advantage of these 
 modes will come again under our con- 
 sideration. In porter - breweries, the 
 beer, when it has ceased working, is 
 usually turned into large close tuns 
 termed Store- vats, in which it is mixed 
 up with different brewings to suit the 
 taste of the customers. Ale brewers, on 
 the contrary, seldom rack their ale, but 
 send it out in the casks where it re- 
 ceived its final purgation. These prac- 
 tices, however, are in neither case uni- 
 versal. The reasons that determine 
 these and other methods of cellarage. 
 
 in the minds of the several brewers, will 
 afterwards appear. 
 
 § 7. — Of the Arrangement of the Plant. 
 
 The general disposition of the fixed 
 utensils (or pla?it) of a brewery must 
 vary so much with the situation and 
 extent of the building, that we can only 
 give a general outline of the objects to 
 be kept in view: leaving it to be filled up 
 by the judgment of the engineer, or the 
 ability of the proprietor. 
 
 If water cannot be had from a source 
 sufficiently high, it should be raised to a 
 liquor-back in quantity equal at least to 
 one day's consumption, and high enough 
 to command the whole work. Pipes, 
 from this liquor-back, should be carried 
 to every part of the brewery where Ihey 
 may be requisite. The liquor-copper 
 should be the next in elevation, and from 
 it, too, pipes should be carried. Imme- 
 diately under, and as near as possible to 
 the liquor-copper, we would place the 
 mash-tun with a roomy stage, and, on 
 the same floor, or a little higher, the 
 grinding machine — at least that part of 
 it where the ground malt called ^m^ is 
 given out. The mash tun should empty 
 itself directly, by means of a pipe and 
 cock, into the ivort-copper ; this again 
 into the hop-back ; and the hop-back, by 
 means of a pipe or shoot, into the fi>rst 
 cooler. The first cooler should run, if 
 required, into the second, and both 
 should communicate with a horizontal 
 pipe running in front, and as low as the 
 bottom of the gyle-tuns, (for these should 
 be all on a level,) and communicating 
 with each gyle-tun by stopcocks. From 
 this horizontal pipe another should be 
 carried to a contiguous cellar, below 
 ground, which, by the assistance of 
 screw-cocks and leather pipes, might 
 cleanse any of the tuns into the casks. 
 How much of all this can, in any particular 
 case, be accomplished, we have here no 
 means of determining. The plan of 
 fining the gyle-tuns at the bottom in- 
 stead of the top is not usual, but the 
 young brewer will find it very commo- 
 dious. 
 
 We are aware that many of the 
 remarks and recommendations which we 
 have hitherto given, will be considered 
 as impracticable by private gentlemen, 
 for whose use, as well as that of the 
 public brewer, these pages are intended ; 
 but the accurate consideration of every 
 subject has its use, and without this 
 previous analysis we could scarcely hope 
 to render the other parts of our work 
 intelligible. The private brewer may 
 
BREWING. 
 
 11 
 
 have a more scanty store of utensils than 
 those we have enumerated. They may 
 even change their identity : his liquor- 
 copper may become his wort-copper ; 
 his mash- tun may ])e metamorphosed 
 into a gyle-tun ; but he will understand 
 what we mean, when we mention the 
 diiferent names, and will recognize the 
 actors in their changes of character and 
 dress. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 Of Instruments. 
 
 ^ ]. — The Thermometer. 
 
 Brewing is a philosophical art ; and 
 has gained advantages from some of 
 those instruments which philosophy has 
 invented. Few, if any, of the arts de- 
 pend so much on the regulation of heat ; 
 and, notwithstanding, the introduction of 
 the thermometer into the brewery was, 
 we believe, not earlier than the middle 
 of the last century. We are sure that 
 then it was far from general ; and even 
 now it is unknown to nine-tenths of the 
 private brewers. We are not, however, 
 to judge from this circumstance, that 
 our ancestors could not make good beer. 
 They did so, but by no fixed rule. The 
 guess-work often succeeded ; and when, 
 as was frequently the case, a brewing 
 was blinked or otherwise spoiled, the 
 blame was laid upon thunder, or upon 
 witchcraft. Yet, even in those times, 
 there were scientific brewers, who were 
 able to do to-day what they did yester- 
 day, though they could not communi- 
 cate their knowledge. As is said of the 
 blind, — the other senses became more 
 acute from the want of artificial instru- 
 ments ; and the taste, touch, hearing, 
 smell, and sight, were more forcibly put 
 in requisition. We know a public 
 brewer, still in business, in a country 
 town, whose scientific acquirements are 
 of the lowest rank, who exposes only 
 the bottom of his copper to the fire, 
 keeping the sides unco vered and polished ; 
 and who, nevertheless, fixes the heats 
 of his mashing liquor, with surprising 
 exactness, by the sound which his cop- 
 pergives when beat with his knuckles. 
 With all this, he has little or no musical 
 ear. 
 
 'Ihe thermometer is applicable and 
 useful in every stage of the brewing 
 process. It ascertains the heat of the 
 mashing liquor, and of the worts when 
 draining from the mash-tun. In the 
 coolers, it shows when the worts are 
 ready to let down for fermentation ; 
 
 and in the gyle-tun it marks the pro- 
 gress, as far as it is notified by the 
 increase or diminution of the heat. For 
 the latter purpose there are tun-ther- 
 moineters, from three to three and 
 a-half feet long, which can be immersed 
 in the worts, while all that is necessary 
 of the scale overtops the froth of the 
 head. An improved thermometer for 
 the liquor-copper is still a desideratum. 
 In high heats the steam covers the tube 
 and obscures the mercury, so as easily 
 to produce a mistake. We have often 
 proposed, that a red glass bead should 
 be introduced into the tube, which would 
 swim on the top of the metallic fluid ; 
 but we have never been able to find an 
 artist who would undertake to produce 
 such an instrument, though it would 
 certainly procure a ready sale. Per- 
 haps a slight portion of coloured glass- 
 dust might be inserted, so as to answer 
 the purpose. 
 
 § 2. — The Saccharometer. 
 
 The principle and construction of the 
 hydrometer (or areometer) have been 
 already explained in our " Treatise on 
 Hydrostatics." The saccharometer is 
 nothing else but a hydrometer, whose 
 scale is calculated so as to render it pe- 
 culiarly fitted for measuring the specific 
 gravities of worts, as compared with 
 water. The infusion of malt is sweet, 
 and without stopping to investigate 
 whether or not that sweet substance 
 (which is extracted from the malt and 
 increases the weight of the water) is 
 homogeneous with the sugar (Latin 
 saccharum) of the cane, the infusion is 
 termed saccharine ; the additional gra- 
 vity which it exhibits beyond that of 
 water is said to be caused by the saccha- 
 rine matter, and is measured by the 
 saccharometer. 
 
 The first instrument under the name 
 of a saccharometer was constructed, and 
 sold to the trade in 1784, by Mr. John 
 Richardson, then a brewer at Hull. 
 Other saccharometers have since ap- 
 peared with various claims to superi- 
 ority ; but the fundamental principle of 
 all is the same, and though Mr. Rich- 
 ardson's instrument has been theoreti- 
 cally, it has never been practically, im- 
 proved. Extreme nicety is not necessary 
 to the Brewer. What is wanted is a 
 cheap instrument, which might be 
 bought by private families; for we 
 know of none at present that can be had 
 under three guineas, except certain 
 rudely-constructed glass ones, which 
 
12 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 Fii 
 
 have no pretensions to accuracy. We 
 trust that we shall soon be able to sup- 
 ply this deficiency. 
 
 Mr. Richardson's saccharoraeter, if 
 adapted to the imperial gallon, may be 
 thus described : 
 
 The part A (fig. 4) is a hollow ball of 
 copper, having a flat brass stem c d, 
 and a weight a of the same 
 metal affixed by the foot- stalk 
 g h. The weight a is regu- 
 lated so as the instrument 
 shall sink in distilled water of 
 620 to the point b of the scale 
 e b, which is divided into ten 
 equal parts. A barrel (36 
 gallons) of pure water at 62° 
 heat, weighs 360 pounds 
 avoirdupois ; and the instru- 
 ment is so regulated that, if 
 put into a liquid weighing 361 
 pounds per barrel, it would 
 rise to the mark e. Each of 
 the divisions between e and 
 b will then represent tenths 
 of a pound. There are 
 weights (having holes in ^^ 
 their centres) marked 1, 2, ^'^^'^'^ 
 3, 4, 5, 10, 20 and 30. These, respec- 
 tively, represent pounds weight, and are 
 put, as required, on the top of the stem, 
 resting on the projection d. So, for 
 example, if when putting on the weight 
 marked 10, the instrument sinks in a 
 wort to the point b, a barrel of that wort, 
 at the heat above specified, w^ould weigh 
 exactly ten pounds more than a barrel 
 of pure water. If the instrument shall 
 cut the surface at two of the divisions 
 below the point b, in that case a barrel 
 of the liquid would weigh 1 0.2 lb. more 
 than a barrel of water — that is, 370.2 
 pounds. The length of the instrument 
 is about eight inches, to which the ball 
 is proportioned, as in the figure. The 
 worts are understood to be cooled down 
 to a certain heat (in our description 62"), 
 and an allowance is made at other heats, 
 as directed, by a table which accom- 
 panies the instrument. 
 
 The water used by the Brewer is sel- 
 dom or never pure, but is often a tenth, 
 and sometimes a half of a pound 
 weightier per barrel. This should be 
 kept in mind in taking the gravities of 
 the worts, or the instrument may be 
 regulated to the water by shortening a /« ; 
 the part g sliding into tlie socket^ ^. 
 
 The common hydrometers, instead of 
 proportioning the specifi.c gravities of 
 fluids to 360 parts of water, as is here 
 done, compare them with 1000 parts; 
 as may be seen in the Table of Specific 
 
 Gravities, given in the Treatise on Hy- 
 drostatics. The principle, nevertheless, 
 is the same. Sea-water, for example, 
 in that table, is marked 1028, while dis- 
 tilled water is 1000: that is, the same 
 measure of the latter which would weigh 
 1000 ounces, or pounds, would, if filled 
 with sea-water, weigh 1028. If we wish 
 to reduce the saccharometer indications 
 to the proportion of a thousand, we have 
 only to multiply them by 21, because 
 1000 is 2^ times 360. Thus a wort 
 which shows 9 lb. by the saccharometer 
 is equal to 25 parts'of 1000, and in the 
 table of gravities would be written 1025. 
 But the Brewer never adds the weight 
 of the water when speaking of his worts. 
 A wort, the barrel of which weighs 370 
 pounds, is merely called a ten pound 
 wort, and in this way all his calculations 
 are made. 
 
 For the convenience of those who 
 wish to compare specific gravities gene- 
 rally, as they appear in philosophical 
 works, we subjoin the following table. 
 The figures of the left hand marginal 
 column are understood to be pounds ; 
 and those of Ihe upper horizontal line, 
 tenths of a pound weight, per barrel, as 
 indicated by the common saccharometer. 
 The body of the table contains specific 
 gravities, extending to tenths and cor- 
 responding with the different weights, 
 ''water being reckoned 1000. An ex- 
 ample or two will be sufficient to show 
 the mode of consultation. 
 
 Suppose we have a wort of 141b., 
 and wish to know its specific gravity. 
 In the left-hand margin we find 14 ; and 
 next to that in the adjoining column 
 marked at top by a cypher, there being 
 no tenths, we find 1038,9, the specific 
 gravity required. Again, let the sac- 
 charometer-weight be 32.4 lb. Oppo- 
 site to 32, in the margin, and in the 
 same horizontal line, in the column 
 headed .4, we have 1090, for the equi- 
 valent specific gravity ; and thus that 
 of any wort under 50 pounds weight 
 may readily be found. 
 
 The reverse of this comparison is 
 equally easy. Thus, suppose we have 
 a wort which shows a specific gravity of 
 1109.5 by the common hydrometer; 
 and we want to know how many pounds 
 heavier a barrel of such worts is than 
 a barrel of water : we seek, in the body 
 of the table, for the nearest number to 
 11 09.5, which we find to be 1 109.4. ^ This 
 sura is in the column headed .4, in the 
 horizontal line with the left-hand nvargin 
 39 ; and therefore 39.4 is the weight 
 sought for. 
 
BREWING. 
 
 13 
 
 TABLE FOR REDUCING POUNDS AND TENTHS OF ADDITIONAL GRAVITY 
 PER BARREL INTO PARTS OF 1000. 
 
 lib 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 .0 
 
 .1 
 
 .2 
 
 .3 
 
 .4 
 
 .5 
 
 .6 
 
 .7 
 
 .8 
 
 .9 
 
 1000. 
 
 1000.3 
 
 1000.6 
 
 1000.8 
 
 1001.1 
 
 1001.4 
 
 1001.7 
 
 1001.9 
 
 1002.2 
 
 1002.5 
 
 1 
 
 1002.8 
 
 1003.1 
 
 1003.3 
 
 1003.0 
 
 1003.9 
 
 1004.2 
 
 1004.4 
 
 1004.7 
 
 1005.0 
 
 1005.3 
 
 2 
 
 1005.6 
 
 1005.8 
 
 1006.1 
 
 1006.4 
 
 1006.7 
 
 1006.9 
 
 1007.2 
 
 1007.5 
 
 1007.8 
 
 1008.1 
 
 3 
 
 1008.3 
 
 1008.6 
 
 1008.9 
 
 1009.2 
 
 1009.4 
 
 1009.7 
 
 1010.0 
 
 1010.3 
 
 1010.6 
 
 1010.8 
 
 4 
 
 1011.1 
 
 1011.4 
 
 1011.7 
 
 1011.9 
 
 1012.2 
 
 1012.5 
 
 1012.8 
 
 1013.1 
 
 1013.3 
 
 1013.6 
 
 5 
 
 1013.9 
 
 1014.2 
 
 1014.4 
 
 1014.7 
 
 1015.0 
 
 1015.3 
 
 1015.6 
 
 1015.8 
 
 1016.1 
 
 1016.4 
 
 6 
 
 1016.7 
 
 1016.9 
 
 1017.2 
 
 1017.5 
 
 1017.8 
 
 1018.1 
 
 1018.3 
 
 1018.6 
 
 1018.9 
 
 1019.2 
 
 7 
 
 1019.4 
 
 1019.7 
 
 1020.0 
 
 1020.3 
 
 1020.6 
 
 1020.8 
 
 1021.1 
 
 1021.4 
 
 1021.7 
 
 1021.9 
 
 8 
 
 1022.2 
 
 1022.5 
 
 1022.8 
 
 1023.1 
 
 1023.3 
 
 1023.6 
 
 1023.9 
 
 1024.2 
 
 1024.4 
 
 1024.7 
 
 9 
 
 1025.0 
 
 1025.3 
 
 1025.6 
 
 1025.8 
 
 1020.1 
 
 1020.4 
 
 1026.7 
 
 1026.9 
 
 1027.2 
 
 1027.5 
 
 10 
 
 1027.8 
 
 1028.1 
 
 1028.3 
 
 1028.6 
 
 1028.9 
 
 1029.2 
 
 1029.4 
 
 1029.7 
 
 1030.0 
 
 1030.3 
 
 11 
 
 1030.6 
 
 1030.8 
 
 1031.1 
 
 1031.4 
 
 1031.7 
 
 1031.9 
 
 1032.2 
 
 1032.5 
 
 1032.8 
 
 1033.1 
 
 12 
 
 1033.3 
 
 1033.0 
 
 1033.9 
 
 1034.2 
 
 1034.4 
 
 1034.7 
 
 1035.0 
 
 1035.3 
 
 1035.6 
 
 1035.8 
 
 13 
 
 103G.1 
 
 1036.4 
 
 1036.7 
 
 1036.9 
 
 1037.2 
 
 1037.5 
 
 1037.8 
 
 1038.1 
 
 1038.3 
 
 1038.6 
 
 14 
 
 1038.9 
 
 1039.2 
 
 1039.4 
 
 1039.7 
 
 1040.0 
 
 1040.3 
 
 1040.6 
 
 1040.8 
 
 1041.1 
 
 1041.4 
 
 15 
 
 1 04 1 . 7 
 
 1041.9 
 
 1042.2 
 
 1042.5 
 
 1042.8 
 
 1043.1 
 
 1043.3 
 
 1043.6 
 
 1043.9 
 
 1044.2 
 
 16 
 
 1044.4 
 
 1044.7 
 
 1045.0 
 
 1045.3 
 
 1045.6 
 
 1045.8 
 
 1046.1 
 
 1046.4 
 
 1046.7 
 
 1046.9 
 
 17 
 
 1047.2 
 
 1047.5 
 
 1047.8 
 
 1043.1 
 
 1048.3 
 
 1048.6 
 
 1048.9 
 
 1049.2 
 
 1049.4 
 
 1049.7 
 
 18 
 
 1050.0 
 
 1050.3 
 
 1050.6 
 
 1050.8 
 
 1051.1 
 
 1051.4 
 
 1051.7 
 
 1051.9 
 
 1052.2 
 
 1052.5 
 
 19 
 
 1052.8 
 
 1053.1 
 
 1053.3 
 
 1053.6 
 
 1053.9 
 
 1054.2 
 
 1054.4 
 
 1054.7 
 
 1055.0 
 
 1055.3 
 
 20 
 
 1055.6 
 
 1055.8 
 
 1056.1 
 
 1056.4 
 
 1056.7 
 
 1056.9 
 
 1057.2 
 
 1057.5 
 
 105-7.8 
 
 1058.1 
 
 21 
 
 1058.3 
 
 1058.6 
 
 1058.9 
 
 1059.2 
 
 1059.4 
 
 1059.7 
 
 1060.0 
 
 1060.3 
 
 1060.6 
 
 1060.8 
 
 22 
 
 1061.1 
 
 1061.4 
 
 1061.7 
 
 1061.9 
 
 1062.2 
 
 1062.5 
 
 1062.8 
 
 1063.1 
 
 1063.3 
 
 1063.6 
 
 23 
 
 1063.9 
 
 1064.2 
 
 1064.4 
 
 1064.7 
 
 1065.0 
 
 1065.3 
 
 1065.6 
 
 1065.8 
 
 1066.1 
 
 1066.4 
 
 24 
 
 1065.7 
 
 1066.9 
 
 1067.2 
 
 1067.5 
 
 106 7.8 
 
 1068.1 
 
 1068.3 
 
 1068.6 
 
 10G8.9 
 
 1069.2 
 
 25 
 
 1069.4 
 
 1009.7 
 
 1070.0 
 
 1070.3 
 
 1070.6 
 
 1070.8 
 
 1071.1 
 
 1071.4 
 
 1071.7 
 
 1071.9 
 
 2G 
 
 1072.2 
 
 1072.5 
 
 1072.8 
 
 1073.1 
 
 1073.3 
 
 1073.6 
 
 1073.9 
 
 1074.2 
 
 1074.4 
 
 1074.7 
 
 27 
 
 1075.0 
 
 1075.3 
 
 1075.6 
 
 1075.8 
 
 1070.1 
 
 1076.4 
 
 1076.7 
 
 1076.9 
 
 1077.2 
 
 1077.5 
 
 28 
 
 1077.8 
 
 1078.1 
 
 1078.3 
 
 1078.6 
 
 1078.9 
 
 1079.2 
 
 1079.4 
 
 1079.7 
 
 1080.0 
 
 1080.3 
 
 29 
 
 1080.6 
 
 1080.8 
 
 1081.1 
 
 1081.4 
 
 1081.7 
 
 1081.9 
 
 1082.2 
 
 1082.5 
 
 1082.8 
 
 1083.1 
 
 30 
 
 1083.3 
 
 1083.6 
 
 1083.9 
 
 1084.2 
 
 1084.4 
 
 1084.7 
 
 1085.0 
 
 1085.3 
 
 1085.6 
 
 1085.8 
 
 31 
 
 1080.1 
 
 1086.4 
 
 1086.7 
 
 1086.9 
 
 1087.2 
 
 1087.5 
 
 1087.8 
 
 1088.1 
 
 1088.3 
 
 1088.0 
 
 32 
 
 1088.9 
 
 1089.2 
 
 1089.4 
 
 1089.7 
 
 1090.0 
 
 1090.3 
 
 1090.6 
 
 1090.8 
 
 1091.1 
 
 1091.4 
 
 33 
 
 1091.7 
 
 1091.9 
 
 1092.2 
 
 1092.5 
 
 1092.8 
 
 1093.1 
 
 1093.3 
 
 1093.6 
 
 1093.9 
 
 1094.2 
 
 34 
 
 1094.4 
 
 1094.7 
 
 1095.0 
 
 1095.3 
 
 1095.6 
 
 1095.8 
 
 1096.1 
 
 1096.4 
 
 1096.7 
 
 1096.9 
 
 35 
 
 1097.2 
 
 1097.5 
 
 1097.8 
 
 1098.1 
 
 1098.3 
 
 1098.6 
 
 1098.9 
 
 1099.2 
 
 1099.4 
 
 1099.7 
 
 36 
 
 1100.0 
 
 1100.3 
 
 1100.6 
 
 1100.8 
 
 1101.1 
 
 1101.4 
 
 1101.7 
 
 1101.9 
 
 1102.2 
 
 1102.5 
 
 37 
 
 1102.8 
 
 1103.1 
 
 1103.3 
 
 1103.6 
 
 1103.9 
 
 1104.2 
 
 1104.4 
 
 1104.7 
 
 1105.0 
 
 1105.3 
 
 38 
 
 1105.6 
 
 1105.8 
 
 1106.1 
 
 1106.4 
 
 1106.7 
 
 1106.9 
 
 1107.2 
 
 1107.5 
 
 1107.8 
 
 1108.1 
 
 39 
 
 1108.3 
 
 1108.6 
 
 1108.9 
 
 1109.2 
 
 1109.4 
 
 1109.7 
 
 1110.0 
 
 1110.3 
 
 1110.6 
 
 1110.8 
 
 40 
 
 1111.1 
 
 1111.4 
 
 nil .7 
 
 1111.9 
 
 1112.2 
 
 1112.5 
 
 1112.8 
 
 1113.1 
 
 1113.3 
 
 1113.6 
 
 41 
 
 1113.9 
 
 1114.2 
 
 1114.4 
 
 1114.7 
 
 1115.0 
 
 1115.3 
 
 1115.6 
 
 1115.8 
 
 1116.1 
 
 1116.4 
 
 -12 
 
 1116.7 
 
 1116.9 
 
 1117.2 
 
 1117.5 
 
 1117.8 
 
 1118.1 
 
 1118.3 
 
 1118.6 
 
 1118.9 
 
 1119.2 
 
 43 
 
 1119.4 
 
 1119.7 
 
 1120.0 
 
 1120.3 
 
 1120.6 
 
 1120.8 
 
 1121.1 
 
 1121.4 
 
 1121.7 
 
 1121.9 
 
 44 
 
 1122.2 
 
 1122.5 
 
 1122.8 
 
 1123.1 
 
 1123.3 
 
 1123.6 
 
 1123.9 
 
 1124.2 
 
 1124.4 
 
 1124.7 
 
 45 
 
 1125.0 
 
 1125.3 
 
 1 1 25 . 6 
 
 1125.8 
 
 1126.1 
 
 1126.4 
 
 1126.7 
 
 1126.9 
 
 1127.2 
 
 1127.5 
 
 46 
 
 1127.8 
 
 1128.1 
 
 1128.3 
 
 1123.6 
 
 1128.9 
 
 1129.2 
 
 1129.4 
 
 1129.7 
 
 1130.0 
 
 1130.3 
 
 47 
 
 1130.6 
 
 1130.8 
 
 1131.1 
 
 1131.4 
 
 1131.7 
 
 1131.9 
 
 1132.2 
 
 1132.5 
 
 1132.8 
 
 1133.1 
 
 48 
 
 1133.3 
 
 1133.6 
 
 1133.9 
 
 1134.2 
 
 1134.4 
 
 1134.7 
 
 1135.0 
 
 1135.3 
 
 1135.6 
 
 1135.8 
 
 49 
 
 1136.1 
 
 1136.4 
 
 1136.7|1136.9 
 
 1137.2 
 
 1137.5 
 
 1137.8 
 
 113S.l|ll38.3 
 
 1138.6 
 
14 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 § 3. — Assay Jars. 
 These are used for the purpose of hold- 
 ing the worts which are to be weighed by 
 the saccharometer. Their number is not 
 hmited, and may be only one or half a 
 dozen, if it be wished to keep samples of 
 the several worts. They are cylindric 
 vessels of common tinned iron, about 
 eight inches long and two and a-half 
 diameter, which size gives sufficient space 
 to swim the saccharometer. They have 
 each a small handle and a lid, as repre- 
 sented in^g. 5. 
 
 Fig, 5, 
 
 § 4. — Refrigerator. 
 
 This is a very necessary article; for 
 though the saccharometers are usually 
 accompanied with tables of expansion to 
 show the allowance for the heat above 
 or below sixty degrees, yet the worts 
 can never be properly weighed, on ac- 
 count of the steam, until they are brought 
 down to 90 at most. This refrigerator 
 is so well described by Mr. Richardson, 
 that we cannot do better than give it in 
 his own words : — 
 
 " This instrument may be made of 
 tin, and being intended to contain no 
 more than the quantity of an assay-jar 
 full, its dimensions may be nine or ten 
 inches deep, and its breadth seven inches 
 one way, and half an inch the other, 
 forming abroad and flat, or thin vessel, 
 resembling a tin case, sometimes made 
 use of for the preservation of deeds or 
 other writings. (See/^. 6.) The rea- 
 
 son of its being made thus thin is, 
 that when charged with hot wort, and 
 plunged into cold water, the effect of 
 the cold may be almost instantaneous, 
 which is nearly the case ; for the quan- 
 tity of wort being less than a pint, and 
 the surface brought into contact with the 
 cold water (the intervention of the tin 
 only excepted), containing about 140 
 square inches, it may easily be conceived 
 how rapidly the heat must be dissipated. 
 " The upper part should have a 
 lip a for the more conveniently pour- 
 ing out the wort ; and on the oppo- 
 site side should be a socket, to which 
 a handle, b, should be soldered. The 
 use of the socket is to receive a stick, 
 of any convenient length, c, which 
 is to fix in the socket by a pin, in the 
 same manner as a bayonet is fixed ; by 
 which means it may be fastened in, 
 when the refrigerator is to be dipped 
 Fig. 6. 
 
BREWING. 
 
 into the copper, and taken out, as an 
 incumbrance, when it is charged with 
 wort. It is to have two Hds, or covers, 
 d and e, the rims of which are to slip 
 within the edge of the vessel, as is re- 
 commended for those of the assay-jars. 
 One of the covers is to be perforated 
 full of small holes, in order to admit the 
 wort, and at the same time to prevent 
 the hops from entering ; the other is to 
 be whole, and is intended to supply the 
 place of the first the moment it is taken 
 out of the copper. 
 
 " The length of the stick inserted in 
 the socket is entirely to be determined 
 by circumstances, it being intended only 
 as the means of holding the refrigerator 
 in the wort, till it is filled without endan- 
 gering the hand from the steam. 
 
 " It should have a .broad flat bottom, 
 /, in order to enable it to stand upright, 
 otherwise there would be a necessity of 
 supporting it in that position."* 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 Of Solutions and Mixtures, 
 
 § 1. — Of Solutions. 
 "When a solid substance is dissolved 
 in a liquid, the specific gravity of the 
 compound is not increased by the whole 
 weight of the solid dissolved. Part goes 
 to the increase of bulk, and this increase 
 differs with the nature of the bodies so 
 united, in such a manner as not to be* 
 included under any general law that has 
 been hitherto discovered. There is a 
 marked distinction between mechanical 
 and chemical union. A substance, for 
 example, which has the same specific 
 gravity as water would be suspended in 
 that fluid, and, if reduced to dust, might 
 be thoroughly mixed ; but the mixture 
 would be turbid, and the specific gravity 
 of the water would remain the same. 
 The suspended particles would increase 
 the bulk exactly in proportion to the 
 added weight. In chemical unions, how- 
 ever, (although we are pretty ignorant 
 of their cause,) it is otherwise. In the 
 mixture of fluids we are uncertain, pre- 
 vious to experiment, whether their vo- 
 lume will be increased or diminished. 
 In certain proportions of alcohol and 
 water, the diminution of bulk is about 
 three per cent., and, as might be ex- 
 pected from theory, heat is produced. 
 The solution, notwithstanding, remains 
 transparent, without deposition. The 
 
 * " Richardson's Philosophical Principles of the 
 Science of Brewing." ll^S, 
 
 alcohol and the #ateF%.are 
 neither is decomposed. 
 
 The manner in which the hofr lic^ijiM^ 
 absorbs the substance, termed saccfia-- 
 rine, from the malt, has not been suffi- 
 ciently observed. It would appear, from 
 a few circumstances which have been 
 noted, that there exists a condensation 
 during the absorption, and that caloric 
 is evolved ; for the heat of the mash is 
 often considerably above the mean of the 
 ingredients. This, however, may be 
 occasioned by the action of Saccharifica- 
 tion, of which we shall afterwards have 
 occasion to speak. 
 
 However all these things may be, it is 
 certain that the weight of the dry sub- 
 stance extracted from the malt is much 
 greater than that which is communi- 
 cated to the specific gravity of the worts ; 
 for, if we were to take a barrel of worts 
 which weighed 380 pounds, that is, 
 twenty pounds more than water (as 
 might be shown either by the saccharo- 
 meter or by actual weighing) ; and were 
 we to evaporate the water at a low heat 
 until nothing remained but a dry resi- 
 duum, that residuum would probably be 
 found to weigh about fifty -two pounds : 
 at least, this is nearly the result of expe- 
 riments that have been made. The 
 specific gravity of this residuum is stated 
 by Dr. Thomson to be 1.532; but, we 
 beUeve, he was never able to procure it 
 in a solid form. At any rate, as we 
 shall have afterwards to speak of the 
 nature of malt extracts, we shall take 
 our illustration of the present subject 
 from the solution of sugar. 
 
 Pure sugar, dry and without vacui- 
 ties, has a specific gravity of about 1.6, 
 compared with water as unity ; that is, 
 a gallon measure of this sugar would 
 weigh sixteen pounds, while water weighs 
 only ten. If, then, we put one gallon 
 measure of this solid sugar into thirty- 
 five gallons of water, we shall (setting 
 aside concentration, if there be any) have 
 thirty-six gallons, or a barrel, of a solu- 
 tion, which will weigh sixteen pounds 
 more than the water with which the 
 sugar was mixed. If, instead of the 
 gallon of sugar, we had put in another 
 gallon of water to fill the barrel, we 
 should then have added only ten pounds 
 to the weight of the thirty- five gallons ; 
 so that we have a barrel, of sugar wort, 
 which weighs six pounds more than a 
 barrel of water will do ; and these six 
 pounds are all that are shown by the 
 saccharometer. In the one case we 
 have 
 
16 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 35 gallons of water, at 10 lbs. per gallon 
 And 1 gallon of solid sugar, at 16 lb. per gallon 
 
 350 lb. 
 16 
 
 Or 36 gallons of a solution weighing . . . 366 
 In the other 36 gallons of water, weighing 360 
 
 The difference of weight being 6 lbs. 
 
 A barrel, therefore, of a fluid mixture 
 of suf^ar and water, which weighs six 
 pounds more than a barrel of wa- 
 ter, contains sixteen pounds of pure 
 sugar; and this proportion of six to 
 sixteen is found to prevail, with little 
 variation, whatever be the quantity of 
 sugar dissolved, as long as the fluidity 
 is preserved. Thus a wort of 14 pounds 
 would contain nearly 37^ pounds of 
 sugar; because 14 is to 37^ in the ratio 
 of 6 to 16. 
 
 When Mr. Richardson constructed 
 his saccharometer, he was not aware of 
 the distinction between the specific gra- 
 vity of a wort and the quantity of sac- 
 charum which it contained. He mistook 
 the one for the other, and uniformly 
 spoke of a barrel of wort of ten, twenty, 
 or any other number of pounds, as con- 
 taining the same number of pounds' 
 weight of fermentable matter. Further, 
 however, than this misnomer, his instru- 
 ment was accurately as well as ingeni- 
 ously contrived ; and we still consider it 
 to be as well adapted to the brewery as 
 any one that has succeeded it. Pounds 
 and tenths of a pound per barrel are 
 
 near enough for the purpose of the 
 brewer, without having recourse to slid- 
 ing rules, in the use of which he may 
 be apt to err. Besides, this propor- 
 tional specific gravity is accurately true 
 and obvious to his understanding ; 
 whereas the real amount of fermentajjle 
 matter, the discovery of which depends 
 upon experiments that he cannot verify, 
 is in every case an approximation or 
 guess-work, rather than a certainty. The 
 following Table will, at all events, en- 
 able him, if he wishes it, to turn his 
 weights into real fermentable matter^ 
 according to the average of the scales of 
 the more recent saccharometers. The 
 method of consultation is the same as 
 in the Table of specific gravities at page 
 13. The left-hand marginal column 
 gives the pounds, and the upper hori- 
 zontal fine the tenths of a pound of gra- 
 vity per barrel; and the body of the 
 Table, in the squares to which the side 
 and top figures respectively point, con- 
 tain the corresponding qualities of dry 
 saccharine matter, which those gravities 
 are supposed to indicate, expressed also 
 in pounds and decimals of a pound. 
 
BREWING. 
 
 17 
 
 TABLE OF POUNDS OF FERMENTABLE MATTER CORRESPONDING TO THE 
 POUNDS PER BARREL OF GRAVITY; AVERAGED FROM THE MODERN 
 SACCHAROMETERS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 .1 
 
 .2 
 
 .3 
 
 .4 
 
 .5 
 
 .6 
 
 .7 
 1.76 
 
 .8 
 
 .9 
 
 
 .25 
 
 .50 
 
 .76 
 
 1.01 
 
 1.26 
 
 1.51 
 
 2.02 
 
 2.27 
 
 1 
 
 2.52 
 
 2.77 
 
 3.02 
 
 3.28 
 
 3.53 
 
 3.78 
 
 4.03 
 
 4.28 
 
 4.54 
 
 4.79 
 
 2 
 
 5.04 
 
 5.29 
 
 5.54 
 
 5.80 
 
 6.05 
 
 6.30 
 
 6.55 
 
 6.80 
 
 7.06 
 
 7.31 
 
 3 
 
 7.56 
 
 7.81 
 
 8.06 
 
 8.32 
 
 8.57 
 
 8.84 
 
 9.09 
 
 9.32 
 
 9.58 
 
 9.83 
 
 4 
 
 10.08 
 
 10.33 
 
 10.58 
 
 10.84 
 
 11.09 
 
 11,34 
 
 11.59 
 
 11.84 
 
 12,10 
 
 12.35 
 
 5 
 
 12.60 
 
 12.85 
 
 13.10 
 
 13.36 
 
 13.61 
 
 13.86 
 
 14.11 
 
 14.36 
 
 14,62 
 
 14,87 
 
 6 
 
 15.12 
 
 15.37 
 
 15.62 
 
 15.88 
 
 16.13 
 
 16.38 
 
 16.63 
 
 16.88 
 
 17.14 
 
 17.39 
 
 7 
 
 17.64 
 
 17.89 
 
 18.14 
 
 18.40 
 
 18.65 
 
 18.90 
 
 19.15 
 
 19.40 
 
 19.66 
 
 19.91 
 
 8 
 
 20.16 
 
 20,41 
 
 20.66 
 
 20.92 
 
 21.17 
 
 21.42 
 
 21.67 
 
 21.92 
 
 22.18 
 
 22.43 
 
 9 
 
 22.68 
 
 22.93 
 
 23.18 
 
 23.44 
 
 23.69 
 
 23.94 
 
 24.19 
 
 24.44 
 
 24.70 
 
 24.95 
 
 10 
 
 25.20 
 
 25.45 
 
 25.70 
 
 25.96 
 
 26.21 
 
 26.46 
 
 26.71 
 
 26.96 
 
 27.22 
 
 27.47 
 
 11 
 
 27.72 
 
 27.97 
 
 28.22 
 
 28.48 
 
 28.73 
 
 28.98 
 
 29.23 
 
 29.48 
 
 29.74 
 
 29.99 
 
 12 
 
 30.24 
 
 30.49 
 
 30.74 
 
 31.00 
 
 31.25 
 
 31.50 
 
 31.75 
 
 32.00 
 
 32.26 
 
 32.51 
 
 13 
 
 32.76 
 
 33.01 
 
 33.26 
 
 33.52 
 
 33.77 
 
 34.02 
 
 34.27 
 
 34.52 
 
 34.78 
 
 35 . 03 
 
 14 
 
 35.28 
 
 35.53 
 
 35.78 
 
 36.04 
 
 36.29 
 
 36.54 
 
 36.79 
 
 37.04 
 
 37.30 
 
 37.55 
 
 15 
 
 37.80 
 
 38.05 
 
 38.30 
 
 38.56 
 
 38.81 
 
 39.06 
 
 39.31 
 
 39.56 
 
 39.82 
 
 40.07 
 
 16 
 
 40.32 
 
 40.57 
 
 40.82 
 
 41.08 
 
 41.33 
 
 41.58 
 
 41.83 
 
 42.08 
 
 42.34 
 
 42.59 
 
 17 
 
 42.84 
 
 43.09 
 
 43.34 
 
 43.60 
 
 43.85 
 
 44.10 
 
 44.35 
 
 44.60 
 
 44.86 
 
 45.11 
 
 18 
 
 45.36 
 
 45.61 
 
 45.86 
 
 46.12 
 
 46.37 
 
 46.62 
 
 46.87 
 
 47.12 
 
 47.38 
 
 47.63 
 
 19 
 
 47.88 
 
 48.13 
 
 48.38 
 
 48.64 
 
 48.89 
 
 49.14 
 
 49.39 
 
 49.64 
 
 49.90 
 
 50.15 
 
 20 
 
 50.40 
 
 50.65 
 
 50.90 
 
 51.16 
 
 51.41 
 
 51.66 
 
 51.91 
 
 52.16 
 
 52.42 
 
 52.67 
 
 21 
 
 52.92 
 
 53.17 
 
 53.42 
 
 53.68 
 
 53.93 
 
 54.18 
 
 54.43 
 
 54.68 
 
 54.94 
 
 55.19 
 
 22 
 
 55.44 
 
 55.69 
 
 55.94 
 
 56.20 
 
 56.45 
 
 56.70 
 
 56.95 
 
 57.20 
 
 57.46 
 
 57.71 
 
 23 
 
 57.96 
 
 58.21 
 
 58.46 
 
 58.72 
 
 58.97 
 
 59.22 
 
 59.47 
 
 59.72 
 
 59.98 
 
 60.23 
 
 24 
 
 60.48 
 
 60.73 
 
 60.98 
 
 61.24 
 
 61.49 
 
 61.74 
 
 61.99 
 
 62.24 
 
 62.50 
 
 62.75 
 
 25 
 
 63.00 
 
 63.25 
 
 63.50 
 
 63.76 
 
 64.01 
 
 64.26 
 
 64.51 
 
 64.76 
 
 65.02 
 
 65.27 
 
 26 
 
 65.52 
 
 65.77 
 
 66.02 
 
 66.28 
 
 66.53 
 
 66.78 
 
 67.03 
 
 67.28 
 
 67.54 
 
 67.79 
 
 27 
 
 68.04 
 
 68.29 
 
 68.54 
 
 68.80 
 
 69.05 
 
 69.30 
 
 69.55 
 
 69.80 
 
 70.06 
 
 70,31 
 
 28 
 
 70.56 
 
 70.81 
 
 71.06 
 
 71.32 
 
 71.57 
 
 71.82 
 
 72.07 
 
 72.32 
 
 72.58 
 
 72.83 
 
 29 
 
 73.08 
 
 73.33 
 
 73.58 
 
 73.84 
 
 74.09 
 
 74.34 
 
 74.59 
 
 74.84 
 
 75.10 
 
 75.35 
 
 30 
 
 75.60 
 
 75.85 
 
 76.10 
 
 76.36 
 
 76.61 
 
 76.86 
 
 77.11 
 
 77.36 
 
 77.62 
 
 77.87 
 
 31 
 
 78.12 
 
 78.37 
 
 78.62 
 
 78.88 
 
 79.13 
 
 79.38 
 
 79.63 
 
 79.88 
 
 80.14 
 
 80.39 
 
 32 
 
 80.64 
 
 80.89 
 
 81.14 
 
 81.40 
 
 81.65 
 
 81.90 
 
 82,15 
 
 82.40 
 
 82.66 
 
 82.91 
 
 33 
 
 83.16 
 
 83.41 
 
 83.66 
 
 83.92 
 
 84.17 
 
 84.42 
 
 84.67 
 
 84.92 
 
 85.18 
 
 85.43 
 
 34 
 
 85.68 
 
 85.93 
 
 86.18 
 
 86.44 
 
 86.69 
 
 86.94 
 
 87.19 
 
 87.44 
 
 87.70 
 
 87.95 
 
 35 
 
 88.20 
 
 88.45 
 
 88.70 
 
 88.96 
 
 89.21 
 
 89.46 
 
 89.71 
 
 89.96 
 
 90.22 
 
 90.47 
 
 36 
 
 90.72 
 
 90.97 
 
 91.22 
 
 91.48 
 
 91.73 
 
 91.98 
 
 92.23 
 
 92.48 
 
 92.74 
 
 92.99 
 
 37 
 
 93.24 
 
 93.49 
 
 93,74 
 
 94.00 
 
 94.25 
 
 94.50 
 
 94.75 
 
 95.00 
 
 95.26 
 
 95.51 
 
 38 
 
 95.76 
 
 96.01 
 
 96.26 
 
 96.52 
 
 96.77 
 
 97.02 
 
 97.27 
 
 97.52 
 
 97.78 
 
 98.03 
 
 39 
 
 98.28 
 
 98.53 
 
 98.78 
 
 99.04 
 
 99.29 
 
 99.54 
 
 99.79 
 
 100.04 
 
 100.30 
 
 100.55 
 
 40 
 
 100.80 
 
 101.05 
 
 101.30 
 
 101.56 
 
 101.81 
 
 102.06 
 
 102.31 
 
 102.56 
 
 102.82 
 
 103.07 
 
 41 
 
 103.32 
 
 103.57 
 
 103.82 
 
 104.08 
 
 104.33 
 
 104.58 
 
 104.83 
 
 105.08 
 
 105.34 
 
 105.59 
 
 42 
 
 105.84 
 
 106.09 
 
 106.34 
 
 106,60 
 
 106.85 
 
 107.10 
 
 107.35 
 
 107.60 
 
 107.86 
 
 108.11 
 
 43 
 
 108.36 
 
 108.61 
 
 108.86 
 
 109.12 
 
 109.37 
 
 109.62 
 
 109.87 
 
 110,12 
 
 110.38 
 
 110.63 
 
 44 
 
 110.88 
 
 111.13 
 
 111.38 
 
 111.64 
 
 111.89 
 
 112.14 
 
 112.39 
 
 112.64 
 
 112.90 
 
 113.15 
 
 45 
 
 113.40 
 
 113.65 
 
 113.90 
 
 114.16 
 
 114.41 
 
 114.66 
 
 114.91 
 
 115,16 
 
 115.42 
 
 115.67 
 
 46 
 
 115.92 
 
 116.17 
 
 116.42 
 
 116.68 
 
 116.93 
 
 117,18 
 
 117.43 
 
 117,68 
 
 117.94 
 
 118.19 
 
 47 
 
 118.44 
 
 118.69 
 
 118.94 
 
 117.20 
 
 119.45 
 
 119,70 
 
 119.95 
 
 120,20 
 
 120.46 
 
 120.71 
 
 48 
 
 120.96 
 
 121.21 
 
 121.46 
 
 119,72 
 
 121.97 
 
 122.22 
 
 122.47 122,72 
 
 122.98 
 
 123.23 
 
 49 
 
 123.48 
 
 123.73 
 
 123.98 
 
 122,24 
 
 124,49 
 
 124,74 
 
 124.99 125.24 125.50 
 
 125.75 
 
1§ 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 $ 2. — Mixture of Worts. 
 
 The different extracts from malt, if 
 properly taken, seem to be homogene- 
 ous. Whatever be their gravity they 
 unite readily with each other, as well as 
 with water, in all proportions ; and the 
 mixture is invariably a mean between 
 two extracts with regard to speeitic 
 gravity, and equal to both in quantity. 
 This regularity in their union renders it 
 an easy task for the brewer to increase, 
 or diminish the gravity of his worts at 
 pleasure ; and, as far as strength is 
 concerned, to fix the value of his beer. 
 We shall here give a few examples of 
 the manner of making up strengths ; in 
 order to save repetitions when we make 
 our statements of different brewings : — 
 When there is only one kind of beer 
 made from the same goods (what is 
 termed Entire Gyles) the mixture of 
 worts requires no calculation. The 
 strength is fixed by the union of the 
 whole ; and if that strength be too small 
 there is no remedy but to boil longer, 
 or to be more careful when we mash 
 for another brewing. If the strength 
 of the whole be too great, they may be 
 brought down by letting water into the 
 wort-copper ; but this practice is clumsy, 
 and wasteful : for something better might 
 have been got from the goods by sprink- 
 ling, if done before the chance of acidity. 
 It is when two qualities of beer (such 
 as strong and small) are made from the 
 same brewing, that the mixing of the 
 worts requires particular calculation. 
 It is to be premised, in the outset, that 
 the brewer must have tables of the con- 
 tents of his coppers and working tuns 
 for every inch of their depth, and of the 
 coolers for every tenth of an inch. In 
 public breweries these tables are all 
 drawn up by the excise, in barrels, fir- 
 kins, and gallons ; but it will be found 
 more convenient by the brewer, if they 
 are calculated in barrels and tenths, 
 which is minute enough for the pur- 
 pose which we have now in view to 
 explain. 
 
 Suppose Barrels, lb. gravity. 
 
 1st Wort 12 at 35 = 420 
 
 2d Wort 14 at 20 = 280 
 
 3d Wort 14 at 6 := 84 
 
 40 at 19.6av. =-784 
 
 Here we have forty barrels of wort, 
 which, if all mixed, would average 
 19.6 lbs. per barrel. This would be 
 too weak for ale, and too strong for 
 small beer. Let the worts, therefore, 
 
 be mixed up in other proportions, such 
 as the following: — 
 
 Barrels, lb. gravity. 
 1st Wort 12 at 35 = 420 
 2d Wort 7 at 20 = 140 
 
 Strong Ale 19 at 29.4 = 560 
 There now remains of 
 
 2d Wort 7 at 20 = 140 
 
 3d Wort 14 at 6 = 84 
 
 Making 21 at 10.6 = 422 
 
 which would be saleable small beer. 
 Should we wish it, we might improve 
 the quality of both, in this, or some 
 similar manner : — 
 
 Barrels, lb, gravity. 
 1st Wort 12 at 35 = 420 
 2d Wort 2 at 20 = 40 
 
 Strong Ale 14 at 32.8 
 
 There remains of 
 
 2d Wort 12 at 20 
 3d Wort 14 at 6 
 
 460 
 
 240 
 84 
 
 324 
 
 Being 26 at 12.4 
 
 which is a good strength for small beer. 
 Other combinations might be made 
 according to the sort of article that is 
 required. Some brewers, for instance, 
 might divide their worts in the following 
 way : — 
 
 Barrels, lb. gravity. 
 1st Wort 12 at 35 = 420 
 2d Wort 14 at 20 = 280 
 
 S iron g Ale 26 at 26.9 
 
 700 
 
 and 3d Wort 14 at 6 = 84 
 
 for small beer. The strong ale, at 
 nearly 27 lbs. gravity per barrel, is of 
 the usual strength at which the London 
 brewers make their sixty shillings ale, 
 but those in the country will probably 
 be surprised at the mention of 6 lbs. 
 small beer. Persons who wonder know 
 nothing of the metropolis. This strength 
 would make very fair workhouse beer — 
 fully as good as the price can afford. 
 The excise duty is two shillings, and 
 we have, nevertheless, known contracts 
 for supplying some of those establish- 
 ments, to which the beer was driven 
 for miles and delivered at six shillings a 
 barrel I 
 
 § 3. — Of making up Lengths. 
 The necessity of boiling a wort longer 
 than is otherwise requisite, for the pur- 
 pose of raising its gravity, should be 
 always guarded against, and seldom 
 happens with experienced brewers. 
 These can regulate their mashes so as 
 
BREWING. 
 
 19 
 
 to ensure the intended quantity and 
 strength ; but cases will occur, from 
 various unforeseen circumstances, such 
 as a mistake in the quality of the malt, 
 where they must have recourse to a 
 more than ordinary evaporation. In 
 such cases, the saccharometer is the 
 only guide. As an example, we shall 
 suppose a brewing of porter, which, in 
 London, is always made of an entire 
 gyle, and, as nearly as possible, of the 
 same strength. Let there be ten quar- 
 ters of malt, from which the brewer ex- 
 pects 80 lbs. per quarter :— Of the black 
 (or patent) malt, we take no account. 
 The gravity of our porter must not be 
 under 21 lbs., if we would keep up the 
 character of the house. We have al- 
 ready cast the first and second worts, 
 and the third is in the copper. A mash 
 stands on the goods for a Return, but 
 this can be of no service in the case 
 before us : — We have, in the coolers, 
 
 Barrels, lbs. Gravity. 
 1st Wort 12.5 at 32.5 = 406.2 
 2d Wort 13 at 20 = 260 
 
 Making 25.5 in weight 
 
 666.2 
 
 The third mash in the copper (allow- 
 ing for the heat according to the Tables 
 of Expansion which accompany the 
 saccharometer) would, if cast now, 
 amount to 1 6 barrels at 5 lbs. per bar- 
 rel, being 80 lbs., the whole value of 
 what remains in the copper. Adding 
 this to the 666 lbs. already in the coolers, 
 we find that the whole of the extract 
 from the goods amounts only to 746 lbs. 
 in place of the 800 lbs. which was ex- 
 pected. These 746 lbs. must be divided 
 into barrels of 21 lbs. each ; and, there- 
 fore, dividing by 21, we find that the 
 quotient (35.5) is the w'hole quantity 
 (length the brewers call it) which can 
 be produced from this gi/le. On looking 
 back, we find that there are already 25^ 
 of those barrels in the coolers ; so that 
 what worts are in the copper must be 
 boiled down until, when cold, they 
 shall not measure more than ten. 
 There are 80 lbs. weight in the copper, 
 and when boiled to 10 barrels, the 
 gravity will be 8 lbs., for the eva- 
 poration is wholly aqueous. Suppose 
 the operation finished, and we shall 
 have — 
 
 Barrels. lbs. gravity. 
 1st Wort 12.5 at 32.5 = 406.2. 
 2d Wort 13 at 20 = 260 
 
 3d Wort 10 at 8 =80 
 
 35.5 at 21 = 746.2 
 
 In the preceding statement, we have 
 mentioned a Return, without explaining 
 the term. It was because we shall 
 afterwards have to give directions on 
 the subject. In the meantime we may 
 state, generally, that it is a washing of 
 the goods, which forms no part of the 
 brewing of that day ; but is preserved, 
 with what strength it possesses, to be 
 used as mashing fiquor for the succeed- 
 ing brewing. 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 Of the Materials of Ale and Beer. 
 
 At the present time, ale and bee7\ 
 according to the will of the brewer, ap- 
 proach or recede from one another in 
 their composition and consequent qua- 
 lities, and are definable only in their 
 extremes. We have reason to believe 
 that our ancestors made a complete dis- 
 tinction : that, with them, ale was the 
 pure wine of the malt, and that beer was 
 that wine mixed with hops, or other 
 bitter ingredients. In the improved 
 edition of the " Maison Rustique," 
 which was published in 1616, under the 
 care of the industrious Gervase Mark- 
 ham, there are some useful remarks 
 under the head of " Brew-house:^ 
 Among many other things, he says that 
 " the generall vse is by no means to 
 put any hops into ale : making that the 
 difference betwixt it and beere, that the 
 one hath hops, the other none : but the 
 wiser huswmes do find an error in that 
 opinion, and say the vtter want of hops 
 is the reason why ale lasteth so little a 
 time, but either dyeth or soureth, and 
 therefore they will to euery barrell of 
 the best ale allow halfe a pound of good 
 hops." 
 
 According to the present law, ale or 
 beer, made for sale, must be composed 
 entirely of malt and hops. Water is no 
 doubt understood ; but the qualities of 
 the various kinds of those ingredients 
 are left undetermined. We shall say 
 something of each. 
 
 § 1.— Of Water. 
 
 Pure water, although not a simple 
 substance, is invariably the same ; but 
 it must be observed that the brewer 
 never works with water that is pure : it 
 is very unlikely that it would answer his 
 purpose. If the saccharometer be made 
 so as to sink to a certain point marked 
 zero (a cypher) in distilled water, it will 
 be found that every other liquor which 
 C 2 
 
20 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 he can employ will show an infusion of 
 something that marks, on his scale, a 
 certain weight per barrel. What that 
 something^ is he may not know ; but as 
 it appears in certain springs to the ex- 
 tent of a pound per barrel, it may, for 
 aught he knows, have a material effect 
 upon the result of his process. Farther, 
 the prohibitions of the Legislature are 
 hereby often put at defiance, or thrown 
 into ridicule; for, while the Excise- 
 officer shall be threatening, or prose- 
 cuting, one brewer for putting a quarter 
 of an ounce of sulphate of iron (cop- 
 peras) into a barrel of his porter, another 
 brewer, under the survey of the same 
 officer, shall have ten times that quantity 
 dissolved, naturally, in the water which 
 supplies his brew-house. It is the same 
 with carbonate of lime, common salt, 
 and many other articles, which are 
 strictly prohibited. 
 
 The carbonates of lime, magnesia, and 
 potash, are powerful correctors of 
 acidity, that plague of the brewery ; but 
 these are more frequent in well than in 
 river water. The latter, especially that 
 which comes from marshy grounds, is 
 seldom to be chosen. The month of 
 October, so famous from time imme- 
 morial for the manufacture of English 
 beer, is that in which river water is most 
 generally unfitted for use. It is then 
 loaded with vegetable decompositions, 
 and living animalculae, neither of which 
 are favourable to the vinous fermenta- 
 tion. The choice of water, therefore, if 
 he be fortunate enough to have a choice, 
 is a matter for serious consideration. 
 Any solution that would affect the 
 flavour of the ale will show itself in the 
 taste of the water, which is then to be 
 avoided without troubling ourselves with 
 the analysis ; but if there be nothing 
 disagreeable either in taste, colour, or 
 smell, and yet, notwithstanding, its spe- 
 cific gravity be markedly superior to 
 that of distilled water, it is well to know 
 what substance, or substances, it con- 
 tains. 
 
 There have been, in all times, a con- 
 trariety of opinions among brewers con- 
 cerning the adoption of hard or of soft 
 •water. Hard water is a term derived 
 from culinary operations. It is such 
 water as does not dissolve soap, and 
 which is also ill-fitted for the extraction 
 of the virtues of tea. Soft water, on the 
 contrary, has both these qualities. 
 Hard water is chiefly drawn from pit- 
 wells. That which is the hardest 
 contains sulphate of lime, which, by a 
 
 double decomposition, separates the ma- 
 terials of the soap. With regard to its 
 extractive power, this will probably de- 
 pend upon the nature of the extract. 
 In its appUcation to malt, we have nat 
 discovered any deficiency in the quantity 
 of produce. With regard to its effects 
 on the beer, the sulphate of lime is not 
 suspected to be in the slightest degree 
 deleterious, and otherwise it is believed 
 to be a preservative. 
 
 Another species of hard water is 
 caused by the admixture of carbonate 
 of lime, which is held in solution by 
 means of an extra portion of carbonic 
 acid. This is, however, less hard 
 than the former ; for it becomes soft by 
 long boiling : the overplus carbonic acid 
 is dissipated by the heat, and the pure 
 carbonate of lime, being no longer solu- 
 ble, is precipitated. It forms the incrus- 
 tations that are so frequently seen on 
 the insides of tea-kettles and other 
 boilers. Whether this lime should be 
 so precipitated before the liquor is used 
 for mashing, has been much doubted 
 by those brewers who have thought at 
 all upon the subject. Lime is a favourite 
 in the brewhouse. It is openly used, 
 mixed with water, to preserve their 
 wooden vessels from acidity, while 
 they are unemployed in the summer 
 months ; and it is often put, by stealth, 
 in the form of marble dust, crabs' claws, 
 egg shells, &c., into their spring-brewed 
 ales, for the purpose of absorbing the 
 first germs of the acid fermentation. 
 
 § 1.— Of Malt. 
 
 The juice of the grape, the sugar- 
 cane, and many other vegetable sub- 
 stances, contain a great proportion of a 
 sweet, or saccharine matter, ready 
 formed ; but the farinse (or meal) of the 
 common grains require to undergo some 
 sort of operation before they become 
 sweet. The process by which the grain 
 acquires this taste, and which fits it for 
 the use of the brewer, is termed malting. 
 The barley, or other grain, becomes 
 malt ; that is, it is mellowed, or sweet- 
 ened, so as to taste something like what 
 the Latins called mel, and w^e term 
 honey. 
 
 The ordinary process of malting is 
 that of vegetation. The grain is first 
 steeped in water until it has imbibed the 
 moisture to its centre, and then spread 
 on a floor, and turned from time to time, 
 in quantities of various depths, accord- 
 ing to the state of vegetation, which 
 immediately commences. At a certain 
 
BREWING. 
 
 21 
 
 stage of the 'growth, the grain (which 
 has been gradually becoming sweet) 
 has acquired its maximum of sacchari- 
 jftcation. This, in barley, ordinarily 
 occurs in two or three weeks, and is 
 judged to take place at the moment 
 when the acrospire, or rudiment of the 
 future stalk, is ready to burst the shell. 
 In other grain, the criterion is different ; 
 but we are not now writing a treatise 
 upon Malting, although such a work is 
 certainly wanted. The malt having ar- 
 rived at this stage, is dried on a kiln, at 
 a low, or a high heat, according as it is 
 wanted to be pale, amber, or brown. 
 Pale malt may be, and usually is, dried 
 upon a hair-cloth, spread over wooden 
 spars ; but amber-coloured and brown 
 malt require the floor of the kiln to be 
 of iron-wire, or of perforated tiles. In 
 either case, it is dried by means of the 
 heated air passing through the malt and 
 carrying the moisture along with it; 
 and, therefore, when the empyreumatic 
 flavour is guarded against, the fuel con- 
 sists solely of coke, or other charcoal. 
 In the case of amber, or brown malt, 
 this care is not wanted, and hence the 
 fire is made partially, if not wholly, of 
 wood. The pyroligneous acid would 
 thus pass through the malt ; and there 
 was once a time when the flavour so 
 conveyed was supposed to be necessary 
 to porter, for which those sorts of malt 
 were solely manufactured. At the pre- 
 sent time, porter for ordinary consump- 
 tion is made wholly from pale malt ; 
 and a certain portion of Patent Malt 
 (which is malt roasted like coffee, until it 
 is black) is added for no other purpose 
 but to produce the requisite colour. 
 
 This conversion of the mealy part of 
 the grain into a sweet substance, or 
 saccharuin, and which has been called 
 by some chemists the Saccharine fer- 
 mentation, may be produced in a much 
 more rapid manner than by the ordinary 
 process of malting. If the grain be re- 
 duced to meal, in the manner stated 
 under the section '* Grinding Ma- 
 chines^' and infused in water in the 
 mash-tun (mixed up with a relatively 
 small portion of ground malt) ; and if 
 this infusion be kept for two or three 
 hours, according to circumstances, at a 
 heat of 150°, or nearly so, the whole 
 mash will become saccharine : the fecula 
 of the grain being as completely malted 
 as if it had lain a fortnight on the malt- 
 ing floor. The proportion of malt is in- 
 troduced as a nidas to hasten this fer- 
 
 mentation, on a similar principle as we 
 put yeast into the worts which we would 
 ferment into beer ; or a portion of the 
 mother water when we would turn the 
 beer, or ale, into vinegar. The particu- 
 lars of this manipulation will be given 
 when we speak of the process of saccha- 
 rification, or of brewing from unmalted 
 grain. 
 
 § S.— Of Hops. 
 
 The general opinion of brewers, as 
 well as of the public, is, that hops were 
 first used in beer for the purpose of pre- 
 serving it from acidity. This we doubt. 
 Bitter ingredients, of various kinds, 
 were used by our forefathers, before 
 hops were considered proper for the pur- 
 pose ; and even the time is not very dis- 
 tant when these were supposed to be 
 poisonous, and on that account prohi- 
 bited by the legislator. We believe that, 
 long ago, ale was made from malt alone ; 
 and that, when there was any fear for its 
 preservation, a little honey was mixed 
 with it, as is done at present in the 
 South of France. The Herbalists, who 
 were the leeches of those times, recom- 
 mended certain plants as proper to be 
 infused in the malt liquor, which was 
 then termed herb ale : a denomination 
 still known in various parts of the 
 island. These herbs, like the medica- 
 ments of our own days, were generally 
 the bitterest and most nauseous that 
 could be found ; but they cured diseases, 
 and were, therefore, not only tolerated, 
 but sought after ; and, in process of 
 time, some of them became necessary 
 to certain tastes, and exist in the beer, 
 or porter, which we now drink. Wine 
 itself, when prescribed by the physician, 
 is often medicated, serving as a vehicle 
 for the introduction of the extracts of 
 wormwood, quassia, gentian, and other 
 bitter plants which, before their prohi- 
 bition, were common in the brewhouse. 
 
 The culture of the hop is too well 
 known to need any particular description 
 in this place. There is only one species 
 (Jiumulus lupulus); but it has many 
 varieties, which are chosen by the cul- 
 tivators according as they are supposed 
 to be most suited to the cHmate and 
 soil. The plant is dioecious, and it is 
 the female catkin which is picked and 
 preserved for the brewer. Hops are 
 strongly narcotic ; but their bitter prin- 
 ciple is the ostensible reason for their 
 infusion in malt liquors. 
 
 The finer-flavoured and light-coloured 
 
22 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 hops are pressed into sacks of compa- 
 ratively fine cloth, called pockets, which 
 weigh about a hundred weight and a 
 half each, and are sold chiefly to the 
 ale-brewer. The strong-flavoured and 
 high-coloured hops are put into bags of 
 a very coarse mat-kind oi texture, called 
 bags, and contain, generally, double the 
 weight of the pockets. These are used 
 by porter and small-beer brewers. 
 
 The bitter principle of hops is pro- 
 bably the same in all its varieties and 
 modes of cultivation; but,in conjunction 
 with this bitter, there is always, in new 
 hops, a communicable flavour, or rather 
 aroma, by which their several qualities 
 are distinguished. Ale-brewers talk 
 much of this aroma, and speak of its 
 being concentrated in the essential oil 
 of the hop, without considering that it 
 must be, in a great degree, evaporated 
 during the boiling of the worts. This 
 aroma, like all others, is extremely 
 evanescent. One of the best modes of 
 preserving hops is to bury them among 
 the dry malt ; but, do what we will, the 
 fine flavour does not exist a twelve- 
 month. Beyond that time they become 
 old hops; and are sold at a cheaper 
 rate to the porter- brewer. A year or 
 two longer, and the bitter ^Y^e//" disap- 
 pears ; and the whole becomes nothing 
 better than chaff. The same deteriora- 
 tion takes place when infused in the 
 beer. The flavour is but of momentary 
 duration ; and the bitter principle gra- 
 dually decays. In favour of those who 
 believe that this bitter prevents acidity, 
 it has been stated that the bitter is lost 
 in proportion as the acidity is advanced. 
 The loss of the one and the accession 
 of the other are both, generally, the 
 consequence of age; and it is well known 
 that nothing is more easy than to mis- 
 take a concomitant circumstance for a 
 cause. Thirty years ago, when we were 
 young in the observance of the brewery, 
 we formed a theory, — that the bitter 
 principle was a substance sui generis, 
 which, (while it lasted) by some chemi- 
 cal affinity, absorbed the acetous acid, 
 gradually as it was formed. Subse- 
 quent experience has given us reason 
 to suspect that this hypothesis is a 
 dream. 
 
 It is the ale-brewer only who seeks 
 for peculiarity of flavour in his hops. 
 It is he who discriminates with nicety 
 on the produce of the several counties ; 
 but his judgment varies with the taste 
 of his customer. With respect to taste 
 
 there is no criterion. It depends almost 
 wholly on habit, otherwise we should 
 find very few that could have a pleasure 
 in chewing tobacco. The flavours of 
 the different sorts of ale, however they 
 are produced, are almost as various as 
 the species of continental wines. The 
 Burton, Wiltshire, Scotch, and London 
 ales have little resemblance to one 
 another, but each has its admirers. To 
 be sure those varieties do not altogether 
 depend upon the quality or quantity of 
 the hops; but the infusion of this 
 plant has always its share in the com- 
 position. 
 
 We believe that we cannot better 
 conclude this section than by an ex- 
 tract from Mr. Richardson's work, for- 
 merly mentioned, which, though written 
 thirty years ago, is not inappHcable to 
 this present time: — 
 
 " The difference of soil has certainly 
 a considerable influence in producing 
 the real difference in flavour observable 
 in hops. Those which grow on the 
 stiff clays of Nottinghamshire, and are 
 thence termed North- clay hops, have 
 the pre-eminence in rankness, and ac- 
 cordingly, with a certain description of 
 buyers, bear a higher price than Kent, 
 though that is not so high as the gene- 
 ral price of Farnham hops. To those 
 who are not accustomed to the flavour 
 of North-clay hops, they are undoubtedly 
 rank, bordering on the nauseous, parti- 
 cularly whilst the beer brewed from 
 them is new ; and, indeed, that rank- 
 ness generally remains a very consider- 
 able time, if not concealed by an abun- 
 dant extract of malt. Hence they ap- 
 pear better adapted to strong-keeping 
 beers, than to any other kind of malt- 
 liquor. 
 
 " Farnham hops, however deserving 
 the reputation they bear, are by no 
 means worth the difference in price 
 generally given for them, to a brewer, 
 except the vicinity of his residence may, 
 in some measure, lessen that difference ; 
 and it is not the intention of these pages 
 to appreciate their value to the private 
 consumer, with whom, perhaps, the 
 idea of their incalculable excellence may 
 have originated. 
 
 " The county of Kent, though justly 
 claiming pre-eminent distinction in the 
 produce of its hops, considered as unit- 
 ing flavour with strength, is far from 
 being uniform in its general priority, in 
 this respect ; for different parts produce 
 different qualities, varying with the soil, 
 
BREWING. 
 
 &3 
 
 or some other local circumstance, and 
 all yielding the palm of superiority to 
 those which s:row in the neighbourhood 
 of Canterbury. 
 
 " If, however, the rank austerity of 
 the North-clay hops excites a nausea 
 on^ the palate accustomed to the milder 
 flavour of the Kentish, these, again, are 
 as little relished by people who are in 
 the habit of drinking ale in which Wor- 
 cester hops only have been used. The 
 flavour of these has a grateful mildness 
 in it, not to be met with in any other 
 hops. Hence the finest growths of 
 Kent, in Lancashire, Cheshire, and 
 some other counties, where the use of 
 Worcester hops prevails, would be re- 
 jected as unsaleable; and so great is 
 the objection of some of the inhabitants 
 of those counties to the flavour of Kent 
 hops, that I have heard them distinguish 
 ale bittered with the latter, by the name 
 of Porter-ale. Indeed, the distinction 
 has propriety in it, so far as the strength 
 of a large portion of these may convey to 
 some palates the idea of joon^r, and that 
 the mildness of the former can hardly 
 be applicable to any liquor but ale."" 
 
 § 4. — Of Isinglass. 
 
 Although isinglass is not properly one 
 of the materials of beer, being de- 
 posited as soon as it has performed its 
 office oi fining, yet, from its frequent 
 employment and being the only ingre- 
 dient that can be legally introduced 
 into malt-liquor, we deem it not out of 
 place in the present chapter. 
 
 *' Fish-glue, as it is improperly called, 
 is generally known by the name of Isin- 
 glass, a word corrupted from the Dutch 
 Hyzenhlas, an air-bladder, compounded 
 of hyzen, to hoist, and bias, a bladder." 
 " It is chiefly prepared in the vicinity of 
 the Caspian and Black Seas, from the 
 sounds, or swims, of different species of 
 the acipenser, or sturgeon. These blad- 
 ders, stript of their outer rind and dried, 
 constitute the isinglass of commerce. 
 The skins, tails, &c., of these and other 
 fishes are used for the inferior sorts of 
 isinglass, but in no case are the mate- 
 rials boiled; for that would invariably 
 convert them into glue, an article that 
 has ditFerent qualities from those for 
 which isinglass is required. Much of 
 the latter, for instance, is used in making 
 Finings, for the clarification of malt- 
 liquors ; whereas glue, added to turbid 
 
 beer, would increase both its muddiness 
 and its tenacity."* 
 
 In the brewery, isinglass is used solely 
 a.s finings, that is, to clarify beer that is 
 foul and muddy. In ale it is seldom 
 necessary ; but in porter, as commonly 
 brewed, it cannot be dispensed with. 
 Those sorts which are termed long and 
 sho?'t staple (made from the larger and 
 smaller fish respectively) being com- 
 posed of single membranes that run 
 parallel to each other, and are sepa- 
 rable by infusion in cold water, are less 
 liable to putrefaction ; but the Book- 
 isinglass, so called because it is folded 
 somewhat in the shape of a book, is 
 often found to be spoilt in its folds, from 
 imperfect drying, which allows the ge- 
 nerating of masfgots, and consequent 
 putrefaction. These spoilt parts should 
 be carefully thrown aside. 
 
 The manufacture of isinglass was 
 long exclusively confined to certain Rus- 
 sian provinces. In 1763 a patent was 
 granted to a Mr. Jackson, for the pre- 
 paration of *' British isinglass," which 
 was to be made from what he called 
 " British materials" — but in reality from 
 the entrails of sturgeons and other fish, 
 imported from the American colonies, 
 or caught on our own coasts. This un- 
 dertaking was unsuccessful; for, in a 
 well-written " Essay on British Isin- 
 glass,"' which Mr. Jackson published in 
 1765, he complains, that of 25 tons an- 
 nually consumed in the brewery, he had 
 only supplied a fourth, on account of 
 certain prejudices that were raised 
 against his article. These prejudices, 
 however, no longer exist ; for many of 
 the large breweries now make use of 
 nothing but the dried skins of soles. 
 
 Whatever sort of isinglass he era- 
 ploys, the brewer prepares his finings 
 in the same manner : 
 
 It may be observed, that a pound of 
 good isinglass will make about 12 gal- 
 lons of the preparation. It may be used 
 whole, but, for the sake of expedition, 
 it is often bruised and pulled in pieces ; 
 then being put into a tub, with as much 
 common vinegar as will cover it (or the 
 same quantity of beer of any kind, which 
 has acquired a considerable degree of 
 acidity) the isinglass will swell and dis- 
 solve. As the whole thickens, there 
 should be more beer added to it, and 
 that of inferior acidity, because when 
 the stronger acid has dissolved the isin- 
 
 * Booth's Analytical Dictionary of the English 
 Language. 
 
24 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 glass, almost any beer will serve to dilute 
 and prepare it. This solution should be 
 frequently stirred about briskly with an 
 old stump broom, which separates the 
 undissolved parts and makes it all of one 
 consistence, which, finally, should be 
 that of thin treacle. This is to be 
 whisked through a hair sieve, or 
 squeezed through a coarse linen cloth, 
 into another tub, previous to using it. 
 The quantity to be used is from a pint 
 to a quart per barrel, according to the 
 degree of feculency in the beer. This 
 should be made quite thin with some of 
 the beer intended to be purified, whisk- 
 ing it up till it froths. It is then to be 
 poured into the cask, and stirred briskly 
 about in it, bunging it down imme- 
 diately, and the beer will become pure 
 in about 24 hours, provided it has been 
 in a condition proper to receive the 
 finings. 
 
 An eligible mode of discovering whe- 
 ther beer be in a proper state to yield 
 to linings or not is the following : — 
 
 " Draw off a little of the beer into a 
 pint, or half- pint phial, and add to it 
 about half a tea-spoonful of the finings. 
 Shake it up, and then let it remain sta- 
 tionary. If the finings will have the 
 desired effect, you will observe, in a few 
 minutes, the isinglass collecting the fecu- 
 lencies of the beer into large fleecy 
 masses, which will begin regularly to 
 subside to the bottom. If the beer be 
 not in a proper state, (which is ever the 
 case as long as the fermentation conti- 
 nues, or an after /re/ prevails,) the bulk 
 of the finings will soon be at the bottom, 
 leaving the beer neither pure nor foul, 
 except just at the top, where there will 
 be a little transparency, perhaps a 
 quarter of an inch deep, which will 
 grow deeper in time, but will not rea- 
 dily extend to the whole." 
 
 The mode in which isinglass acts 
 upon the feculencies of beer has been 
 variously estimated. The general idea 
 is, that it spreads over the surface of the 
 liquor, and then falling by its weight, 
 carries down the foul parts, allowing 
 the pure beer to ascend, as if strained 
 through a sieve. On the contrary, it 
 seems to us that its effect is owing to 
 that indescribable cause termed chemi- 
 cal attraction. The observations of Mr. 
 Jackson, formerly mentioned, lead di- 
 rectly to this result. According to him, 
 isinglass is never perfectly dissolved in 
 the acid liquor, otherwise it would cease 
 to act Sisjlnings. These, however inti- 
 
 mately mixed with any dissolvent, must 
 always preserve a fibrous form ; for 
 says he, " Any substance which appears 
 horny, breaks short, or snaps like glue, 
 although it dissolves like isinglass, and 
 puts on the appearance of a rich thick 
 jelly, the universal characteristic of good 
 fining, yet will not fine down beer," 
 The isinglass and the acid beer are then 
 only mechanically, not chemically united. 
 If the latter, they would become a species 
 of glue; and such, finings will become, 
 if exposed even to a very moderate de- 
 gree of heat, perhaps at 90° or 100°. 
 They should, therefore, be kept cool. 
 " That common finings," says the same 
 author, " is nothing more than a due 
 division, or an imperfect solution of 
 isinglass in subacid liquors, may be 
 proved, by viewing it through magnify- 
 ing glasses, or by admixing a few drops 
 of fining with fair water in a glass, which 
 being held up to the light, the fibres 
 may be seen swimming in an infinite 
 variety of forms and sizes, and, on sub- 
 siding, arrange themselves according to 
 their different gravities, the smallest 
 particles of which, perceptible to the 
 eye, attract each other, and form an 
 appearance of little clouds. If then we 
 take this mixture, and warm it at the 
 fire, we shall presently find, that all 
 these fibres will escape perception, in 
 being perfectly dissolved, except a few 
 gross parts. The same phenomena ap- 
 pear, if we place a little fining near the 
 fire, or hold a lump a few minutes in 
 the palm of the hand ; thus the consti- 
 tuencewill be broken, the fibres dissolved, 
 and the efficacy destroyed" 
 
 The rationale of the action of finings, 
 according to the author just quoted, is 
 this : — " it is evident that at the very 
 instant that fining is commixed with 
 beer to be clarified, the stale beer, in 
 which the isinglass was dissolved, or 
 divided, quits the fibres and unites with 
 the body of the beer; while at the same 
 time the fibres, now set loose, and every- 
 where interspersed in the beer, attract 
 and unite with the loose feculent parti- 
 cles, which, before this union, being of the 
 same specific gravity with the beer, could 
 not possibly subside alone, but by this 
 reciprocal attraction having obtained an 
 additional weight, are now rendered pro- 
 portionably heavier, and precipitate 
 together of course, in form of the curdly 
 magma just mentioned. But it some- 
 times happens, from certain inadver- 
 tencies in brewing, and mismanage- 
 
BREWING. 
 
 25 
 
 ment in the cellar afterwards, that beer 
 turns out specifically heavier than the 
 fibres of the isinglass ; in which case 
 the fining cannot subside, for the rea- 
 sons aforesaid, but floats at the surface : 
 at other times, notwithstanding the 
 union of the fibres and feculencies, the 
 combined matter becoming exactly of 
 the same weight as the beer, continues 
 interspersed everywhere in it, and nei- 
 ther emerges nor subsides ; in both 
 instances the beer is nicknamed stub- 
 born by the coopers." 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 Of Illegal Ingredients. 
 Although water, malt, hops, and 
 isinglass are the only niaterials which 
 can be legally employed in the manu- 
 facture of malt-hquors. brewed for sale, 
 yet, as the prohibitory clause is but of 
 modern date, and many other articles 
 have been wont, from time immemorial, 
 to be added to beer, which are not only 
 innoxious, but occasionally advantage- 
 ous, and are still left to the discretion of 
 the private brewer, we have judged it 
 proper to class them together in the pre- 
 sent chapter. In doing so, we shall 
 distribute those which have been most 
 commonly used into five divisions : — 
 
 1. Such ingredients as are intended 
 to increase the quantity of sac- 
 charine matter, or strength of the 
 worts ; and, consequently, to save 
 malt. 
 
 2. Such ingredients as are intended 
 to increase the quantity of the bit- 
 ter principle ; and, consequently, to 
 save hops. 
 
 3. Such ingredients as are intended 
 to prevent the introduction of aci- 
 dity ; or to diminish or destroy that 
 acidity when it is already formed. 
 
 4. Such ingredients as are intended 
 to add an extraneous flavour to 
 ale, or beer, so as to accommodate 
 it to the taste of the inhabitants of 
 any particular district, who have 
 been accustomed to that flavour. 
 And, 
 
 5. Such ingredients as are intended 
 solely for the purpose of increasing 
 the intoxicating quality of ale, or 
 beer, and which are, in almost all 
 cases, of too poisonous a nature to 
 be introduced with safety. 
 
 On the principal articles in each of 
 these divisions we shall make a few 
 remarks, and then leave their introduc- 
 
 tion, or rejection, to the judgment of the 
 brewer: premising, in the outset, that 
 various and very different flavours may 
 be given, in the process of fermentation, 
 to ale which is manufactured from malt 
 and hops alone. 
 
 § 1. — Of Ingredients which are intended 
 to increase the quantity of Saccharine 
 Matter, or Strength of the Worts. 
 
 Of all the substitutes for malt, raw 
 grain is the principal — if, indeed, that 
 can be called a substitute which is merely 
 malted in the mash-tun in place of the 
 floor. The process by which the con- 
 version of barley, or other grain, into 
 malt is thus rapidly performed will be 
 detailed in a subsequent chapter. While 
 we warn the public brewer of the legal 
 danger of its adoption, we would strenu- 
 ously recommend its use in private fami- 
 lies. Were the practice to become gene- 
 ral, a deduction of the duties on beer 
 made for sale would inevitably follow. 
 
 Pure sugar and water (it has been 
 said) will not ferment ; but raw sugar, or 
 - molasses, will make very good beer 
 either alone, or mixed with malt-worts. 
 There is, however, no saving from the 
 use of these materials, unless when 
 malt becomes much dearer than in ordi- 
 nary years : in which case they are occa- 
 sionally permitted to be used under the 
 authority of the Lords of the Treasury. 
 A weak beer from molasses is frequently 
 made in private families, and drunk in a 
 half-fermented state ; but it is too lus- 
 cious for the taste of those who are ac- 
 customed to the small beer of malt. 
 Molasses, mixed with a weak malt- wort, 
 would, when fermented, be much more 
 palatable. 
 
 Our ancestors, as well as other north- 
 ern nations, were much accustomed to 
 a vinous liquor from honey, which vied 
 with the wines of the south : the methu 
 of the Greeks, the medu of the Saxons, 
 the hydromel of the Latins, and the 
 mead, or metheglin, of more modern 
 times. The extension of agriculture, 
 which by diminishing the food of bees 
 raised the price of honey, conjoined with 
 the excise-duty imposed, has completely 
 annihilated the manufacture of mead 
 for sale, and even in private families it 
 is now seldom or never to be seen. 
 Honey, however, is still used in the 
 private brewing of ale ; and in some 
 districts it is clandestinely introduced 
 by the public brewer. The design and 
 effect of this introduction will be after- 
 
28 
 
 -BREWING. 
 
 wards explained. Tt is almost unneces- 
 sary to add that honey is not delete- 
 rious. 
 
 Liquorice root, {Glycyrrhiza glabra,) 
 both in powder and in the state of ex- 
 tract (Spanish juice), was formerly an 
 essential constituent of malt-liquors, and 
 particularly of porter. We believe, how- 
 ever, that the saving of malt was less 
 considered in this article than its fla- 
 vour. At all events the introduction in 
 the copper of about half-a-pound per 
 barrel, and that quantity was seldom 
 exceeded, must have been perfectly 
 harmless. 
 
 § 2. — Of Ingredients which are intended 
 to increase the quantity of the bitter 
 principle, and in consequence to save 
 hops. 
 That hops prevent ale from becoming 
 acid is, if true, a comparatively modern 
 discovery. Mum, (a malt-liquor now 
 unknown in England,) although directed 
 to be kept two years before it was tapped, 
 contained no species of bitter among its 
 numerous ingredients ; and the beer of 
 Louvain, so famous throughout France, 
 is brewed without hops. It is well- 
 known that bitter infusions themselves, 
 without any other vegetable matter, will 
 become sour. 
 
 The use of bitters followed the advice 
 of the physician, who, being anciently a 
 herbahst, recommended the plants that 
 grew in his garden. Each plant had its 
 particular disease which it was able to 
 combat; and hence the whole science 
 of medical botany. According to those 
 gentlemen, the bitter principle was, and 
 still is, peculiarly efficacious. " It is a 
 pure tonic, — increases the appetite, — 
 promotes digestion, — gives vigour to the 
 system, &cV' Unfortunately for this 
 general eulogium, the bitters are either 
 different in their essence, or they are 
 never pure. A few, such as gentian 
 and quassia, are, comparatively, inac- 
 tive. Some, like aloes and marsh tre- 
 foil, are purgative. Hops are astringent 
 and narcotic ; broom and some others 
 are diuretics: while many, as opium, 
 cocculus indicus, ignatia amara, tobacco 
 and nux vomica, are highly poisonous. 
 Yet each of those here mentioned, and 
 others which we have not named, have 
 been boiled among the worts of beer, 
 without regard to their effect on parti- 
 cular constitutions, or to the general 
 safety of the individuals for whom the 
 liquor is brewed. 
 
 These observations being premised, 
 our account of the substitutes for hops 
 may be short. Broom, wormwood, and 
 several other bitters, are now almost 
 universally laid aside ; for, since the 
 flavour of the hops has been so gene- 
 rally recognized, no bitter which is in- 
 consistent with that flavour would be 
 relished. Bitters that are perfectly, or 
 at least nearly, flavourless may, indeed, 
 be added to hops when the bitter princi- 
 ple only is required ; and this is the case 
 with porter, in which flavour is little 
 studied: for the hops usually employed in 
 brewing that beverage are either coarse, 
 or old, and would not be admissible in 
 fine ales. The cocculus indicus, so fre- 
 quently introduced into the latter, has a 
 taste by no means agreeable; but its 
 intoxicating quality is all that is wanted 
 by the brewer, and, could that be pro- 
 cured (as has been attempted) in an 
 isolated state, its flavour would be wil- 
 lingly dispensed with. 
 
 The bitter contained in porter is very 
 great, and if taken wholly from hops, 
 must require an average quantity of ten 
 or twelve pounds to the quarter of malt, 
 or about three pounds per barrel. The 
 fluctuation in the price of that article is 
 extreme, as will appear from the fol- 
 lowing statement, which was printed in 
 1819, by order of the House of Com- 
 mons. The quality here mentioned is 
 bag hops, which are the cheapest in the 
 market. 
 
 per cwt. 
 
 1789 Oct. 
 
 6/. 14*. 
 
 to 
 
 71. 2*. 
 
 1790 Oct. 
 
 76s. 
 
 
 
 84*. 
 
 1791 Oct. 
 
 5>l. bs. 
 
 
 
 bl. 12*. 
 
 1792 Oct. 
 
 80*. 
 
 
 
 84*. 
 
 1793 Oct. 
 
 9/. 9s. 
 
 
 
 10/. 0*. 
 
 1794 Oct. 
 
 84*. 
 
 — 
 
 
 1795 Oct. 
 
 bl. 0*. 
 
 
 
 5/. 12*. 
 
 1796 Oct. 
 
 80*. 
 
 
 
 84*. 
 
 1797 Mar. 
 
 112*. 
 
 
 
 120*. 
 
 1797 Oct. 
 
 84*. 
 
 
 
 90*. 
 
 1798 Oct. 
 
 9/. 9s. 
 
 __ 
 
 10/. 0*. 
 
 1799 Nov. 
 
 14^. 14j. 
 
 
 
 1801 Jan. 
 
 16A 5*. 
 
 
 
 18/. 0*. 
 
 1802 Jan. 
 
 bl. bs. 
 
 
 
 1803 July 
 
 bl. 12*. 
 
 
 
 1804 July 
 
 Al. 15*. 
 
 
 
 bl. 0*. 
 
 1812 Nov. 
 
 13/. 13*. 
 
 
 
 15/. 5*. 
 
 1813 Jan. 
 
 13/. 13*. 
 
 — 
 
 15/. 10*. 
 
 1814 Dec. 
 
 9/. 4*. 
 
 
 
 9/. 9s. 
 
 1815 Feb. 
 
 8/. 16*. 
 
 
 91. 9s. 
 
 1816 July 
 
 6/. 10*. 
 
 
 
 61. ni. 
 
 1816 Oct. 
 
 14/. 14*. 
 
 
 
 1817 Jan. 
 
 14/. bs. 
 
 
 
 1818 Jan. 
 
 31/. 0*. 
 
 
 
 It is not to be wondered at, that, 
 under these circumstances, substitutes 
 
BREWING. 
 
 27 
 
 should have been sought for with avidity. 
 If the substitutes were not more noxious 
 than the principal, (and some of them 
 were less so,) the conscience of the 
 brewer was easily satisfied: especially 
 seeing that he could procure as much 
 bitter for sixpence as would otherwise 
 have cost him a pound. 
 
 Marsh trefoil, buchbean, or bogbean 
 {Menyanthes trifoliata), has been em- 
 ployed in place of hops, — openly on the 
 continent, and privately, (at one time,) 
 as has been said, in this country. The 
 leaves were collected, when mature, and 
 dried in the shade, to preserve their 
 colour. They were then well boiled and 
 scummed to free them from their excess 
 of roughness ; and the remaining extract 
 was preserved and put into the ferment- 
 ing tun in such proportions as the 
 brewer judged proper, or as his drug- 
 gist chose to direct. These leaves have 
 very nearly the flavour of the hop ; and 
 an ounce of the former is said to be 
 equivalent to half- a- pound of the latter. 
 It should be observed, however, for the 
 guidance of any one who shall dare to 
 use them, that although they stand re- 
 commended in the modern pharmaco- 
 poeias, the quantity of a drachm taken 
 in powder " purges and vomits." 
 
 Aloes (the dried juice of the Aloe 
 perfoliata) is a well known bitter, being 
 much used in medicine. When it was 
 allov\'ed to be sold to brewers, the variety 
 succotrina was always preferred, as 
 having the least objectionable smell. 
 The quantity which could be mixed with 
 the hops in the copper was limited, in 
 consequence of its purgative quality, 
 and seldom exceeded half an ounce to a 
 barrel of porter. 
 
 Quassia is another well-known bitter ; 
 it is the favourite of the physician, and 
 would be equally so of the porter-brewer, 
 if he dared to use and acknowledge it. 
 The smell, if any, is imperceptible, and 
 the bitter is intense, pure, and lasting. 
 The quassia amara (a shrub) is the 
 most biting of the tribe ; but that com- 
 monly imported into this country, from 
 the West Indies, is the bark and wood 
 of the root and trunk of the quassia 
 excelsa, which is a large tree. When 
 the porter-brewers made use of quassia, 
 it was either in small chips or rasped, 
 and put into the copper (with the hops) 
 in a quantity of about an ounce to the 
 barrel. This is, probably, the most 
 harmless of all the illegal bitters. The 
 physicians prescribe the decoction to 
 
 their patients to the extent of a quarter 
 of an ounce of the bark a day, — as much 
 as the brewer was accustomed to put 
 into nine gallons of his porter. 
 
 There are other bitter ingredients 
 worth noticing ; but as they are intended 
 for purposes different from the saving 
 of hops, they belong more properly to 
 the succeeding divisions of this chapter. 
 
 § 3. — Of Ingredients which are intended 
 to prevent the introduction of acidity^ 
 or to diminish or destroy that acidity 
 when it is already formed. 
 It would not be difficult to account 
 for the action of the greater number of 
 the ingredients of this description, upon 
 the principles of modern chemistry. 
 Nevertheless, it is certain that all those 
 articles were in use, for the same purpose, 
 centuries before the present theories of 
 acetification had existence. Practice 
 always precedes theory. The latter 
 merely strings together the facts that 
 have been previously (often accidentally) 
 discovered. It was known, from time 
 immemorial, that ale, or beer, when 
 exposed to the atmosphere, especially 
 in summer, became rapidly sour ; and 
 hence the closeness of the casks, and 
 the coolness of the cellars, were as much 
 attended to in former as in latter times. 
 It was also known that certain salts, 
 (as they were called,) and certain earths, 
 were preventives if not remedies : in 
 short, we know little or nothing that is 
 new upon the subject. 
 
 Common salt, so useful in preventing 
 the putrefaction of animal substances, 
 was also believed to have a similar ettect 
 in the preservation of vegetables ; and, 
 accordingly, we find the condemnation 
 of its use among the earliest restrictive 
 laws of the brewery. Different opinions 
 exist with respect to its utility ; but, 
 however these may be decided, it can 
 scarcely be suspected to be dangerous. 
 Publicans have been accused of putting 
 it in the beer to produce thirst ; and we 
 have known private gentlemen, who 
 prided themselves on the quality of their 
 home-brewed, throw in about a pound 
 per barrel into the casks with the view 
 of flavour. Many brewers mix salt with 
 wheat or bean flour, putting a handful 
 in each cask before cleansing, to pro- 
 mote the discharge of the yeast ; and, 
 occasionally, the same mixture of flour 
 and salt, or flour and saltpetre, or salt 
 prunella, is introduced into the tun to 
 rouse a languid fermentation. 
 
2g 
 
 BREWING 
 
 That the fermentation should not 
 linger between a nauseous sweet and a 
 vinous flavour, is reckoned essential to 
 the prevention of acidity. The extent to 
 which it should be carried will be con- 
 sidered hereafter, but we now speak of 
 such ingredients as are supposed to 
 excite the working when it is too lan- 
 guid. Jalap, to the extent of two, or 
 even three ounces, to twenty barrels, is 
 employed by certain brewers in the gyle- 
 tun, but the rationale of its action is to 
 us unknown. 
 
 The formation of vinegar, like other 
 fermentations, proceeds more rapidly 
 when it has a nidus or incipient acidity 
 from which to begin. In the aerial 
 theory, that nidus is oxygen; and to 
 destroy or counteract this oxygen in 
 the outset is to strangle the demon in 
 the moment of its birth. 
 
 When the fermentation is finished in 
 a proper manner, it remains with the 
 brewer to keep the casks, if possible, 
 hermetically sealed, to prevent the ad- 
 mission of the external air. Bottles are 
 still better than casks. When laid on 
 their sides, so as to keep the corks 
 swelled, nothing can enter from without; 
 and the sole danger is, when the liquor 
 retains so much of undecomposed sac- 
 charine matter as to cause the bursting 
 of the vessel from a new fermentation. 
 It is on this account that beer, when it 
 is to be bottled, is usually exposed for 
 a time to the atmosphere, by loosening 
 the bung, in order \o flatten it ; that is, 
 to facilitate the escape of the carbonic 
 acid which it then contains. During 
 this exposure, while the fixed air escapes, 
 a portion of the atmospheric air may 
 enter ; and with the view of preventing 
 this, it is the practice of some, who 
 affect the mysteries of the trade, to pour 
 about two ounces of the spirit of 31a- 
 ranta into the cask, which is then al- 
 lowed to stand, without the bung, for 
 three or four days before bottling. How 
 this can exclude one gas and allow 
 another to escape, we know not, having 
 never personally made the experiment. 
 This fiery liquid is a spirituous extract 
 of the medicinal root Galangal : —the 
 Koempferia galanga, Alpinia galanga, 
 Amomwn galanga, and Maranta ga- 
 langa, of different botanists. 
 
 The exclusion of the atmospheric air, 
 by covering the surface of the liquid, 
 has been managed in different ways. 
 The small wine, when carried out to 
 the Italian vintagers, is in weak flasks, 
 
 which would not bear the pressure of a 
 cork. These have long necks, and the 
 surface of the liquor is covered with a 
 film of olive oil, which swims on the 
 fluid, and is easily separated afterwards 
 by means of a little cotton. The hand- 
 ful of half-boiled hops, impregnated 
 with wort, which is usually put into the 
 bunghole of each cask by the ale-brewer 
 when stowing it in his cellar, answers 
 the same purpose : and some, more ri- 
 gidly attentive, insert (privately) at the 
 same time, about an ounce of powdered 
 black rosin, previously mixed with beer, 
 which swims on the surface, but after a 
 time is partially absorbed. Of this we 
 shall have again to speak when we treat 
 of Burton ale. 
 
 Bruised green Copperas, called also 
 salt of steel, (sulphate of iron) which 
 has always been put into porter — for- 
 merly by the brewer and now by the pub- 
 lican — is, ostensibly, for the purpose of 
 giving it B, frothy top. It is either used 
 alone, or mixed with alum, and is tech- 
 nically called heading. The quantity 
 used need not exceed as much as would 
 lie on a half-crown piece for a barrel, 
 and to that extent there is no danger to 
 be feared. This practice, we believe, 
 had been originally intended to keep the 
 beer alive during the time in which it 
 remained in the pots. The green sul- 
 phate of iron is greedy of oxygen, and 
 is thereby speedily converted into the 
 brown. We apprehend that it is in con- 
 sequence of this dissolved salt of iron, 
 that certain porter- drinkers have uni- 
 formly asserted that there is a peculiar 
 flavour when drinking out of a tin pot, 
 which does not exist when taken from a 
 glass : if this be true, the effect will na- 
 turally be referred to galvanic influence. 
 The brewers, in one quarter of the 
 island, are in the practice of putting sul- 
 phate of iron (previously dried to white- 
 ness) in the liquor of their first mash. 
 This is probably meant to guard against 
 •that species of acetification termed 
 blinking ; but its effect must be little, 
 since the quantity is limited to about 
 two ounces for twenty barrels of liquor. 
 Some ingredients are introduced which 
 lie dormant or deposited in the cask, 
 for the purpose of catching and neu- 
 tralizing the acetous acid at the moment 
 of its formation. The chief of these is 
 lime under various forms. Quick lime 
 does not answer this end. It is partly 
 soluble, and, in so far, communicates 
 a disagreeable taste» The carbonates, 
 
BREWING. 
 
 29 
 
 if pure, are free from this fault ; and 
 therefore, marble dust and powdered 
 oyster shells have been generally used. 
 Before any vinegar exists in the beer, 
 these carbonates of lime usually lie at 
 the bottom of the cask inactive ; but on 
 the least degree of acetification an ace- 
 tate of lime is formed and the carbonic 
 acid escapes. The acetate of lime is 
 soluble, and, in proportion as it is 
 formed, the flavour of the beer is altered. 
 It remains, therefore, with the drinker, 
 whether he prefers this new bitterish 
 taste to that of the acetous acid which 
 would otherwise predominate. 
 
 We have here supposed that the car- 
 bonate of Ume will remain inactive 
 until acetous acid shall be formed ; 
 but it may possibly be otherwise. An 
 excess of carbonic acid would render it 
 soluble, but the same effect would fol- 
 low with respect to its union with the 
 vinegar. This soluble super-carbonate 
 of lime, if effected, would not be dis- 
 cernible by the palate ; for it often ex- 
 ists plentifully in water without being 
 thus observed. Besides, this extra ab- 
 sorption of carbonic acid would tend to 
 prevent the secondary fermentation, 
 which is the usual precursor of acidity. 
 
 Egg-shells and even whole eggs are 
 sometimes introduced into beer, in 
 which they act the same part as the 
 carbonates of lime. The shells are, in 
 fact, almost wholly the same substance. 
 The following recipe, which was first 
 published in an early number (the '27th) 
 of the Philosophical Transactions, shows 
 that the use of eggs for the prevention 
 of acidity is of no modern date. The 
 writer (Dr. Stubbs) says that he learned 
 it from an ale-seller in Deal, and that 
 he tried it, successfully, in a voyage to 
 Jamaica. " To every runlet of five 
 gallons, after it is placed in the ship not 
 to be stiiTed any m.ore, put in two new- 
 laid eggs whole, and let them lie in it ; 
 in a fortnight, or little more, the whole 
 egg-shells will be dissolved, and the eggs 
 become like wind-eggs, inclosed only in 
 a thin skin ; after this the white is preyed 
 on, but the yolks are not touched or cor- 
 rupted, by which means the ale was so 
 well preserved, that it was found better 
 at Jamaica than at Deal." It may be 
 observed, that although this was new to 
 Dr. Stubbs, he was not the original dis- 
 coverer. It was probably known in the 
 /raofe for centuries. 
 
 Sulphate of lime, which is partly so- 
 luble m water, is put into the cask, after 
 it has ceased working, for the purpose 
 
 of preventing an after-fret. If it effect 
 this end, it is well ; but at any rate, the 
 quantity of six ounces to a barrel can- 
 not possibly do harm. 
 
 Hartshorn shavings, to the extent of 
 six pounds for twenty barrels, were /or- 
 merly boiled in the worts of the best 
 London ale. These give out ammonia 
 by distillation, and consist chiefly of 
 phosphate of lime, with a considerable 
 quantity of gelatine. These shavings 
 are probably expected to prevent acidity, 
 but we are at a loss to know how. The 
 ammonia is evaporated, and the phos- 
 phate, even were it to act like the car- 
 bonate, can scarcely be extracted by 
 boiling. 
 
 According to Pliny, the Gauls were 
 able to preserve their beer for many 
 years. We fear that they have lost the 
 secret ; but we shall just notice some of 
 the means to which they still have re- 
 course, and which are not practised in 
 this country. 
 
 The common Avens, or Herb Bennet, 
 {Geum Urbanum,) is highly extolled all 
 over the continent, f(w its medicinal, as 
 well as other valuable properties. It 
 was hence, perhaps, that it acquired the 
 surname of bennet, or benet, contracted 
 from benedictus, although the origin is 
 now ascribed to a Saint of that name. 
 The roots of this plant, particularly 
 when it grows on a dry, sandy soil, have 
 a pleasant odour, (similar to that of 
 cloves,) which it readily imparts to any 
 spirituous menstruum. On this account 
 it is highly valued by the brewers ; and 
 is said to be a prominent ingredient in 
 the Augsburg Beer, which is^so famous 
 throughout Germany. The dried roots 
 are sliced, and inclosed in a thin linen 
 bag, which is suspended in the store- 
 vat, or cask ; and it is asserted, with 
 what truth we know not, that the beey 
 so managed never becomes acid. 
 
 In former times (and the custom is 
 not yet completely laid aside) the real, 
 or imaginary preventives of acidity were 
 inserted into the cask, along with the 
 Finings ; or rather, the whole mixture 
 passed generally under the latter deno- 
 mination. It will be shown, when we 
 speak of the process of Saccharification, 
 that the portion of unfermented worts, 
 which always remains in the beer, is 
 often more allied to starch than to sugar; 
 and, in that case, it is frequently the 
 cause, — not only of foulness, but of 
 subsequent acidity. On examining the 
 accounts of old processes for the brew- 
 ing and cellaring of beer, it is curiou.s 
 
30 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 to observe their consonance with the 
 chemical announcements of later times. 
 We now know that malt-extract is a 
 mixture of Starch and Saccharum, and 
 that the former is capable of being de- 
 posited by an infusion of Nutgalls. The 
 following: directions for the manufacture 
 of beer-finings were published in a highly 
 respectable French work, nearly a cen- 
 tury ago ; and then given as an old and 
 general practice among the brewers in 
 Paris : — 
 
 Take three pounds of powdered nut- 
 galls and four ounces of potash. Boil 
 these for three hours in such a quantity 
 of water as, at the end of that time, will 
 make the weight of the whole mixture 
 about twelve pounds. To this, when 
 cool, add two pints of spirit of wine ; 
 and, after it has settled and become 
 clear, bottle it up for use. Five ounces 
 of this decoction will be sufficient to 
 fine and preserve half a piece of beer. 
 
 When the ale or beer becomes really 
 sour, we know not how to extract its 
 oxygen. He who shall discover this 
 will make his fortune. I f even the vine- 
 gar itself could be deposited, the strength 
 of the remaining beer might be restored ; 
 but though the acidity can be neu- 
 tralized by means of the sub-carbonates 
 of potash and soda, which, with other 
 similar articles, are hawked about as 
 nostrums among the publicans, the 
 acetous salts still remain dissolved, and 
 contaminate the mass. Attempts are 
 sometimes made to cover the disagree- 
 able taste, by the introduction of sugar- 
 candy, — a substance not readily fer- 
 mentable,— but, even setting aside the 
 trouble and expense, the beer thus said 
 to be recovered (although not pernicious) 
 is never pleasing to the drinker. 
 
 ^ 4. — Of Ingredients which are intended 
 to add an extraneous Flavour to the 
 Ale or Beer. 
 The most agreeable, and, at the same 
 time, the most permanent flavours of 
 malt liquors are those which are formed 
 by the particular modes of fermentation. 
 In addition to these, however, certain 
 extraneous ingredients have been intro- 
 duced, by individual brewers, which have 
 given a character to their ales ; and even 
 whole districts have adopted peculiari- 
 ties of taste which would by no means 
 pass generally in other quarters. When 
 those ingredients are conlined to this 
 single object, their introduction, though 
 legally wrong, is not morally vicious; 
 and we shall, therefore, mention a few 
 
 which have been most usually em- 
 ployed. 
 
 The dried root of the sweet flag 
 {Acorns calamus), commonly termed 
 Calamus aromaticus, is warm, slightly 
 bitter, and has been extolled beyond all 
 other British plants for its aromatic fla- 
 vour. This root is usually imported 
 from the Levant, but does not appear 
 to be superior to the growth of our own 
 country. 
 
 Coriander seeds (Coriandrum sati- 
 vum) are imported for the use of the 
 brewer, as well as for medicinal pur- 
 poses. The plant is found wild in this 
 country, but is a doubtful native. 
 
 Carraway (the seeds of the Carum 
 carui) have also been used in brewing, 
 but not so frequently as the coriander, 
 which some believe to add strength as 
 well as flavour. Carraway is also found 
 wild in England, and, along with the 
 coriander, it is cultivated, in some coun- 
 ties, for the use of confectioners and 
 apothecaries. 
 
 The three ingredients last mentioned 
 have, no doubt, been chosen on account 
 of their warm aromatic flavours. All 
 have been boiled together in the copper; 
 the first sliced, in the proportion of four 
 pounds to twenty barrels, and the two 
 latter ground, — about two pounds each 
 to the same quantity of ale. 
 
 Various other stimulating roots and 
 seeds have been made use of: Orange 
 peel, powdered, is very generally used 
 by the ale-brewers of this country ; as 
 also Orange peas, or Cura9oa oranges, 
 the unripe fruit of the Citrus aurantium. 
 Vegetables of a spicy and more stimu- 
 lating taste are likewise in general use. 
 Of these, we may mention Long pepper 
 {Piper longum) ; Capsicum, or Guinea 
 pepper {Capsicum annuum); Grains of 
 paradise {Amo?num granum) ; common 
 Ginger {Amomum zingiber), &c. One 
 or all of these foreign seeds and roots 
 are powdered and boiled among the 
 worts, in quantities of about three pounds 
 to twenty barrels : the quantity being 
 regulated by the degree of pungency 
 required. 
 
 § 5. — Of Ingredients which are intended 
 solely for the purpose of increasing 
 the intoxicating power of Beer or 
 Ale. 
 Hitherto we have treated of ingredients 
 which, though illegal, (and, in our opi- 
 nion, calculated only to gratify an ac- 
 quired taste,) are at least harmless: but 
 we have now to speak of articles that 
 
BREWING. 
 
 SI 
 
 deserve no quarter, — of such as are 
 disgraceful to the brewer, because dan- 
 gerous to the drinker. 
 
 The dried fruit of the Menispermum 
 cocculus, better known by the names of 
 India berry and Cocculus Indicus, claims, 
 on account of its very general use, 
 the first place in this infernal Ust. Its 
 importation into this country (from the 
 East Indies) is very great, considering 
 that few know for what other purpose it 
 is ever used : for, though the Cissam- 
 pelos pareira (which many botanists 
 state to be the same plant) has a place 
 in the pharmacopoeias, its virtues are 
 generally referred to the root, and that 
 root is brought from America. That 
 Cocculus Indicus is a strong narcotic is 
 doubtless ; for it is on that account 
 alone that it has preserved its place in 
 the brewery. In India the berries are 
 thrown into the water for the purpose of 
 catching fish, which, by swallowing 
 them, become intoxicated. They were 
 once used in England in the same way, 
 but, we believe, that practice is now 
 prohibited. Their effects upon the hu- 
 man frame we know not, neither do we 
 wish to know. 
 
 The extensive use of this ingredient 
 (and we have good reason to believe 
 that it is still used extensively) was 
 proved to a Committee of the House of 
 Commons in 1818. Those who give 
 brewing receipts recommend it in quan- 
 tities of four pounds to twenty barrels, 
 boiled with the worts : but there seems 
 to be a mystery on this subject which 
 requires to be investigated. 
 
 The Faba amara, or bitter bean, is the 
 seed of an East India plant, which, 
 though poisonous, has a sanctified name. 
 It is the Ignatia amara, St. Ignatius' s 
 bean, and is not only botanically, but 
 naturally allied to the genus Strychnos, 
 a species of which will come next under 
 our review. The bitter bean appears in 
 many of the works that pretend to teach 
 the art of Brewing. It is a large pear- 
 shaped berry, with seeds nearly an mch 
 long, and extremely bitter. 
 
 Nux vomica ( Strychnos nux vomica)^ 
 as described by the botanists, " is the 
 fruit, or rather seed of the fruit, or 
 berry, of a large tree, growing in Egypt, 
 Ceylon, &c. of a strong narcotic qua- 
 lity, so as to be ranked in the number of 
 poisons." " It is round and flat, about 
 an inch broad and near a quarter of an 
 inch thick," — " extremely bitter, but 
 with little or no smell." " Ignatius's 
 bean partakes of the same qualities." 
 
 We suspect that what was at one 
 time generally sold to brewers for Coccu- 
 lus Indicus was really Nux vomica; and 
 that the numerous body of quacks who 
 called themselves brewers' druggists, 
 and who were almost annihilated by 
 Exchequer prosecutions about ten or 
 twelve years ago, passed the Faba amara 
 and Nux vomica under the name of 
 Cocculus Indicus, when making their 
 defence, on the same principle as the 
 forgers of bank-notes are accustomed 
 to plead guilty to the lesser indictment. 
 In the examination of Mr. Carr, the 
 Solicitor of Excise, before the House of 
 Commons, in the document formerly 
 mentioned, we have the following words : 
 " Is it {^Cocculus Indicus^ a bulky 
 commodity, or is it easy to be smug- 
 gled ? — It is of the size of a pretty large 
 nut ; every piece of it is about the size 
 of a nut. It bears the poisonous prin- 
 ciple so strongly in it, that by an analysis 
 it is very easily separated from the sub- 
 stance, and is produced in the form of a 
 crystal. Now, if any druggist would 
 take the trouble to do that, it would be 
 possible to take as small a quantity as a 
 thimblefull, which would poison a great 
 deal of beer." 
 
 Now this description agrees with the 
 appearance of nux vomica, but by no 
 means with that of cocculus Indicus, 
 which is, originally, about the bulk of a 
 black currant, but being dry when 
 brought to this country, is of a much 
 smaller size. 
 
 Opium is another ingredient which 
 was formerly sold, under different dis- 
 guises, by those gentlemen druggists, 
 and which, we have reason to believe, 
 is still in use ; for we have known sei- 
 zures of that article in the custody of 
 ale-brewers, within the last two years. 
 A compound termed multum was (or 25) 
 a mixture of opium and other ingredi- 
 ents, which sold about ten years ago, at 
 five or six shillings a pound, when what 
 was called an extract of cocculus was 
 charged at a guinea and a-half. Tobacco^ 
 too, has been made use of, but how dis- 
 guised we have not learned. 
 
 It will be said that every article which 
 we have here stigmatized is medicinal, 
 and appears in the pharmacopoeias; but 
 we also know that there is no substance, 
 however deleterious or disgusting, which 
 has not, at one time or other, found a 
 place in the Materia medica. Besides, 
 the parallel is imperfect. In medicine 
 the poison is prescribed in measured 
 doses, (less or more, according to the 
 
32 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 prudence or the rashness of the physi- 
 cian,) and only in such diseases as are 
 otherwise deemed incurable ; whereas 
 the brewer, or his drayman, administers 
 the drugs without discrimination, igno- 
 rant and careless of the age, sex, or 
 constitution of his patient. 
 
 In the tone of reprehension, which we 
 have felt it our duty to assume on this 
 subject, we trust that we shall not be 
 accused of personality. Let it be re- 
 membered that we address ourselves to 
 the most worthless of the trade, to such 
 as disgrace the name of brewer, by 
 sporting with the hves of their fellow- 
 creatures, for the sake of gain.* If 
 
 there be any honest man so weak as ts 
 suppose that we mean to throw suspi- 
 cion upon the brewery in general, we 
 wish him to be undeceived. We are 
 willing to believe that the number of 
 reckless beings who use deleterious in- 
 gredients are few ; but that there exist 
 those few, is too well ascertained, from 
 the seizures and convictions that have 
 been so often made, and are still making, 
 by the Excise. Our denunciations are 
 directed solely against the guilty ; and 
 sorry should we be, if they could possi- 
 bly be conceived to allude to any re- 
 spectable House, or to any honoiu-able 
 
 See Coroner's Inquest in the Times Newspaper of the 29th of June last. 
 
THE ART OF BREWI 
 
 Part II. 
 
 PRACTICAL INSTRUCT] 
 
 Chapter 
 Introductory. 
 
 ^ws. practical instructions for brewing 
 ale and beer, as given by different per- 
 sons, are by no means uniform. The 
 cause is obvious. The mode of manu- 
 facture, and consequently the quality, 
 differ in every age and country ; and, 
 even in the same nation, the ale of one 
 district has little resemblance to that of 
 another. The London, Barton, Wilt- 
 shire, and Scotch ales are each re- 
 markably distinguishable ; and the in- 
 structions which are privately given to 
 young brewers, take their tone from the 
 quarter where the instructor has been 
 bred. He who has seen only one of the 
 modes of brewing, can have no concep- 
 tion of their number and variety. One 
 shall mash three or four times, while ano- 
 ther shall do so but once. A second shall 
 pitch his tun at 80°, when others do so 
 :at 45°, the former cleansing in twenty- 
 four hours, and the latter waiting three 
 or four weeks for the finishing of the 
 fermentation. One class of brewers 
 attend chiefly to the attenuation, are 
 minute in their heats of fermentation, 
 weighing the yeast with the utmost care ; 
 while there are many gentlemen (at the 
 same time, priding themselves on the 
 goodness of their ale) who turn the 
 worts into the barrels boiling hot, bung 
 them up, and stow them for a year in 
 their cellars, without any yeast at all. 
 Each of these modes of brewing may 
 be considered as producing a different 
 species of ale ; and each species has its 
 varieties depending on natural or acci- 
 dental circumstances, (such as the water, 
 and the skill of the brewer,) which add 
 to its preservative qualities, and give 
 certain adventitious flavours. Porter is 
 a peculiar species of malt liquor, and 
 possesses a general uniformity of taste 
 and strength: but this, too, differs in 
 its kind; for, although confined in 
 its manufacture almost exclusively to 
 ten or twelve houses, an experienced 
 palate is at no loss to distinguish that 
 of any one house from all the others. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 we n^ce now stated, it i< 
 
 From what we in^te now sratea, il is 
 obvious that we can give no general set 
 of instructio7is which shall apply to 
 brewing as an abstract science. We 
 shall, therefore, separate our directions 
 into divisions, suitable to those species 
 of malt liquors, with the brewing of 
 which we are best acquainted, but with- 
 out affecting, in any way, to exhaust the 
 subject ; for we have found, experimen- 
 tally, during the course of twenty years, 
 that there have occurred to us many 
 things of which our philosophy had not 
 dreamed. 
 
 The press has hitherto furnished very 
 little information on the subject of brew- 
 ing. Mr. Richardson's work, formerly 
 mentioned, contains many useful theore- 
 tical hints ; but it was not his intention 
 to publish practical rules. These he 
 reserved for private communication, by 
 which he secured a much greater re- 
 ward than usually falls to the lot of 
 authors. His pupils were numerous ; 
 and his method of brewing, in conse- 
 quence, forms one of the divisions with 
 which the reader ought to be made ac- 
 quainted. It varies extremely from that 
 of the Scotch ; and although he treats 
 of Burton ale, his method, certainly, is 
 not the mode by which ale could be 
 made like the Burton of the present day. 
 In our opinion, his directions for porter 
 are unexceptionable, as far as they go ; 
 but that article is now very different 
 from what it once was, and what it 
 might be. At all events, Mr. Richard- 
 son's instructions, being very minute, 
 will serve us for general reference, when 
 we speak of other kinds of malt liquor ; 
 and, therefore, we shall copy them, with- 
 out alteration, from a manuscript for 
 which he was paid a hundred and fifty 
 guineas, besides receiving a guarantee 
 of secrecy for twenty years . Previously, 
 however, it will be necessary to make a 
 few remarks upon those changes which 
 vegetables undergo, when they are un- 
 derstood to be submitted to what have 
 been termed the Saccharine and the 
 Villous fermentations. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Of the Saccharine Fermentation, 
 or the Extraction of Worts from Raw 
 Grain, and other Vegetables. 
 
 "Whether or not the saccharum, or 
 sweet, of vegetables be identically the 
 same, wherever it is found, has not 
 been, and perhaps cannot be, ascer- 
 tained. That of the sugar-cane and the 
 beet-root is equally cry stalliz able and 
 undistinguishable ; but there are many 
 other saccharine extracts which it has 
 hitherto been attempted in vain to crys- 
 tallize. To the brewer, however, they 
 have all one principle in common. Sac- 
 charine infusions, from whatever vege- 
 tables they may be drawn, are capable 
 of undergoing a fermentation, during 
 •which carbonic acid is evolved ; the 
 liquid becomes of less specific gravity, 
 acquires a vinous flavour, and gives out 
 alcohol by distillation. These are the 
 essential characteristics of a sweet ex- 
 tract ; so much so that, instead of sac-. 
 charine, it is more generally termed /(?7*- 
 mentable, matter. Indeed, this is the 
 more appropriate denomination ; for, 
 should any vegetable sweet be found 
 that is incapable of this chemical change, 
 it would necessarily require to be ar- 
 ranged in a different division of vege- 
 table substances. 
 
 The saccharine matter of plants is 
 often found ready formed in their juices, 
 during certain periods of their growth, 
 or in their fruits when arrived at matu- 
 rity. The tasteless seed becomes sweet 
 when it is developed into a stem ; and 
 the acid berry of the summer turns sac- 
 charine in the harvest. These are the 
 operations of nature, which we some- 
 times imitate by art. In either case, 
 the internal action, by which the sweet- 
 ness is produced, has been termed Sac- 
 charijication, and, by some, the Sac- 
 charine ferinentation. The latter deno- 
 mination has been objected to ; but 
 whether or not this change be the con- 
 sequence of a real fermentation can be 
 judged only when this term is sufficiently 
 defined. 
 
 That portion of the flour, or farina, of 
 the cereal grains, and of certain roots, 
 such as potatoes, arrow-root, &c., which 
 forms a turbid milk-like liquid, when 
 mixed with cold water, and is deposited 
 in an almost tasteless powder, is called 
 fecula. In its pure state, it is the starch 
 of commerce. It is this fecula that is 
 converted into sweet in the incipient 
 process of the vegetation of grain, whe- 
 
 ther carried on by sowing it in the earth, 
 or by spreading it, in a moist state, on 
 the malting-floor. Bulbous roots, too, 
 become sweet when they begin to spring, 
 as may be generally observed in pota- 
 toes, which, in that state, are unfit for 
 culinary purposes. 
 
 For the oldest and best-known mode 
 of producing the saccharification of bar- 
 ley, or other grain, we must refer our 
 readers to the Treatise on Malting: 
 there are other operations that produce 
 a similar effect, which will come more 
 properly under the present head. The 
 artificial saccharification of fruits be- 
 longs to the Treatises on the Brewing 
 of Cyder and Perry, and on Wine^ 
 Making. 
 
 The discovery of the rapid saccharifi- 
 cation of fecula originated with the dis- 
 tillers. *' It is thus," says M. Dubrun- 
 faut, " that, in the chemical arts, prac- 
 tice generally precedes theoretical rules ; 
 and that the manufacturer, distant from 
 the observations of the learned, is able 
 to produce a certain effect, during a 
 long course of years, before the philoso- 
 pher has suspected the probability of 
 such a production. In fact, spirituous 
 liquors were distilled from unmalted 
 grain and potatoes, long before the 
 chemical doctrines admitted its possi- 
 bility. 
 
 As soon as the fact attracted their 
 attention, the continental chemists (who 
 more than those of this country apply 
 their science to the arts) endeavoured to 
 elucidate the subject by their experi- 
 ments. Kirchoff, of St. Petersburg, first 
 converted -^wre fecula into a saccharine 
 semifluid substance, by means of sul- 
 phuric acid, with long boiling; and his 
 process, with slight improvements, is 
 still followed by many of the Parisian 
 distillers. This, and other means for 
 effecting the same purpose, are detailed 
 by the author last quoted ; but the 
 French distil their materials in a pasty 
 rather than a fluid form, and in such a 
 state, however saccharine it may be, it 
 is unfitted for the brewer. The English 
 and Scotch distillers make pure worts, 
 and these are always capable of being 
 converted into beer. M. Dubrunfaut's 
 method of distilling and brewing from 
 potatoes is worth quoting ; being quite 
 practicable, and little known in this coun- 
 try. We shall, however, abridge rather 
 than copy his memoir : — 
 
 Having rasped the potatoes as fine 
 
 • " Traite de Vart de la Distillation.** 
 
BREWING. 
 
 35 
 
 as possible, he put 400 kilogrammes 
 (882 pounds) of the pulp into a brew- 
 er's mash-tun, having a double bottom ; 
 and while the workmen were stirring the 
 mash in all directions, with oars or 
 rakes, he mixed it with boiling water, 
 •which, the fecula being set at hberty, 
 turned the whole mass into a jelly, simi- 
 lar to the starch of the laundress. He 
 then added 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) 
 of malt, ground to a fine powder, and, 
 at the same time, a small quantity of 
 wheat-chaff {courte paille de froment) 
 to assist the draining. The whole, being 
 well mixed, began immediately to become 
 fluid, and gradually sweetened, during 
 the space of two hours, when it was 
 drained from the mash-tun in the same 
 manner as is done by the brewer, and 
 carried to the fermenting-tun. A new 
 quantity of liquor was added to the 
 remaining pulp, as a second mash, at 
 the heat of 50° Reaumur (145° Fahren- 
 heit). This being stirred and afterwards 
 drained, the pulp was squeezed in a 
 cylindrical press, in order to get as much 
 of the saccharine as possible, before 
 giving the refuse to the cattle. The 
 liquid fermented well without any depo- 
 site that could effect the distillation, 
 and produced 54 litres (14| wine gal- 
 lons) of spirits of the specific gravity 
 .955. 
 
 M. Dubrunfaut also applied his dis- 
 covery to brewing. After having treated 
 the fecula in the manner above-men- 
 tioned, he added hops, and carried the 
 strength to the specific gravity of 1042, 
 or abuut 15 pounds per barrel. The 
 wort fermented well, and had a fine 
 "vinous smell. It was bottled a few days 
 after, when it ripened, and resembled 
 the beer VN'hich is made in Paris. He 
 also fermented the wort without hops, 
 replacing them, as is done in certain 
 provinces, with honey, and obtained a 
 beer which had the taste and other 
 qualities of the famous beer of Louvain. 
 
 It will readily be supposed that other 
 farinaceous grains and roots, that is, 
 such as yield a portion, more or less, 
 of starch, may also be converted into 
 saccharine matter; and, in fact, rye, 
 rice, maize, chesnuts, and numerous 
 other mealy fruits, as well as roots, 
 have been made to produce vinous 
 liquors. In this country, however, the 
 chief ingredient, and the cheapest for 
 the purpose, is barley ; and to this grain 
 the brewers have, in almost every case, 
 limited their operations. The distillers 
 frequently make use of a mixture of 
 
 different kinds of grain, and especially 
 oats, but the barley always predomi- 
 nates. We have never seen oats used 
 in the brewery ; although it is well 
 ascertained that oatmalt formed one of 
 the ingredients in the multifarious mix- 
 ture called mum, which was a favourite 
 vinous liquor among our ancestors. 
 
 The extraction of wort from raw grain 
 was long practised by the Scotch low- 
 land distillers ; but it was not until the 
 enormous additions^ to the malt duties 
 (m 1802 and 1803) \hat unmalted bar- 
 ley was resorted to by the brewers. 
 From that period until the year 1811, 
 v»'hen the practice was checked by the 
 Excise, the more scientific brewers were 
 enabled to save two-thirds of the malt 
 duty ; and, consequently, gained an ad- 
 vantage over their less knowing bre- 
 thren. 
 
 Although, by means of a mixture of 
 chaff, a wort may be drawn from raw 
 grain, with the addition of only one- 
 twentieth part of malt, and, we believe, 
 without any malt at all, yet such means 
 have not hitherto been used by the 
 brewer. During an experience of seven 
 or eight years, we found the most conve- 
 nient proportion to be that of two parts 
 of raw grain to one of malt. The worts, 
 in that case, run more completely 
 from the grains after the first mash. 
 Confined as this usage must now be 
 to private brewings, the quantities must 
 be small, and therefore the following 
 directions are suited to mashes not ex- 
 ceeding three quarters, and at the same 
 time (ijy observing the proportions), will 
 serve equally well for brewing of half 
 that quantity : — 
 
 The malt may be either cut or bruised, 
 but the grain must be cut into very fine 
 meal. The cutting must be sharp, for 
 whatever is powdered into dust is, in a 
 great degree, lost. 
 
 Put the quarter of malt, equally 
 spread, on the upper bottom of the 
 mash-tun, and over that the two quar- 
 ters of cut barley. Introduce into the 
 goods, through the descending trough 
 of the tun formerly mentioned, three- 
 fifths of the liquor intended for your 
 first mash (suppose 7\ barrels) at the 
 heat of 155°. In large mashes 150° is 
 sufficient. This liquor rises through 
 the perforations in the false bottom, 
 penetrates the malt, and flows up in 
 fissures through the grain. The goods 
 are then well mashed with oars for half 
 an hour at least. In large quantities it 
 would require, perhaps, twice that time. 
 D 2 
 
M 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 The remainine: two-fifths (say five bar- 
 rels) of the intended mash is next to be 
 introduced in the same manner, at the 
 heat of 200°, a few degrees more or less, 
 according to circumstances, and the 
 mashing is to be continued for half or 
 three-quarters of an hour more. The 
 tun is then to be covered and allowed to 
 settle, which may be in an hour. At 
 that time it may happen that a part, if 
 not all, of the worts, will be at the top 
 of the goods, and must be let off through 
 the holes, in the upper part of the trunk 
 at the side of the mash-tun, which we 
 spoke of when describing that utensil. 
 "What drains through the false bottom 
 will run off at the same time. 
 
 It may be noticed that the reserved 
 portion of the first mash need not be all 
 run on at once. The object is to keep 
 the goods intimately mixed in liquor at 
 an average heat of 140 to 150 degrees, 
 (at which heat the saccharification is 
 more readily obtained,) and for a time 
 sufficiently long to effect that change in 
 every portion of the dissolved fecula. 
 During the whole of the process, the 
 wort increases in sweetness ; but neither 
 taste nor time affords any certainty of 
 the sweetness having reached its maxi- 
 mum. A quantity of unaltered starch 
 may be held in solution, which adds its 
 weight to the liquid, and affects the sac- 
 charometer. Although not converted 
 into saccharwn, it is nevertheless effec- 
 tual to the distiller, because it undergoes 
 the saccharine fermentation, along with 
 the vinous in the working-tun. It is 
 not, however, the same to the brewer. 
 His endeavour is to stop the attenuation 
 while a portion of the fermentable mat- 
 ter is still weighable in the worts ; and 
 it is of some consequence whether that 
 remaining portion be saccharine, or a 
 less altered starch. 
 
 The l)est criterion that has been yet 
 found for ascertaining when the saccha- 
 rification has reached its last stage, is 
 iodine. This substance is a very nice 
 test of the presence of starch, whether 
 in a state of suspension or of solution, 
 in liquids ; and, for that purpose, it is 
 used by the continental distillers. If we 
 pour a few drops of the tincture of iodine 
 into a wine glass filled with the worts of 
 raw grain, when the mashing is just 
 begun, the mixture will be instantly 
 coloured of a deep blue. As the sac- 
 charification advances, the worts, with 
 the same test, will be lighter and lighter 
 in the tint; until, at last, the colour, 
 remaining unchanged, will show that 
 
 the tran*. formation of the starch into 
 saccharum is completed, as far as this 
 process is effectual for the purpose. 
 
 The goods absorb a great proportion 
 of the liquor, so that the worts of the 
 first mash will run very short of what 
 is drawn from malt. The subsequent 
 mash or mashes will present little differ- 
 ence of appearance from those of malted 
 grain ; and, in the proportions above 
 stated, will, in most cases, pass freely 
 through the goods in the ordinary way. 
 At all events, the second and third 
 mashes will present no difficulty. 
 
 " We should err very much," says Dr. 
 Thomson,* " were we to suppose that 
 the whole kernel, or starchy part of the 
 malt is dissolved by the hot w^ater used 
 in brewing. At least one half of the 
 malt still! remains after the brewing is 
 over, constituting the grains." " One 
 hundred pounds of malt, from different 
 kinds of grain, after being exhausted as 
 much as usual of the soluble part of the 
 kernel by hot water, were found to weigh 
 as follows : — 
 
 English barley . . 50.63 lb. 
 Scotch barley . . 50.78 
 Scotch big . . . 52.69 
 " A hundred pounds of raw grain 
 being converted into malt, and the solu- 
 ble part of the malt extracted by hot 
 water, the residue weighed 
 
 English barley . . 51.558 lb. 
 Scotch barley . . 50.831 
 Scotch big . . . 53.500 
 " In another set of experiments, with 
 malt of worse qualities, a hundred 
 pounds of malt left the following resi- 
 dues: 
 
 English barley . . 54 . 9 lb. 
 Scotch barley . . 56.9 
 Scotch big . . . . 56.6 
 "It is probable," the Doctor adds, 
 " that an additional portion of the ker- 
 nel would be dissolved if the malt were 
 ground finer than it is customary to do. 
 The reason for grinding only coarsely is 
 to render it less apt to set. But this ob- 
 ject might be accomplished equally well 
 by bruising the malt between rollers, 
 which would reduce the starchy part to 
 powder without destroying the husk." 
 
 To bruise the malt is certainly a pre- 
 ferable practice to cutting it in coarse 
 pieces ; but we have been accustomed 
 to grind malt, as well as raw grain, 
 with stones as small as oatmeal, without 
 ever setting the goods ; and this we con- 
 
 * Supplement to th Encyclopaedia Britannica ; 
 article Brswino, 
 
BREWING. • 37 
 
 sider as a still better mode than cylin- Raw grain is generally supposed ia 
 ders, even for malt. In the case of un- yield a less proportion of extract than 
 malted or badly malted grain the stones malt; but this, too, we are assured, 
 are indispensable. must be the fault of management. We 
 We are perfectly convinced that, in have before us the results of a number 
 the above-mentioned experiments, the of experiments, on a very large scale, 
 grist must have been either very ill of which the following is an abstract, 
 prepared, or the process must have been reduced to a thousand quarters. The 
 badly conducted ; for a hundred pounds grist was barley, oats and malt ; the 
 of good malt ouglit by no means to have latter in a small proportion — perhaps- 
 left above thirty pounds weight of dry not more than a twentieth : — 
 grains. 
 
 Brewed 8,000 bushels of grain, weighing 387,300 lbs. 
 
 W^eight of dry extract, according to Dicas's Saccharometer, 
 
 as nearly as could be ascertained 253,308 lbs. 
 
 Weight supposed remaining in the grains 133,992 lbs. 
 
 Being doubtful, however, of the accu- had before grinding; and the weight 
 racy of the indications of dry extract was found equivalent to fourteen pounds 
 by the instrument, a known proportion per bushel. The whole of the grains were 
 of the grains was dried, until they had then measured, and thereby gave another 
 apparently the same dryness as the grain and more accurate comparison. Thus,. 
 
 Brewed 8,000 bushels of grain, weighing 387,30^^ Ibs,- 
 
 Sold 8,672 of grains, ditto 121,40^ 
 
 The difference, being the amount of extract 265,892 
 
 Dry extract shown by the instrument 253,308 
 
 Apparent error in the instrument, being about 5 per cent. . . ' 12,584^ 
 " Calculating the proportions from these two sets of experiments: — 
 
 lbs. grain, lbs. extract. lbs. 
 
 By the first, 100 gave 65.41, leaving in the grains 34.59 
 
 By the second , 100 — 68.65 31.35 
 
 Average . . too — 67.03 32.97 
 
 It still appears that nearly a third of floor or in the mash-tun, — the strength 
 the kernel remains unextracted ; more of the worts, that is, their power of pro- 
 than half of which, we are convinced, ducing an intoxicating liquid, either in 
 is owing to ignorance of the art. One the form of alcohol, or of a vinous liquor, 
 improvement, in the case now under is always accurately designated by the 
 our consideration, seems obvious : oats, excess of their specific gravity beyond 
 barley, and malt require, each, a differ- that of water, multiplied by their quan- 
 ent heat for the proper solution of their tity. Distinct from flavour, this product 
 substance. This might be applied, were maybe considered as the measure of 
 each to have its separate mash-tun, but their comparative value. Thus six bar- 
 not when they are mingled into one. rels of wort, of thirty pounds per barrel. 
 
 Many of the remarks, which we have is equivalent to four barrels at forty-five ■ 
 
 made in this chapter, may appear to be- pounds : the product in each case being 
 
 long to the distillery rather than to the one hundred and eighty. It has already ■ 
 
 brewery ; but the two trades are inti- been shown, in Chapter V. of the first 
 
 mately connected. The distiller and the Part, that the extra- weight of a barrel of ' 
 
 vinegar-maker are necessarily brewers worts, beyond that of water, is only 
 
 in the first part of their operations ; and, about four-tenths of the weight of sac- 
 
 from both, the ordinary brewer may charine matter contained in the infusion ; 
 
 gain instruction. All have this in com- but, the proportion being always the 
 
 mon, to extract as much of the kernel same, the weight thus shown by the sac- 
 
 of the malt, or grain, as they possibly can. charometer answers all the purposes of 
 
 the brewer ; and it is, therefore, of this 
 
 Chapter III. extra-weight that the expressions "gra- 
 
 ^ ,r T^ vity" and "weight of the wort" are ge- 
 
 Of the Vinous Fermentation. „ J^ji^ understSod. 
 
 In whatever way the saccharification is The saccharine extract (or worts) 
 produced,— whether on the malting- being prepared, and boiled with the hops 
 
38 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 where that ingredient is required, is 
 next made to undergo the vinous fer- 
 mentation. This chemical process (which 
 was formerly the only change in vege- 
 table extracts that had the name of 
 fermentation) operates by the destruc- 
 tion of the saccharum, both as to taste 
 and weight; and, when carried to its 
 utmost point, produces a hquid of less 
 specific gravity than water, and of a 
 taste in which the sweetness is little, if at 
 all, perceptible : it is vinous, or that of 
 wine. 
 
 The juices of the sugar-cane, of the 
 grape and of many other fruits, when 
 kept in certain temperatures, enter spon- 
 taneously into the vinous fermentation. 
 In the brewing of malt liquors a very 
 general practice has been, to add to the 
 worts a quantity of the yeast, or froth 
 of the previous fermentations, in order 
 to hasten the present operation ; and it 
 was not until some experiments were 
 made by Mr. Henry, on the effect of 
 carbonic acid, that the chemists con- 
 ceived that the fermentation of malt 
 liquar could be produced without the 
 assistance of yeast. Notwithstanding, 
 the brewing of ale, without a particle of 
 yeast, has been practised by the farmers 
 of certain districts, in this country, from 
 time immemorial. We have, ourselves, 
 had the experience of worts entering 
 into a spontaneous fermentation, with- 
 out acquiring any improper flavour, or 
 running into acidity ; but they require 
 time, and time cannot be well spared in 
 the modern system of manufactures. 
 What formerly required years to im- 
 prove must now be brought into the mar- 
 ket in two or three weeks. The present 
 mode of porter-brewing is a prominent 
 instance : the large vats, in which that 
 article was wont to be stored for eighteen 
 or twenty-four months, ai-e now compa- 
 ratively useless. 
 
 From the moment that the worts are 
 mixed with the yeast in the fermenting 
 tun, their gravity begins to decrease, and 
 this decrease is termed their attenuation. 
 A wort, for instance, of forty pounds 
 per barrel shall, in a few hours, be 
 reduced to ten, by the extrication of car- 
 bonic acid, the elements of which must 
 have previously existed in a very con- 
 densed state : for, notwithstanding this 
 immense decrease of weight, the quantity, 
 or bulk, of the liquid undergoes no per- 
 ceptible alteration. 
 
 All saccharine liquors, after they have 
 been submitted to the vinous fermenta- 
 tion, are capable of producing a portion 
 
 of alcohol, by the process of distillation ; 
 and the quantity which may thus be ex- 
 tracted is found to be exactly propor- 
 tionate to the degree of attenuation. 
 Thus a barrel of wort that has lost forty 
 pounds of its weight will produce twice 
 the quantity of pure spirit which could 
 be extracted from a barrel of wort that 
 had lost only twenty pounds in the 
 attenuation. This, too, is independent 
 of the original weight of the wort ; for 
 the same extent of attenuation (suppose 
 twenty pounds) will produce the same 
 quantity of spirits, whether the original 
 gravity of the worts has been thirty 
 pounds or fifty. 
 
 Seeing that the quantity of spirit is in 
 proportion to the attenuation, it is obvi- 
 ously the interest of the distiller to carry 
 that attenuation as far as possible ; and, 
 in as far as alcoholic strength is con- 
 cerned, this would also be the interest of 
 the brewer. The latter, however, has 
 an additional object in view, namely, j^a- 
 vour ; and he finds that he cannot please 
 the taste of his customers unless a weigh- 
 able portion of the saccharum remains 
 in the ale. The former, therefore, is 
 frequently able, by strong fermentations, 
 to reduce his worts to the weight of wa- 
 ter, while the latter, after keeping it a 
 twelvemonth, still expects to find from 
 three to six pounds of gravity in his 
 beer. It is for this reason that the 
 brewer is so careful not to exceed in the 
 quantity of yeast which he puts into the 
 gyle-tun ; and that, in strong ale, he 
 wishes the tumultuary fermentation in 
 the gyle-tun to close, while eight or ten 
 pounds of the weight still remains unat- 
 tenuated, to be afterwards slowly de- 
 composed in the casks. 
 
 It was long a matter of contest 
 whether alcohol exists ready formed in 
 fermented liquors, or is produced in the 
 process of distillation. The chemists 
 are now generally satisfied that it is 
 produced by the fermentation alone. 
 They have extracted the alcohol at heats 
 far below the boiling point of water, and 
 by other means than by distillation; and, 
 from those experiments, they do not 
 hesitate to assert that alcohol, properly 
 so called, exists in wine and beer. It is 
 not, however, presumed that alcohol is 
 a simple substance ; and one who is not 
 a chemist may still suspect that the 
 atoms of which it is afterwards to be 
 composed, although contained in the 
 fluid, may exist in a discordant state, 
 until united by some process that de- 
 stroys their other affinities. But what- 
 
BREWING. 
 
 39 
 
 ever may become of those theories, it is 
 certain that these atoms, whether sepa- 
 rately in solution or combined into alco- 
 hol, constitute a whole that is lighter 
 than water; for when a wort is fer- 
 mented so low as to show nothing be- 
 yond water, by the saccharometer, it 
 still, according to the experiments of 
 Dr. Thomson, contains about one-fifth 
 of its original saccharum unfermented. 
 Thus a barrel of wort of thirty pounds, 
 when fermented to the weight of w-ater 
 and its alcohol distilled, will leave as much 
 saccharine matter in the still-bottoms, 
 as, if mixed with water to its original 
 quantity, would make a barrel of about 
 six pounds gravity, which might be fer- 
 mented into beer. This latent weight, or 
 unattenuated gravity, is counterbalanced 
 by the alcohol (or its component parts), 
 which is as much lighter than water as 
 the saccharum is heavier. When ale or 
 beer is attenuated in a great degree, as 
 it usually is when exported to a warm 
 climate, it again enters into a sponta- 
 neous fermentation, at the expense of 
 this unattenuated, but latent, saccha- 
 rum. ■ 
 
 The acetous fermentation is the reverse 
 of the vinous. The moment it takes 
 place the vinous liquor becomes heavier 
 by the absorption of oxygen ; and the 
 alcohol (or its composing principles) is 
 destroyed, exactly in proportion to the 
 increase of weight. If a distiller's fer- 
 menting-tun, for example, shall have 
 been attenuated from the gravity of 
 twenty to that of two pounds, he ex- 
 pects, and would procure, a quantity of 
 spirit corresponding to eighteen pounds 
 of attenuation ; but should he, by any 
 oversight, allow the acid fermentation to 
 proceed unobserved, until his worts 
 (wash) should increase in gravity two 
 pounds, so as to show only sixteen 
 pounds of attenuation when they had 
 once shown eighteen, he would find that 
 he had lost the value of two pounds, or 
 exactly one-ninth of the quantity of 
 alcohol which he might have had. 
 
 AVhen a distiller's tun has ceased to 
 attenuate, it runs rapidly into the acetous 
 fermentation ; and increases in weight 
 at the expense of the alcohol, if (as it is 
 said) the alcohol be really formed. Ac- 
 cording to this theory, when the attenua- 
 tion is apparently complete, four fifths 
 of the saccharine matter is converted 
 into equal quantities of carbonic acid 
 and spirit. With a mixture of half that 
 proportion of alcohol, no saccharine 
 liquor would ever become sour. Does 
 
 not this circumstance render it probabl 
 that the alcohol is not completely 
 formed ? 
 
 It is so generally allowed, that we 
 have taken it for granted, that the acetous 
 acid (vinegar) is formed, in vinous 
 liquors, by the absorption of oxygen. If 
 this be true, the contact of atmospheric 
 air must be particularly dangerous to 
 the ale-brewer. Various plans have 
 been proposed to prevent its access, 
 but none of them have been successful. 
 In attempting to stop the acetous, they 
 cheek the vinous fermentation ; and it 
 is only when the latter has completely 
 subsided, that the vessels can be closely 
 bunged up. 
 
 Two evils have been stated as the 
 consequence of fermenting worts in open 
 tuns : first, the loss of alcohol, which is 
 supposed to escape in union with the 
 carbonic acid ; and second, the germ of 
 acetous acid, which is believed to be 
 communicated to the beer by the con- 
 tact of the atmospheric air with the sur- 
 face of the liquid. Patents have been 
 granted, both in France and in this 
 country, for a method of closing the 
 tuns, so as to exclude the atmospheric 
 air, and also to condense any alcohol 
 that may be endeavouring to escape. 
 The plans proposed are of very ancient 
 date, although recently announced as a 
 modern invention of a Mademoiselle 
 Gervais. Our limits do not permit us 
 to describe the particulars ; but it js of 
 the less consequence, as we should do 
 so only to show its inutility in the brew- 
 ery. To those who have seen the 
 pamphlet which circulates the wonderful 
 announcements of the value of the in- 
 vention, the following remarks will be 
 sufficient : those who have not seen it, 
 may rest satisfied that its perusal would 
 not render them wiser. 
 
 Whilst the worts are fermenting, 
 carbonic acid is evolved, and fills a por- 
 tion of the vacuity of the tun, immedi- 
 ately above the hquor, which excludes 
 the common air as effectually as the 
 closest cover. It can only be when this 
 gas ceases to be generated, that oxygen 
 can gain admittance ; and, before that 
 time, every skilful brewer has cleansed 
 his beer into casks, exposing only a 
 small bung- hole, which is also closed 
 the moment the yeast has ceased to 
 issue. During the whole period of the 
 tumultuary fermentation, the pressure is 
 outward not inward; and a lighted 
 candle, held over the yeasty head, will 
 shew that not a particle of oxygen can 
 
49 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 be admitted. When this evolution of 
 gas becomes so weak as not to form a 
 stratum above the hquid, the introduc- 
 tion of air may begin, especially if 
 the heat of the tun is high ; and this, 
 \ye believe, frequently happens with the 
 distillers, (who carry the attenuation to 
 the utmost practicable point) especially 
 when the surface of the tun is large in 
 proportion to its depth. A cover in 
 this case is proper, and perhaps it would 
 be better to have an aperture which 
 might be contracted, so as always to 
 preserve a certain depth of stratum of 
 iixed air above the still fermenting 
 liquor. 
 
 With respect to the alcohol which is 
 said to be carried off wdth the carbonic 
 acid, neither can this apply to the brew- 
 ery, as generally practised. In the heat 
 of a tun which seldom exceeds 75°, the 
 alcohol (or whatever spirituous sub- 
 stance it may be) can lose little or no- 
 thing by evaporation. In the Scotch 
 practice, the heat is almost always under 
 65°; and we know not by what means 
 the particles, that would escape at that 
 temperature, could be condensed. If 
 there really is a loss, it is certainly so 
 small as to be unworthy of attention.^; 
 
 Chapter IV, 
 
 Practical Instructions by Mr. Richard- 
 son. 
 
 Art. I. — For Mild Ale in general. 
 
 1 . — Heat of the Liquor, 
 
 This being an ale which requires early 
 purity, the first heat of the liquor must 
 therefore scarcely ever be under, and is 
 not seldom above, 180°, to which 5° are 
 to be added for the second mash, and 
 5° more for the third, where three mashes 
 are made for strong ale; but where 
 there are two only, the addition may be 
 10°; that is, ]80° and 190°. If, how- 
 ever, you find by experience that a lower 
 heat of the liquor will produce purity, 
 this will be a preferable practice, as 
 producing a more mucilaginous wort, 
 and it is better calculated for making 
 small beer after it. It is therefore ad- 
 visable that you begin with the heat of 
 the liquor just mentioned, and then try 
 175° for the first mash, varying 5° at a 
 time in different brewings, for the sake 
 of practice and experience. Sometimes, 
 indeed, when I take my first heat at 
 180°, or higher, I only increase 5° for 
 my second, though I have but two 
 mashes for strong ale, in order to avoid 
 
 that thinness on the palate, which too 
 high a heat is sometimes apt to produce. 
 
 § 2. — Time of Infusion. 
 
 If there be only one mash for strong 
 ale, as is sometimes the case for ale of 
 great strength, the time of infusion 
 should be four hours. If there be two 
 mashes, allow three hours for the first,, 
 and two or two and a half hours for the 
 second ; and if three mashes,', allow two 
 and a half or three hours for the first, 
 two for the second, and one and a half 
 or two hours for the third ; it being in- 
 tended to allow as much time as is con- 
 sistent with the proper forming of the 
 extract, and the necessary expedition of 
 the process. 
 
 § 3. — Quantity of Hops. 
 
 To ale made from worts whose average 
 specific gravity is about thirty pounds 
 (which answers to about two barrels 
 from a quarter of malt), not less than 
 two pounds of hops should be used in 
 winter, and more as the season advances, 
 even to four pounds in a great heat of 
 the atmosphere ; or it is perhaps more 
 rational to apportion the hops to the 
 malt used, in which case eight pounds 
 per quarter are allowed, for the more 
 certain preservation of the ale. This 
 being adapted for the climate of Eng- 
 land, a greater portion ought to be 
 allowed where the b eat of the air is 
 greater. 
 
 § 4. -Time of Boiling. 
 This in general, should be only til 1 the 
 wort breaks pure, in order to extract 
 only the finer parts of the hops; but in 
 great heats of the air, a longer time in 
 boiling, as well as a greater portion of 
 hops, is necessary for the preservation 
 of the ale. For this purpose, also, 
 (having in view a finer flavour in the 
 ale,) it is advisable to boil the wort for 
 an hour or more, before the hops are 
 added, which renders it more preser- 
 vable, at the same time that it avoids 
 the rank extract of the hops. If, how- 
 ever, those produced in Worcestershire 
 be used, the mildness of their flavour 
 renders this precaution unnecessary. 
 
 What is meant here by breaking pure, 
 is that state of the wort when the hops 
 subside to the bottom, and the mucila- 
 ginous parts of the malt are coagulated 
 into large lumps, and float up and down 
 in it, very rapidly, leaving the interstices 
 of the wort perfectly pure. This gene- 
 rally happens (when the wort is boiled 
 
BREWING. 
 
 41 
 
 brisWy, as it ought always to be) in 
 about twenty or twenty-five minutes in 
 the first wort, but is somewhat longer in 
 the others. The mode of observing it 
 is, to take a little wort in a bowl or dish, 
 after having boiled about a quarter of 
 an hour, and let it stand steady to ob- 
 serve the effect ; and, by doing so every 
 five minutes after, for two or three times, 
 you will note the difference, and soon 
 become a competent judge. Without 
 making this observation, you cannot err 
 much in boiling the first wort about 
 three-quarters of an hour, and an hour 
 or an hour and a half the second ; or if 
 you boil altogether, the whole time may 
 be allowed. This, however, respects the 
 extract of the hops rather than the eff*ect 
 it is to have on the wort ; and :is in- 
 tended only for the winter season, and 
 when the ale is for present use. 
 
 5. — Method of Fermentation. 
 
 As in this part of the process the great- 
 est effects are produced by the heat of 
 the fermentation, so the greatest atten- 
 tion to its progress is necessary. The 
 first heat (that is, when all the wort is 
 first in the gyle tun) is to be considered 
 of no other consequence than as con- 
 ducing to the last or highest heat to 
 which the fermentation will arrive ; and 
 this is found to have a very important 
 influence on the flavour and other quali- 
 ties of the ale. At 75° the first flavour 
 of mild ale commences ; for irnder that 
 it is more properly the flavour of ale in- 
 tended to be improved by long keeping. 
 At 80° the flavour of ale is more per- 
 fect ; at 85° it approaches the high 
 flavour ; at 90° it may be termed high, 
 but is sometimes carried to 100° and 
 upwards ; the flavour increasing as the 
 heat of the fermentation rises. It must 
 still be remembered that I refer to the 
 highest heat ; and therefore at whatever 
 degree you would have the fermentation 
 finish, you must begin it at such a heat 
 as experience has taught you will rise at 
 last to the desired heat, but no higher. 
 For instance, a wort of thirty pounds 
 per barrel ought to increase about 15°, 
 so that in order to arrive at 80°, you. 
 nmst begin at 65° ; but as it is impos- 
 sible to say how your yeast will ferment 
 (upon the quality of which the success 
 of this operation entirely depends), it 
 •were safer in a small gyle, and in a low 
 heat of the §,tmosphere, to begin at first 
 between 05° and 70° ; and if you find it 
 increase 15° or more, you are to lower 
 the heat of your* next gyle accordingly ; 
 
 that is, so as to bring your highest heat 
 of fermentation between 75° and 80°, or 
 not much to exceed the latter; for, 
 though a high heat produces the most 
 agreeable flavour, the ale will not ulti- 
 mately be so lively, nor will it be so 
 soon fine, as from a contrary practice. 
 It may not, however, be amiss to remark, 
 that Forlow's celebrated Cambridge ale 
 was begun at the heat of 90°, and has 
 been sometimes carried as high as near 
 1 1 0°, producing that peculiarity of fla- 
 vour which rendered his and the ale at 
 one of the colleges by the same man, so 
 famous, that some of it has been drunk 
 at the king's table. 
 
 The quantity of good solid yeast tc 
 be used, should be proportioned to the 
 specific gravity of the worts, the pre- 
 vailing heat of the weather, and the heat 
 of fermentation. To a wort of thirty 
 pounds per barrel, if the heat of the air 
 be low, and the first heat of fermentation 
 65°, or a little more, two pounds per 
 barrel, or more, may be used. If the 
 first heat be 70°, or not much under, 
 H or \l lbs. maybe sufficient. This,, 
 when the first heat is about 70°, may be 
 all used at first ; when it is lower, two- 
 thirds may be used at first, and the re- 
 mainder the next morning. In either 
 case the quantity first used should be 
 put into the gyle-tun, and as much wort 
 let down to it as will cover the bottom, 
 one and a half or two inches. The heat 
 of this wort should not be less than 85° 
 or 90°, in which state, being well mixed 
 with the yeast, it puts it into immediate 
 action, and prepares it for the reception 
 of the rest of the wort at the required 
 heat. When an addition of yeast is- 
 made, the whole should be well roused, 
 to mix them the more readily. 
 
 These previous steps being taken, 
 there is nothing uncertain but the 
 strength and consequent operation of 
 the yeast ; and if the heat of the fermen- 
 tation fall considerably short of the in- 
 crease before-mentioned, the whole fer- 
 mentation will be imperfect, the ale will 
 have a heavy mixed flavour of sweet 
 and bitter, and the fault is to be attri- 
 buted to nothing but want of strength 
 in the yeast. This can only be remedied 
 by a fresh supply from some other 
 brewer ; and you must not be disheart- 
 ened if the first or second change should 
 not succeed ; for there must be a new 
 supply procured till some be found 
 which will answer the desired end. 
 
 Even when a perfect fermentation is 
 procured, the strength of the yeast will 
 
BREWING. 
 
 in time degenerate, and render another 
 change necessary; and particularly so 
 when the fermentation is carried to its 
 utmost extent. 
 
 ■i It is also to be remembered that I do 
 not recommend rousing the worts in the 
 gyle-tun, except as before-mentioned, 
 because it communicates a rank flavour 
 of yeast to the ale, though it perhaps 
 adds to its strertgth : this rule, however, 
 can only hold good when the yeast is of 
 sufficient strength ; for, when it is weak, 
 or suspected of being so, it will be 
 necessary not only to increase the yeast 
 considerably, by additions at every three 
 or four hours during the day after brew- 
 ing, but to rouse, at every addition, and 
 even to continue these rousings till 
 cleansing, in order to carry off the sac- 
 charine of the malt, and produce, as much 
 as possible, that uniformity of flavour 
 which good yeast would have eflected in 
 the first instance. 
 
 § 6. — Rules f 07' Cleansing. 
 
 It is my practice to look every two 
 hours into the gyle-tun, during the fer- 
 mentation, whence I observe its pro- 
 gress very acciuately. My principal 
 attention is directed to the heat of the 
 fermentation, which generally increases 
 very slowly at first, but when the fer- 
 mentation is in full force, its general 
 increase is half a degree per hour, which 
 progress declines in proportion as the 
 fermentation advances towards a con- 
 clusion, till at length it stands still, and 
 sometimes decreases before the vinous 
 fermentation is entirely complete, espe- 
 cially where the volume of wort is small. 
 This, then, is the grand rule for cleans- 
 ing : whilst the heat is increasing, you 
 may rest assured that the vinous fer- 
 mentation is not finished ; but so soon 
 as it is at its height, you are to turn your 
 attention to the smell of the ale. Whence 
 you will observe, that in the middle of 
 the fermentation, the fixed air strikes 
 into the head so powerfully, on smelling 
 with the nose lower than the upper edge 
 of the gyle-tun, that it would, perhaps, 
 be death to inhale it a second time, with- 
 out intermission; but this force so much 
 abates towards the conclusion of the fer- 
 mentation, that, at the proper period for 
 cleansing, it no longer stmgs the nos- 
 trils, nor strikes violently into the head, 
 but just feels warm, and being drawn 
 into the lungs, only occasions strong 
 efforts to discharge the gas exactly 
 similar to the effect of a sudden exertion 
 in running up a hill, vulgarly termed 
 
 being out of breath. The ale will then 
 have lost its saccharine if the fermenta- 
 tion has been perfect, and will have ac- 
 quired an uniform vinosity both in its 
 smell and taste. The head will also then 
 have a regular compact appearance of 
 yeast, provided it be so low a heat of 
 fermentation as 75° or a little more, but 
 in proportion as the heat is carried fur- 
 ther, the head becomes less ; so that a 
 fermentation of 90° or more will only 
 exhibit blistery bubbles, and discharge 
 no yeast till the ale be cleansed into 
 casks, which, in that case, should not 
 be larger than barrels, because it re- 
 quires the heat to be lessened as ex- 
 peditiously as may be, to facilitate the 
 discharge of the yeast, and larger casks 
 would be apt to retain it too long. 
 
 It is an advisable practice, when the 
 fermentation is carried to its utmost 
 period, to use about seven pounds of 
 flour from either wheat or beans, to a 
 gyle of 25 to 30 barrels, at the time of 
 cleansing, in order to accelerate the dis- 
 charge of the yeast by the introduction 
 of an extra portion of gas into the ale 
 for that purpose. This should be 
 whisked up in a pail, with some of the 
 ale, till all the lumps are broken, when 
 it may be enlarged to any specific quan- 
 tity, and then having a portion poured 
 into each cask, agreeably to its size, the 
 ale is to be cleansed upon it. 
 
 Though the above rules for cleansing 
 are entirely consistent with my system, 
 I nevertheless have found it convenient 
 to deviate from them, by cleansing at 
 an earlier period, even while the heat of 
 fermentation is yet increasing, and the 
 fixed air is somewhat strong, in order to 
 obtain a better produce of yeast, and 
 thence to have less sediment in the casks, 
 which sometimes subsides with difficulty 
 after removal. By early cleansing, too, 
 the yeast is preserved longer in a state 
 proper for a perfect fermentation, than 
 by a contrary practice. At any rate, 
 however, there must be no saccharine 
 taste perceptible at the time of deciding 
 upon cleansing. When the cleansing 
 is finished, the casks should be filled 
 quite full, and be filled up out of the 
 stillions every two or three hours during 
 the first day, and three or four times the 
 next. When the ale has nearly done its 
 fermentation, if that from the stiUions 
 does not run clear, a cask should be 
 tapped, to fill up with, and that which is 
 thick should be returned into the next 
 gyle just before cleansing. 
 
 If the ale be racked off from its lees. 
 
BREWING. 
 
 43 
 
 about three or four days from cleansing, 
 and you add to every barrel three pints 
 or two quarts of hops, after having 
 boiled in the first wort, and (when the 
 heat of the air is low) whilst they are 
 ■warm, it will contribute much to the 
 liveliness and purity of the ale, and 
 render it much less liable to disorder, in 
 removing from cellar to cellar ; but it 
 is to be observed, that the hops thus 
 added give some rankness to the flavour, 
 and racking is not favourable to the pre- 
 servation of the ale. In this practice 
 the casks should be filled quite fidl, and 
 bunged down close, venting only if the 
 cask be in danger. But if the ale be 
 not racked, the casks should not be 
 bunged down so long as the head of the 
 ale can be kept up by repeated fillings ; 
 for otherwise there would be a circle of 
 yeast formed round the inside of the 
 bunghole, which would be in part washed 
 oft' amongst the ale on removal, and 
 - tend to makie it foul. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 Richardson's Instructions continued. 
 
 Art. II.— For Old Ale, or such as is 
 to be long kept. 
 
 § 1 . — Heat of the Liquor. 
 
 As purity is not immediately required 
 i« this sort of ale, the first mashing heat 
 should be as low as practicable ; that is, 
 so as just to avoid acidity in the wort, 
 which is apt to be produced by a very 
 low heat of the liquor. Hence 160° or 
 165° may be the first heat, and from 
 10° to 15° may be added for the second, 
 if there be but two mashes, and 10° 
 each if there be three. Thus if the first 
 heat be 160°, and you find no tendency 
 to acidity in the last running of the worts, 
 then these rules may be observed ; but 
 if there should be a little acidity dis- 
 cernible, it were advisable to make 
 the increase 4° or 5° more for the sub- 
 sequent mashes, and on brewing another 
 gyle of the same sort, from the same 
 malt, it were best to begin at 165°, and 
 then observe these rules for the next 
 mashings. 
 
 § 2. — Time of Infusion. 
 
 If the heat of the liquor be very low, 
 the time of infusion should be some- 
 what less than that allowed for mild ale. 
 Therefore, two, or two and a half hours 
 may be allowed for the first mash, and 
 one hour for each of the rest. 
 
 ^^ 3. — Quantity of Hops, and time of . 
 boiling. 
 
 The general rule for hops is one pound 
 per bushel of malt ; but if it be intended 
 that the ale should retain its mildness to 
 a very distant period (which by the bye 
 is to answer a very useless purpose), a 
 larger portion of hops must be used, 
 agreeably to the intention of the brewer. 
 "The boiling is regulated by time, as 
 the nicety of flavour is not such a re- 
 quisite in this as in mild ale. In two 
 worts the boiling may be from an hour 
 to an hour and a half for the first, and 
 two or two and a half hours for the 
 second; in three worts, the first may 
 boil one hour, the second an hour and 
 a half, and the last two or two and a 
 half hours. 
 
 § 4. — Quantity of Yeast, and mode of 
 Fermentation. 
 
 If the first heat of fermentation be not 
 below 60°, and the gravity not much 
 more than thirty pounds, provided the 
 air be -temperate, the quantity of yeast 
 must be from two to two and a half 
 pounds per barrel, applied in the manner 
 as directed for mild ale. If the heat be 
 lower, the specific gravity more, or the 
 heat of the atmosphere less, the quantity 
 of yeast must be increased in propor- 
 tion; in doing of which, no great incon- 
 venience can arise from applying a few 
 pounds too much, but it may occasion 
 an imperfect fermentation if there be a* 
 few pounds too little. 
 
 The heat of the fermentation should 
 not exceed 75° at the highest, but rest 
 between that and 70°, though the nearer 
 75° the better will be the flavour of the 
 ale at an early period ; and as a low heat 
 of mashing is conducive to a great in- 
 crease in the heat of fermentation, it will 
 thence be evident that the fermentation 
 for ale, whose average gravity is thirty 
 pounds, must begin at or below 60 , 
 and the precautions before recom- 
 mended respecting the yeast, must be 
 particularly attended to. The mode of 
 conducting the fermentation, and the 
 criterion for cleansing, being the same 
 with those directed for mild ale, a re- 
 petition here would be superfluous. 
 
 I, however, recommend a more strict, 
 adherence to the rules for cleansing, be- 
 fore inculcated in this process, than in 
 that for mild ale, because the first heat 
 being lower, a greater time is necessary 
 to bring the fermentation to perfection, 
 and secure the future good flavour of 
 
44 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 the ale. It may be here observed that 
 this sort will generally require finings. 
 
 Art. III. — For Small Beer. 
 
 If this be made alone, the same rule is 
 to be observed in the heat of the mash- 
 ing as that recommended for keeping 
 ale ; but the time of infusion is some- 
 what less. If made after strong ale, as 
 there cannot with propriety be more 
 than one mash, the heat may be 160° 
 or under. 
 
 It is generally boiled at once about 
 an hour or an hour and a half, accord- 
 ing to the season or the time required 
 to keep it ; and it may be observed here, 
 that long boiling prevents its fermenting 
 so freely as it otherwise would do. 
 
 The quantity of hops must also de- 
 pend entirely on the taste of the con- 
 sumer, and the time required to keep 
 it. When made after mild strong ale, 
 there is generally a sufficient quantity 
 of hops to prevent the necessity of a 
 fresh application, and after keeping ale, 
 the quantity is often so large as to 
 render it necessary to leave some out 
 of it. 
 
 The first heat of fermentation may be 
 from 60° to 65°, and, as there is rarely 
 any material increase, it may be cleansed 
 at the end of 12 to 14 hours, when the 
 fermentation is fairly begun ; for if it 
 was carried to its utmost period, the 
 'beer would be thinner upon the palate, 
 and appear not so strong as it would by 
 the mode of fermentation here recom- 
 mended. 
 
 About a pound of yeast per barrel 
 will be sufficient. 
 
 Art. TV. — For Early hard Ale, or 
 a mode of producing premature aci- 
 dity ill Ale. 
 
 This is nothing more than the artificial 
 introduction of an acid flavour into new 
 ale, to suit particular palates, which 
 flavour must otherwise have been the 
 effect of age. Add to a barrel from one 
 to two gallons of common vinegar, or 
 rather of ale which has acquired a great 
 degree of acid flavour, according to the 
 taste of the consumer whose palate is to 
 be accommodated. 
 
 This should be done at such a time as 
 the ale to be changed has discharged the 
 greatest part of the yeast, which may be 
 about tvventy-four hours after cleansing, 
 "where the heat of fermentation has been 
 low, and from twenty-four to thirty- six 
 hours where it has been liigh. Some- 
 
 times hops are used as in rackins; of ale. 
 In either case the cask must be filled 
 nearly full, and stopped down close, 
 that a violent internal vinous fermenta- 
 tion may ensue, otherwise the union will 
 not be perfect, but the distinct flavours 
 of both will be discernible. If the com- 
 motion within seems to endanger the 
 cask by the swelling out of the head» 
 &c., a little of the ale may be drawn off 
 occasionally, but it is to have no other 
 vent. 
 
 This fermentation will sometimes con- 
 tinue for three or four weeks, and when 
 it is finished, so that the ale will become 
 pure with finings (which it will require^, . 
 it will be fit for use. 
 
 Art. V. — Of Racking keeping Alb. 
 
 Whether the ale be racked from vats 
 or from one cask to another, it has a 
 tendency to grow flat. This may be 
 remedied by adding about tv/o quarts o* 
 hops to a barrel, as mentioned in rack- 
 ing mild ale ; but a better mode is by 
 an addition of a sixth to a fourth part 
 of new ale taken from the gyle-tun, in a 
 state proper for cleansing. In either 
 case the cask is to be filled full, and 
 stopped down close, with the same pre- 
 caution as recommended under the 
 article of Early hard ale. I have also 
 seen about a quart of good wort (made 
 perfectly pure by filtrating through a 
 flannel bag) added to a barrel of mild 
 ale, which was flat, but also pure, and, 
 in a very short time, it produced all the 
 livehness of bottled ale, without having 
 in the least injured its purity ; but hav- 
 ing had little occasion to pursue the 
 practice, I give it here as a hint well 
 deserving your attention, should you 
 ever have occasion to adopt it. 
 
 Art. VI. — For Burton Ale. 
 
 This is made from the palest malt and 
 hops ; for, if it be not pale as a straw 
 it will not pass with the connoisseurs in 
 that article ; and the gravity being so 
 very high as thirty-six to forty pounds 
 a barrel, makes it a matter of great 
 nicetv to get malt sufficiently pale. 
 
 If' the malt be not very good, only- 
 one mash must be made for this liquor; 
 but if it be good, two mashes may take 
 place, adverting still to the great spe- 
 cific gravity which ought to be pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The heat of the liquor should be 
 185°, or 190°, adding 5» for the second. 
 
BREWING. 
 
 45 
 
 if a second mash be made ; and the time 
 of infusion may be the same as that 
 mentioned under the article Mild Ale 
 in general. 
 
 If only one wort be made, it may be 
 boiled an hour and a quarter; if two, 
 they may be boiled three-quarters of an 
 hour the first, and an hour, or an hour 
 and a quarter the second ; remembering 
 that long boiling is prejudicial to the 
 colour. 
 
 The quantity of hops must be three- 
 quarters of a pound per bushel of malt, 
 or more, according to circumstances; 
 but the more that are used, though an 
 advantage as a preservative, the higher 
 will be the colour of the ale. 
 
 The heat of fermentation should not 
 much exceed 75°, and as the first 
 heat would thence probably be about 
 55°, the quantity of yeast, both on ac- 
 count of this circumstance, and the 
 great weight of the wort, should not be 
 less than three pounds per barrel, used 
 as is before recommended ; and the rule 
 for cleansing is the same as that before 
 inculcated. 
 
 It is to be racked into clean casks 
 (without hops) when nearly pure, and 
 the sizes of them are from 32 to 42 or 
 43 gallons (called half hogsheads), and 
 from 70 to 80 gallons (called hogsheads), 
 which are generally hooped with an 
 equal number of iron and wooden hoops ; 
 the latter are white, flat, or broad bark 
 hoops ; a bar is put across each head, 
 and the brewer" s initials or name, with 
 B or Burton at length, are branded in 
 front in letters of about an inch and a 
 quarter high ; and the number of gal- 
 lons which the cask holds is cut with 
 a scribe-iron, just above the cork-hole. 
 
 The bung-hole is not above an inch 
 and a quarter diameter, which is stopped 
 with a wooden shive or bung, and a 
 piece of triangular tin-plate is afterwards 
 nailed over it. 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Richardson's Instructions continued. 
 Art. VII. — For Porter. 
 § 1. — Heat of the Liquor. 
 The heat of the liquor may begin from 
 156° to 165°, it being intended to go as 
 low as the avoiding acidity in the v^^ort 
 will admit of; and, as a large portion of 
 the malt in this is brown, the heat of the 
 liquor may thence be, with safety, some- 
 what lower than in the process of keep- 
 ing ale. 
 The subsequent heats of the mashes 
 
 are to be increased from 5° to 10° each, 
 according to circumstances, thoncrli the 
 former is s:enerally sufficient. If, how- 
 ever, the ranker earthy parts of the malt 
 be desired, in order to heijrhten the fla- 
 vour ; or if the taste of the preceding 
 wort has been somewhat inclined to 
 acidity, then 15° may be added, sup- 
 posing a very low beginning. 
 
 § 2. — Time of Infusion. 
 This, on account of the number of 
 mashes, need not be more than two 
 hours at the first, and one hour for 
 each of the rest ; but as the time of 
 boiling allows more time between the 
 two last mashes than usual, the time of 
 infusion may be proportionately long, 
 without wasting any. 
 
 ^ 3. — Quantity of Hops, and Time of 
 Boiling. 
 It is not, perhaps, so much for the pur- 
 pose of preservation as for that of fla- 
 vour, that the general practice is to 
 use not less than four, and sometimes 
 four and a half to five pounds per bar- 
 rel for keeping ; though what is termed 
 mild or mixing porter, has not more 
 than three to three and a half pounds ; 
 but since hops have been so very dear, 
 these proportions have been so consi- 
 derably lessened, that I do not even now 
 use more than three and a half pounds 
 for keeping. 
 
 The hops required here are to be 
 strong, without regard to colour ; and 
 for the purposes of extracting all that 
 strength, and communicating all its 
 rankness, the whole of the worts are 
 generally boiled from eight to nine 
 itiours in the aggregate ; which may be 
 apportioned, in three worts, to one and a 
 half, two and a half, and four or five 
 hours. If there are four worts, it may 
 be one, one and a half, two and a half, 
 and three or four hours. 
 
 § 4. — Mode of Fermentation. 
 The heat of fermentation to be so low 
 as not to exceed 70° when at the highest, 
 so that in general it may begin about 
 60° ; and should it be inclined to ^o 
 further than 70°, provided the saccharine 
 of the malt be not perfectly gone off, the 
 event of a degree or two more may be 
 waited for, in case the heat of the fer- 
 mentation does not increase more than 
 half a degree in the hour at that time, 
 when it is to be cleansed at all events ; 
 otherwise, it might run up so high as 
 to induce the flavour of keeping ale 
 instead of that fulness which porter 
 
46 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 ought to have. If, when the heat of 
 fermentation is at 70°, it is increasing 
 more than is above mentioned, I recom- 
 mend that the porter be cleansed, lest 
 the major part of the yeast subside to 
 the bottom of the casks instead of being- 
 thrown out, and thence render the por- 
 ter foul, and hereafter stubborn, if not 
 cloudy. At this period of the fermen- 
 tation, though every other rule relative 
 to cleansing be dispensed with, yet care 
 should be taken that the sweetness of 
 the malt be gone off ; and to facilitate 
 that end, a greater portion of yeast is to 
 be used than is allowable in any other 
 beer of the same strength. The quantity 
 required is from three to four pounds 
 per barrel, used in the usual propor- 
 tions, and rousing the wort every two 
 hours in the day time, and even during 
 cleansing, if practicable, in order to give 
 every degree of rankness obtainable from 
 the materials. 
 
 In order to heighten the flavour, about 
 a quarter to half an ounce of socotrine 
 aloes per barrel may be boiled in the 
 second wort ; and, for the purpose of 
 giving a retentive head, as much salt of 
 steel as will lie on a half-crown piece is 
 to be added to a barrel, with the finings. 
 These effects may, indeed, be increased 
 to any desired degree, by increasing the 
 quantity ; but it is to be remembered 
 that aloes is a powerful purgative, and 
 much more than half an ounce per bar- 
 rel might discover itself, nor is the salt 
 of steel sufficiently wholesome to war- 
 rant the use of any large quantity. The 
 former of these I now entirely omit, and in 
 its place use quassia, in the proportion 
 of a pound to twenty barrels of porter, 
 or a little less ; and, as a saving, cop- 
 peras may be substituted in the place of 
 the latter. 
 
 The malt used is generally brown, 
 amber, and pale, in equal quantities; 
 but it is necessary, in that case, to have 
 the former browner than is always to be 
 met with ; and the second of a deeper 
 tinge ; it may be as well to use brown 
 and pale in equal parts, or in such other 
 proportions as the colour of the former 
 shall indicate to be necessary even to 
 two-thirds or more : and, as it is essen- 
 tial, both for colour and flavour, to have 
 a sufficient portion of brown, an error 
 on that side would be much more safe 
 than on the other; for the want of 
 colour, and consequently of flavour, is 
 often a great obstacle to" the reception of 
 porter, in a country where its produc- 
 lion is novel, by rendering it more like 
 
 ale than is admissible in such a situa- 
 tion ; where it is generally expected to 
 find in it qualities which, in the known 
 produce of London, would not, perhaps, 
 be demanded. 
 
 The malt, both brown and amber, are 
 dried with wood, either billets or very 
 stout faggots ; but this being for the 
 sake of flavour only, where there is a 
 deficiency of this fuel, the foundation or 
 body of the heat may be produced and 
 continued with cinders, adding some 
 wood. 
 
 When the porter is worked off, it 
 should be started into vats, of any con- 
 venient size, from 50 to 500 barrels, 
 and racked thence for sending out ; in 
 doing which it is preferable to rack the 
 whole off at once, that there may be no 
 ullage, which is apt to become vapid 
 and often sour. It should not be racked 
 till on the fret. 
 
 §5. — Of the average Specific Gravity 
 requisite for different Ales and Por- 
 ter. 
 For Burton ale, as is before intimated, 
 the first sort is from forty to forty-two, 
 or forty-three ; the second from thirty- 
 five to forty ; and a third sort, made 
 after the former, is from twenty-eight to 
 thirty-two, or thirty-three pounds per 
 barrel. 
 
 This latter is the usual gravity for 
 common mild strong ale, of the first 
 quality ; but the more prevailing weight 
 for common ale is from twenty-five to 
 twenty-seven ; and even since malt be- 
 came so valuable, from twenty-two to 
 twenty-four is deemed sufficient ; whilst 
 in certain situations twenty to twenty- 
 one is thought to be as much as the 
 price merits. 
 
 For keeping ale which is similar to. 
 the above, only in being longer kept be- 
 fore used, the same gravities are re- 
 quisite. 
 
 For porter, about eighteen is sufficient 
 for the common sort, twenty for what is 
 sometimes termed double; twenty-two 
 to twenty-three for the first kind of 
 brown stout, and twenty-five to twenty- 
 six pounds for the very best brown stout. 
 The weight for common small beer is 
 about six or seven ; and what is deemed 
 good table beer, is from twelve to four- 
 teen pounds. 
 
 Art. VIII. — Of Returns for saving 
 Malt. 
 
 After the usual process of brewing is 
 finished, you are to cause one or two 
 
BREWING. 
 
 47 
 
 mashes to be made, according to cir- 
 cumstances ; viz. if small beer has been 
 made, only one mash is to take place ; 
 but where that has not been the case, 
 there may be two; for the more the 
 malt is exhausted, the greater is the 
 saving, and the greater the number of 
 mashes, the more fermentable matter is 
 extracted. 
 
 If, therefore, no small beer is intended 
 to be made, you are to mash for a return 
 in the same manner as if small beer was 
 to be made, only using as much more 
 liquor as is convenient ; taking the heat 
 at 1 60° or 165°, letting it infuse an hour 
 or more, and then pumping it up into 
 the copper, and putting the hops into 
 it, but it is only to be just made to boil 
 when it is to be turned into the cooler in 
 the usual way. During this another 
 mash for a second return is to be made, 
 taking the heat at 5° lower than the 
 first, which return being pumped up into 
 the copper, and the hops added to it, it 
 may remain in the copper all night at a 
 heat nearly boiling, and then be turned 
 into the cooler as the former. 
 
 These two returns are to remain in 
 the coolers until the evening before the 
 next brewing, when they are to be let 
 down into the under back and pumped 
 into the copper, to serve for the purpose 
 of mashing, in the place of so much 
 liquor ; and if there be more than suf- 
 ficient for 1he first mash, the remainder 
 may have as much liquor added to it as 
 ■will serve for the second. But as the 
 return contains a certain portion of 
 fermentable matter, that portion is to 
 be previously ascertamed, and either an 
 additional quantity of liquor is to be 
 used in the brewing, or so much malt 
 be left out of the grist as the amount of 
 that fermentable matter may be. 
 
 To ascertain this, it may be premised 
 that the gravity of the wort intended for 
 small beer is generally from three to five, 
 more or less, and that the wort drawn 
 after this (if the quantity be the same 
 as that of the wort for small beer) will 
 have half, or rather more than half the 
 weight of that ; so that supposing the 
 gravity of the wort for small beer to 
 have been 3.5, the wort intended for a 
 return would probably be 2.0; in 
 which case, if the volume of the wort 
 amount to twenty barrels, the sum 
 ■would be forty pounds, or upwards of 
 half a quarter of malt. On the con- 
 trary, if no small beer be made, the 
 
 mash which would have been made for 
 that wort must now be made for a first 
 return, to which another mash, as above 
 mentioned, would produce a second, 
 whence the saving would be nearly 
 threefold of the one efiected after mak- 
 ing small beer; for, supposing twenty 
 barrels of the first return at 3.5, the 
 aggregate would be seventy pounds, to 
 which the second return (as above esti- 
 mated) being added, the total would be 
 one hundred and ten pounds, or nearly 
 one quarter and a half of malt, valued 
 at seventy-five pounds per quarter. 
 
 But as this estimate only relates to 
 the return in the under back, it is to be 
 remembered that an addition would be 
 made to the amount, as exhibited in that 
 state, by that portion of the preceding 
 worts which is imbibed by the hops, and 
 which will be extracted and replaced by 
 the return into which those hops are 
 put ; but this addition can only be ascer- 
 tained by actual experiment. Whence 
 the net aggregate saving is to be esti- 
 mated from the gravity of the return 
 taken when cold in the cooler, as includ- 
 ing the above-mentioned addition from 
 the hops, and not from the return in the 
 under back, the aggregate of which will 
 be found to fall considerably short of 
 that of the return in the coolers, par- 
 ticularly where many hops are used. 
 
 There is also some advantage derived 
 from the hops having their virtue further 
 extracted by this process; but as an, 
 estimate of the quantian cannot easily 
 be made, it is not taken into the account 
 of the saving effected hereby. 
 
 The intervention of a day or two be- 
 tween the brewings is no bar to the 
 use of a return. Its very humble specific 
 gravity is a security against fermenta- 
 tion. In summer we sometimes have it 
 lie a week ; and, in very warm weather^ 
 it will mould a little at the top without 
 injuring its taste. I do not, however, 
 use it for strong ale in such cases, but 
 mash with it for another return, that 
 the flavour and purity of the former may 
 not be affected by it ; but for porter I 
 never hesitate to use it at first, and we 
 generally contrive to brew a gyle of the 
 latter after one of the former, witli that 
 intention. 
 
 Art. IX. — Of the Brewing Book. 
 
 The following is the plan of my brew- 
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BREWING. 
 
 49 
 
 EXPLANAT!0>% 
 
 Suppose the Book lyino: open, as in 
 the two pages * before us, both of which 
 are to be taken across as continued 
 lines of the same Table : — 
 
 Cohimn 1, contains the date and 
 quality of each brewing as successively 
 numbered No. 1, No. 2, &c., from the 
 beginning of the year, which is here 
 counted from the 1 st of October. The 
 two examples are reductions of two of 
 my own brewings for twelve quarters. 
 Herein 12.8 means December 8th; 
 X and T are strong beer and small ; P 
 is porter; and the figures 5§.0.6§ de- 
 note 5i quarters of brown malt, no 
 amber, and 6| quarters of pale. Column 
 2 shows the quarters of malt used, and 
 col. 3 the pounds: of hops, both of which 
 are summed up at the bottom of every 
 page, so as to show the quantity used 
 at the close of the year. Col. 4 is the 
 heats of liquor for each mash; and 
 col. 5 is the barrels of liquor. Col. 6 is 
 the quantity of worts drawn from each 
 mash; col. 7 is the gravity per barrel 
 taken in the underback ; and col. 8 is 
 the whole weight of fermentable matter, 
 deducting one and a half per cent, for 
 heat. Col. 9 gives the hours each wort 
 is boiled. Col. 10 gives the worts in 
 the coolers ; col. 1 1 their gravity ; and 
 col. 12 the sum of the gravities multi- 
 plied by the quantities. Col. 13 shows 
 the pounds of yeast. The double co- 
 lumn 14 gives tile first heat of fermen- 
 tation, and its increase in the gyle-tun ; 
 and col. 15 shows the hours which it 
 remains in the tun before cleansing. 
 Columns 16, 17, and 18 show the quan- 
 tities of strong ale, porter, and table 
 beer brewed ; and these, like those of 
 the malt and hops, are summed up on 
 each page, and carried forward to the 
 succeeding one. 
 
 The next column contains minutes of 
 the progress of \\\e fermentation. Thus, 
 in the first example, 8 Ev, 7 — 74^ shows 
 that the yeast was put to the worts, at 
 741 degrees of heat, on the 8th of De- 
 cember, at 7 o'clock in the evening. Its 
 progress through the next day is marked 
 in the same manner; and on the 10th, 
 at 8 in the morning, the ale appears to 
 have been cleansed ; having acquired an 
 increase of 11^° of heat in the course of 
 thirty-six hours. 
 
 The last column or space is left for 
 remarks. Those here inserted signify 
 
 * On two pages in the Manuscript, but here 
 printed on one. — Edit. 
 
 U- pound of orange peas, and 2 pounds 
 of quassia. 
 
 The figures in column second, marked 
 with red ink, [here within parentheses] 
 (lio) and (75) is the produce per quarter, 
 as shown by the saccharometer. The 
 same sort of figures in columns \^, 17, 
 and 18 give the weight per barrel of the 
 different beers. 
 
 With respect to the high fermentation 
 mentioned when speaking of Cambridge 
 ale, Mr. Richardson has given no exam- 
 ples ; and our practice, in this kind, has 
 been so limited, that we can only exhibit 
 a single brewing, on the results of which 
 we can depend. This was a brewing of 
 eight quarters of malt, with forty pounds 
 of hops. It immediately followed one 
 from which there was a Return of eigh- 
 teen barrels, of four pounds specific gra- 
 vity, which was made use of for the first 
 mash. It was in the month of February, 
 and the weather was uncommonly mild. 
 
 Barrels. lbs. 
 
 1st Mash 18 gave 11 at34 = 374 
 
 2d Mash 10 
 3d Mash 10 
 
 10-20 = 200 
 LO . 10.5 = 105 
 
 31 
 
 679 
 
 Return 16 16-3. =48 
 
 The three worts when boiled produced 
 22^ barrels at 29 lbs. per barrel; and 
 this with the Return (which infused 
 with the hops showed 15 barrels at4lbs. 
 per barrel) gave a produce ; on the whole, 
 equal to eighty pounds per quarter. 
 
 These 22i barrels were pitched at 78° 
 with four gallons of yeast. In thirty- six 
 hours the heat rose "to 94°, when it was 
 cleansed at 14 lb. gravity. In about a 
 fortnight it was pure, and turned out to 
 be excellent ale. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 Of the London Brewery. 
 While the character of the London ale 
 is so low as to be unknown beyond the 
 precincts of the metropolis, that of the 
 porter remains unrivalled. Tastes are 
 acquired by habit, from which cause, 
 when in continued action, we get inured 
 to the strangest beverage. The immense 
 capitals and influence of the ten or 
 twelve principal houses defy all compe- 
 tition, and whatever malt liquor they 
 may agree to designate by the name of 
 porter must, eventually, pass current 
 with the multitude. This is no random 
 assertion ; for it is well known that the 
 hquor now retailed under that denomi- 
 E 
 
50 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 nation has little or no resemblance to 
 what was so called thirty years ago. 
 "Whether it is better or worse, or whe- 
 ther there can now be any criterion of 
 comparison, in that respect, is no part 
 of the question. 
 
 "Before the year 1730, the malt 
 liquors in general use in London were 
 ale, beer, and twopenny, and it was 
 customary for the drinkers of malt 
 liquor to call for a pint, or tankard, of 
 half-and-half, that is, a half of ale and 
 half of beer, a half of ale, and half 
 of twopenny, or half of beer and half 
 of twopenny. In course of time it also 
 became the practice to call for a pint, or 
 tankard, of three threads, meaning a 
 third of ale, of beer, and of twopenny ; 
 and thus the publican had the trouble 
 to go to three casks, and turn three 
 cccks, for a pint of liquor. To avoid 
 tliis inconvenience and waste, a brewer 
 of the name of Harwood conceived the 
 idea of making- a liquor which should 
 partake of the same united flavours of 
 ale, beer, and twopenny. He did so, 
 and succeeded, calling it entire, or 
 entire-butt ; and, as it was a very hearty 
 and nourishing liquor, it was very suit- 
 able ioY porters and other working peo- 
 ple : hence it obtained the name of 
 
 PORTER." 
 
 It is not to be recorded in honour of 
 the chemical arts, but it is nevertheless 
 true, that many of the now indispensable 
 ingredients and manipulations originated 
 in the wish to deceive. It was early 
 known that what was then termed the 
 fiery nature of newly distilled spirits 
 became softened by long keeping, but it 
 was found, at the same time, that when, 
 as was usually the case, they were kept 
 in oak casks, the liquor acquired a 
 brown tinge, more or less deep, accord- 
 ing to the time of maceration ; and 
 hence, with the unobservant purchaser, 
 colour was taken for the criterion of 
 age. This error, however, is now ex- 
 ploded ; and every one knows that rum 
 and brandy owe their beauty to artificial 
 infusions. In a similar manner, all 
 other things alike, ale and beer assume 
 a lighter or a deeper dye in proportion 
 to the quantity of malt-extract which 
 they contain; because malt, however 
 carefully dried, always acquires some 
 degree of colour from the kiln. Colour, 
 therefore, with the many, was long con- 
 sidered as indicative of strength. 
 
 The manufacture of fine ales (before 
 they were contaminated with hops) was 
 intended to imitate the white wines of 
 
 the continent ; and, consequently, in 
 those times, the paler the malt the more 
 valuable it was, in that respect, to the 
 ale-brewer. Nevertheless, when the 
 quantity of malt was great, the worts 
 were always partially coloured ; and the 
 produce being termed " strong or 
 mightie ale," induced the public brewer 
 to make two beverages from the same 
 malt of equal strength but of different 
 colours, until at last paleness was gra- 
 dually disregarded. In the case of beer, 
 which contained numerous ingredients, 
 the quality of the malt was less attended 
 to. The harvesting of barley was then 
 more troublesome than now, and much 
 of it was moulded and stained. To hide 
 these defects in the malting, it was co- 
 loured on the kiln, and hence the early 
 manufacture of brown malts, which 
 were sold only to make beer. Brown 
 malt always smells of the fire ; and this 
 empyreumatic flavour, becoming in re- 
 quest, was heightened by dr}'ing with 
 wood faggots, chiefly beech, because 
 that sort of wood was formerly of little 
 value. Thus did beer acquire a deep 
 colour ; and when hops were introduced, 
 and subsequently enforced by legal 
 enactments, the bitter principle being 
 all that was sought for, the brownness 
 of colour and the coarseness of the 
 flavour formed no objection to their use. 
 
 When the saccharoraeter was applied 
 to the brewery, it was discovered that 
 the colouring matter of brown and am- 
 ber malts was formed at the expense of 
 the saccharum; and this added to the 
 knowledge that these sorts of malt were 
 made from barley which was unfitted for 
 the paler kinds, rendered it desirable to 
 find substitutes for flavour and colour 
 from other substances. The sale of 
 colouring was at first private, but being 
 authorized to be made from sugar by 
 the 51 Geo. III., it became a trade ; and,, 
 under cover of that article, other ingre- 
 dients were sometimes introduced which 
 were neither legal nor useful. 
 
 In 1816, all ingredients, other than 
 malt and hops, were forbidden, and con- 
 sequently the manufacture of sugar- 
 colouring was discontinued; but in a 
 short time after, a patent was taken out 
 for the making of colouring by the roast- 
 ing of malt : and this colour, being legal, 
 is made use of by those brewers who pre- 
 fer it to the old mixture of brown and 
 amber. When this roasted malt is put 
 into the mash-tun, all the rest of the 
 malt is pale ; and the proportion of 
 black to pale is about one to forty or 
 
BREWING. 
 
 51 
 
 fifty, according to the degree of colour 
 required." 
 
 Whether it is produced from brown, 
 amber or black malt, from burnt sugar 
 or burnt molasses, the colouring prin- 
 ciple is the same. The flavour, how- 
 ever, may be, and, we believe, is, differ- 
 ent. In either case the colour is pro- 
 duced by the roasting of saccharum; 
 but as the whole of the malt is not sac- 
 charum, the roasting to blackness mixes 
 the colouring part with a large propor- 
 tion, probably a half, of common char- 
 coal. The charcoal will, no doubt, sub- 
 side, but its previous effects are un- 
 known, and, accordingly, some of the 
 principal brewers have never used black 
 malt; and none of them, we believe, 
 brew either their keeping porter or 
 their brown stout without the admix- 
 ture of brown or amber malt. Private 
 families may colour and flavour as they 
 please ; and we are persuaded that, in 
 making porter, they will find the charring 
 of sugar the most convenient. For this 
 purpose a quantity of brown sugar, 
 moistened with water, may be put in a 
 frying-pan, the bottom of which should 
 be covered to about an inch deep. This 
 is then to be roasted on a fire, and 
 stirred for some time, until it inflame 
 spontaneously. The flame, after it is 
 judged (from practice) to have burnt 
 long enough, is then extinguished by a 
 cover ; and water is added to the pitch- 
 like residue until the whole has the con- 
 sistence of treacle, when it is put into 
 a bottle or can for use. This colouring 
 is afterwards to be mixed with the worts 
 in the copper in such quantities as are 
 required, 
 
 Mr. Richardson's instructions for the 
 brewing of porter, if literally followed, 
 would produce a clean and full-tasted 
 liquor ; but they are deficient in some 
 particulars, with respect to the after- 
 management, especially in the London 
 practice. It may be here noticed, by the 
 way, that the quassia, or aloes, which 
 he recommends cannot be used with 
 impunity; and, therefore, the quality 
 and quantity of the hops are now more 
 strictly attended to than in former times. 
 The gravity, too, differs much from his 
 example ; for we believe that there is 
 seldom any gyle now made of a less 
 weight than twenty pounds. We may 
 add that the heat of the tun is now less 
 attended to. The criterion for cleansing 
 is the attenuation ; and when that has 
 sunk to ten or eleven pounds, (which is 
 usually in less than forty-eight hours) 
 
 the operation is begun. By this time 
 the heat is generally about 75°, being 
 pitched at G5° ; and a degree of heat, in 
 a good fermentation, usually accompa- 
 nies a degree of attenuation. 
 
 About five-and-twenty years ago, 
 when we first attended to the brewing 
 of London porter, it was the practice to 
 keep very large stocks of that article for 
 twelve or eighteen months ; for the pur- 
 pose, as was then thought, of improv- 
 ing its quality. The beer was pumped, 
 immediately after it was cleansed, into 
 store-vats, holding from five to twenty 
 gyles (brewings) each. The usual size 
 was between four and six thousand 
 barrels ; but one, the boast of its brew^ 
 house, contained eighteen thousand, and 
 was said to have cost ten thousand 
 pounds. The porter, during its long 
 repose in those vats, became spontane- 
 ously fine, and, by a silent fermentation, 
 lost the greater part of its remaining 
 saccharum. Its bitter, also, grew less 
 perceptible, and the liquor was trans- 
 formed into good, hard beer. This was 
 softened by the pubhcan to the taste of 
 the customer, by the addition of such as 
 was mild, that is, newly brewed; but 
 little of this milder sort was at that time 
 required. The taste of the metropolis 
 has since undergone a great change ; so 
 much so, that more than half of all that 
 is brewed is drunk before it is six weeks 
 old. The demand for mild beer is still 
 increasing ; and we cannot better detail 
 its progress, and explain the nature of 
 the mixtures of mild and stale, than by 
 copying the information given by Mr 
 Barclay (of the firm of Barclay, Perkins, 
 and Co.) to the Committee of the House 
 of Commons, in the year 1818 : — 
 
 " What quantity of beer do you now 
 brew annually ?— About 300,000 bar- 
 rels. 
 
 " Is sour or stale beer used in your 
 vats with new beer, to your knowledge ? 
 — To answer the question correctly, I 
 should state, that every publican has 
 two sorts of beer sent to him, and he 
 orders a proportion of each as he wants 
 them ; the one is called mild beer, which 
 is beer brewed and sent out exactly as 
 it is brewed ; the other is called entire^ 
 and that beer consists of some brewed 
 expressly for the purpose of keeping : it 
 likewise contains a proportion of returns 
 from publicans ; likewise the beer which 
 we receive from public-houses, which 
 has been brewed by other brewers, and 
 which have changed into our trade (as 
 it is our plan alwavs to clear the cellar 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 of a publican before be be^^nns to draw 
 our beer) ; and likewise a portion of the 
 beer the bottoms of vats ; the beer that 
 is drawn off from the pipes which con- 
 vey the beer from one vat to another, 
 and from one part of the premises to 
 another ; this beer is collected and put 
 into vats : it also contai-ns a certain por- 
 tion of brown stout, which is twenty 
 shillings a barrel dearer than common 
 beer: it also contahis some bottling 
 beer, which is ten shillings a barrel dearer, 
 I should observe, that the beer returned 
 from the publican is always examined 
 by a class of clerks called coopers, and, 
 as far as they can possibly judge, if there 
 is any admixture of any kind or sort, if 
 it has been weakened, it is put aside, and 
 in some instances been thrown away, 
 and the person not allowed for it ; but, 
 in general, there is an examination made 
 of the beer upon being returned. Now 
 all these beers united are put into vats ; 
 f.nd it depends upon various circum- 
 stances how long they may remain in 
 those vats before they become perfectly 
 Lright; when it becomes bright it is 
 f ent out to the publicans for their e7itire 
 beer, and there is sometimes a small 
 quantity of mild beer mixed with it. 
 
 " Do you ever buy sour or stale beer 
 of any other persons than the publicans 
 whom you serve ? — The Committee will 
 cbserve by my preceding answer that 
 the publicans require a certain quantity 
 of this stale beer, which they mix with 
 the mild beer, accordin-g to the taste of 
 their customers, some preferring it new, 
 f.nd some older ; but I should observe, 
 that the taste of the town is continually 
 changing, so that now they use but very 
 Lttle of this entire beer ; and if the trade 
 cf a brewer increases very rapidly, he 
 rcay not have sufficient stale beer of his 
 own to send to his publicans, and that 
 was the case with our house some years 
 J^ack; and I believe since, in two or 
 three instances. Upon those occasions 
 we have bought stale beer of other 
 brewers, but in doing that we have been 
 extremely careful in selecting only that 
 of the best quality. 
 
 " Is that stale beer ^oz^r beer ? — That 
 beer has not got the acetous fermenta- 
 tion upon it ; if it had it would not be 
 fit for use. It is what is commonly 
 vcalled hard beer. 
 
 "You have stated that there are a 
 number of beers mixed together ; have 
 you any fixed proportion in that mix- 
 ture ? — It is the remnants of everytliing ; 
 and I have described to the Committee 
 
 what it consists of, and that a part of 
 those remnants are of a very superior 
 quality, particularly when they come to 
 the bottom of the brown stout. 
 
 " What proportion of the whole num- 
 ber of barrels sent out would those rem- 
 nants form ? — About one tenth: we 
 send out about one tenth of entire, but 
 that is not consisting of remnants, be- 
 cause, I believe I stated before, that part 
 of it is beer brewed and kept for that 
 purpose. 
 
 " What proportion might the rem- 
 nants form of the whole 300,000 bar- 
 rels? — Our return is about 10,000 bar- 
 rels a year, which includes beer brewed 
 by other brewers, and which have been 
 taken of publicans who have come into 
 our trade, a good deal of which is mild 
 beer. 
 
 " Is the beer that is composed of rem- 
 nants wholesome and good liquor? — 
 Perfectly so. 
 
 " Is it absolutely necessary that a 
 publican should have some of these 
 remnants to mix it for the taste of his 
 customers ? — I should think so. It has 
 been the constant practice as long as I 
 have known the trade ; and in former 
 years they used to draw more of that 
 entire than they do now. 
 
 " Is not that hard or stale beer mixed 
 to give the porter the appearance of age 
 at once, which formerly was allowed to 
 be matured by time ? — It must have the 
 effect of making the beer taste older ; 
 but I should think that the beer which 
 was formerly kept a twelvemonth would, 
 not be drank by the public ; their taste 
 is for mild beer. 
 
 "Does the use of stale beer effect a 
 quick sale in the trade, and conse- 
 quently a quicker return ? — I do not see 
 how the publican could well please his 
 customers unless he had the means of 
 making his beer either stale or mild as 
 they wish for it. The Committee wiU 
 see that if the brewer had not this vent 
 for selling his return-beer, the price of 
 beer must be considerably higher if he is 
 to throw this beer away, which amounts 
 altogether to near 20,000 barrels in our 
 house alone." 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 Of Scotch Ale. 
 
 The distinguishing characteristics of 
 Scotch ale, are paleness of colour, and 
 mildness of flavour. The taste of the 
 hop never predominates, neither in its 
 stead do we discover that of any other 
 
BREWING. 
 
 53 
 
 ingredient. It is perhaps more near 
 to the French pale wines, than any of 
 the other ales that are brewed in this 
 country. Like them, too, it is the result 
 of a lengthened fermentation. 
 
 The low heat at which the tun is 
 pitched, confines the brewing of Scotch 
 ale to the colder part of the year. Dur- 
 ing four or five of the summer months, 
 the work (except perhaps in some houses 
 for table beer) is completely at a stand, 
 the utensils are hmed down, and the 
 greater part of the workmen discharged. 
 No strong ale is either brewed or de- 
 livered. 
 
 The Edinburgh brewer is particularly 
 nice in the choice of his malt and hops. 
 The former is generally either Enghsh, 
 or of his own making from English 
 barley; and the latter Farnham, the 
 finest East Kent, or a mixture of both. 
 The yeast (or store, as it is termed) is 
 carefully preserved, and measured into 
 the gyle-tun, in the proportion of about 
 three gallons to twenty barrels of wort. 
 
 The Scotch practice is to take only 
 one mash, and that pretty stiff, for 
 strong ale, making up the quantity of 
 wort {length) by eight or ten subsequent 
 sprinklings of liquor over the goods, 
 which are termed Sparges. These 
 sparges trickle successively through the 
 goods, and wash out as much more of 
 the saccharine from the mash, as may 
 suffice for the intended strength of the 
 ale. In this manner, specific gravities 
 may be obtained much higher than 
 could be done by a second mash, which 
 always requires a certain portion of 
 liquor before the goods can be made 
 sufficiently fluid. If we suppose this 
 necessary portion of liquid in a particu- 
 lar mash to be fifteen barrels, it would 
 be found, on trial, that these fifteen 
 barrels, when drawn from the mash- 
 tun, would not contain nearly so much 
 saccharine matter as might have been 
 extracted by ten successive sparges of 
 a barrel each. The reason of this will 
 be obvious, if we recollect that the grains 
 always remain wetted with wort equi- 
 valent in strength to that of the wort 
 last drawn off, and that the quantity 
 remaining on the goods is about three- 
 fourths of a barrel to a quarter of malt. 
 The gravity of this imbibed wort will, in 
 the one case, be equal to that of the 
 second mash ; but in the other, will be 
 reduced to that of the tenth sparge, or 
 washing. Mr. Richardson, so often 
 quoted, condemns this practice ; but, in 
 doing so, we know that he labours 
 
 under a mistake. " What power," says 
 he, " or what time, has a fluid to ex- 
 tract, which is sprinkled over the sur- 
 face of the materials, and immediately 
 trickles out below, without being allowed 
 a stationary moment for infusion 9" 
 We answer, that in malt (and it is only 
 of malt brewings that we now speak) 
 the infusion, if properly conducted, is 
 finished with the first mash ; and that 
 nothing more is necessary than to draw 
 out from the goods, in a pure state, that 
 saccharine matter which the first in- 
 fusion has set free. But the question, 
 with us does not depend on theory. We 
 have brewed strong ale for years, with- 
 out following it either with table beer or 
 returns, and we have, in all cases, drawn 
 as much from the malt as we could have, 
 done by repeated mashings. The only 
 objection to the sparging system is the 
 loss of time. 
 
 The first part of the process is to 
 mash with liquor heated tol 80° at least,* 
 and generally to 190°, varying with the 
 dampness of the malt. According to 
 Dr. Thomson, the best brewers take the 
 lower heats, but this is doubtful. After 
 mashing from twenty minutes to half an 
 hour, that is, until every particle of the 
 malt is in contact with the liquor, the 
 tun is covered, and the whole allowed 
 to infuse about three hours, when it is. 
 drained off into the under back, or (what 
 is far better) into the wort copper. 
 
 After the first wort is run off, a 
 quantity of liquor (generally a barrel),, 
 at the heat of 180=, is sprinkled equally 
 over the surface of the goods. To pre- 
 vent the liquor from dashing on one 
 part, it is usually received upon a cir- 
 cular board, about three feet diameter, 
 which is swung over the centre of the 
 mash-tun ; and, being perforated with 
 small holes, allows the water to descend 
 in a shower. The board being hung on 
 cords, is moveable by the hand over 
 every part of the surface of the tun. 
 When, as generally happens, the cock 
 of the Hqiior-copper is not high enough 
 to carry the hquor to the board, a. 
 separate cock is inserted in the side for 
 that use only. Other means may be 
 adopted to answer this purpose of 
 sprinkling, the object being to spread 
 the Uquor, equably, in a shower over 
 the whole surface of the goods, as if 
 from the rose of a watering-pan. 
 
 When the barrel (or other quantity> 
 
 * It is here to be observed that we merely reeord 
 the practice ; not our own opinion of its propriety. 
 
5.4 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 of liquor is thus let in upon the goods, the 
 cock of the mash-tun is opened, so as 
 to let it off, as in the case of an ordinary 
 mash. Some brewers, instead of the 
 common outlet of the mash-tun, have 
 three or four small cocks inserted in 
 different parts of the bottom, from the 
 fear that a single cock might draw the 
 filtrating liquor to one point, and there- 
 by create a crack in the goods, instead 
 of leaving the whole of the liquor to 
 descend in one horizontal stratum. 
 
 When the first sparge is run off, or 
 nearly so, which may be in twenty or 
 five and twenty minutes, another of 
 equal quantity is put on the goods, in 
 the same manner, and thus, successively, 
 until the whole of the sparges, when 
 mixed with the first mash worts, show 
 that gravity which is desired. The 
 strong ale worts are then completed, 
 and a mash is made to search the goods 
 either for table beer, or a return, as the 
 trade requires. This mash, however, is 
 not necessary as a saving of extract ; for 
 the whole of the saccharine matter of the 
 malt may be exhausted, as well as any 
 required gravity of wort produced, by 
 means of sparges alone ; but there is an 
 opinion, probably not ill founded, that 
 the last weak extracts are less fitted for 
 fine ale. The making up of strengths 
 from the coolers formerly explained, is 
 here anticipated, being regulated by the 
 saccharometer in the under back, or 
 wort-copper ; for practice soon teaches 
 the increase that is produced by the 
 boiling. It may be here noticed, that 
 after the first sparge at 180°, it is cus- 
 tomary with some brewers to reduce the 
 others gradaally, so that the last is per- 
 haps 175° or 170°. 
 
 All rankness of flavour being care- 
 fully avoided in this species of ale, the 
 quantity of hops seldom exceeds four 
 pounds to the quarter of malt ; and the 
 bitter thus created being too slight to 
 cover the taste of ruder ingredients, we 
 believe tha-t the Edinburgh brewers have 
 been less the prey of travelling druggists 
 than their brethren of the south. A 
 little honey to add to the sweet, and a 
 few coriander seeds or other aromatics 
 to assist the flavour, are, as far as we 
 have learnt, the amount of the sins of 
 which they have been accused. 
 
 The manner of boiling the worts does 
 not differ from the directions of Mr. 
 Richardson; but when they arrive at 
 the gyle-tun, the process of brewing is 
 no longer the same. The first heat of 
 fermentation, in the Scotch method, is as 
 
 low as possible, consistent with the 
 action. The favourite heat is 50°, a 
 point at which chemists have generally 
 asserted that the vinous fermentation 
 could not exist, but 45° and 46° are by 
 no means uncommon in the manuscript 
 brewing-books that now lie before us. 
 Even in the coldest weather, the lowness 
 of heat is not to be feared, provided the 
 brewery be in full work. The fermen- 
 tation sometimes continues for three 
 weeks, and a fortnight would be a 
 pretty fair average. "Were the brew- 
 ings made three times a week, seven 
 or eight working-tuns would thus be 
 generally in play ; and these being in 
 the same room, some of them at 12 or 
 15° of increased heat, would create an 
 atmosphere for themselves. 
 
 The quantity of yeast formerly men- 
 tioned is generally sufficient, but, in 
 some cases, an addition is made a day 
 or two after, if, in the judgment of the 
 brewer, it appears necessary. The least 
 quantity that will carry forward the fer- 
 mentation to the required point is al- 
 ways preferred ; and, to assure that 
 purpose, the tun is roused twice a day 
 (morning and evening) to prevent its 
 becoming too languid. This rousing is 
 continued until the ale is nearly ready 
 for cleansing. 
 
 The rule for cleansing differs from 
 that given by Mr. Richardson. It is an 
 application of his saccharometer, of 
 which he himself was not aware. The 
 attenuation is attended to daily, and, 
 towards the close of the operation, 
 twice a day. While the heat is increas- 
 ing, the attenuation proceeds ; that is, 
 the weight of the worts continues to 
 diminish. After a certain time, the heat 
 has reached its highest point, and be- 
 gins to lessen. It is here that we are 
 directed by Mr. Richardson to trust , to 
 the smell ; but this smell merely informs 
 us that carbonic acid continues to be 
 evolved, and the same circumstance is, 
 in consequence, indicated by the sac- 
 charometer : for as long as any such 
 evolution of gas exists, so long will the 
 weight of the worts continue to diminish. 
 When the progress of the attenuation is 
 so slow as not to exceed half a pound 
 in twenty-four hours, it is prudent to 
 cleanse, especially if the attenuation is 
 already low; for it might otherwise 
 happen, that the gas being too weak to 
 buoy up the now close head of the tun, 
 the yeast might partially or wholly sub- 
 side, and the ale would become yeast- 
 bitten : it would receive that disagree- 
 
BREWING. 
 
 55 
 
 able taste which the head had acquired 
 by too long exposure to the atmos- 
 pheric air. 
 
 When the ale is cleansed, the head, 
 which has not been disturbed for two or 
 three days, continues to float on the sur- 
 face, till the whole of the then nearly 
 pure liquid is drawn off into the casks ; 
 and this is considered as a preservative 
 against the admission of the atmospheric 
 air: for the Scotch do not skim their 
 tuns as the London ale brewers so gene- 
 rally do. The ale thus cleansed does 
 not require to be placed on close stil- 
 lions. It throws oft' little or no yeast, 
 and a tub placed so as to catch any 
 little overflow of the scum that arises 
 is quite sufficient. The fermentation is 
 almost finished in the tun ; and it is not 
 the wish of the brewer that it should 
 proceed much farther. 
 
 The strength of Scotch ale, when it 
 deserves the name, ranges between 
 thirty-two and forty-four pounds weight 
 to the imperial barrel, that is, of a specific 
 gravity between 1089 and 1122, accord- 
 ing to the price at which it is meant to 
 
 be sold. The general mode of charge is 
 by the hogshead (about a barrel and a 
 half), for which five pounds, six pounds, 
 seven pounds, or eight pounds are paid, 
 as the quality may warrant ; the strength 
 for every additional pound of price being 
 increased by about four pounds per 
 barrel of weight. 
 
 In a good fermentation, there seldom 
 remains above a fourth of the original 
 weight of the wort at the period of cleans- 
 ing. Between that and a third is the 
 usual attenuation. If above a third re- 
 mains, the taste is generally mawkish, 
 and it is to be feared that the acetous 
 fermentation will commence, before the 
 time in which the ale might be expected 
 to improve. Of the less sensible pro- 
 cess of attenuation which goes on after- 
 wards in the casks, we have already 
 spoken when treating generally of the 
 "Vinous fermentation." Scotch ale 
 soon becomes fine, and is seldom racked, 
 at least for the home market. 
 
 We shall now transcribe the notes of 
 a few actual brewings, in order to illus- 
 trate the rules above written. 
 
 No. 47. March 10th, 18 — . Mashed for Strong Ale 
 13 Bolls {about 10 quarters) of Malt, T. L.*— 42 lbs. Hops, East Kent. 
 
 Hour. 
 
 Min. 
 
 
 Bar. 
 
 Heat. 
 
 Grav. 
 
 7 o'clock Worts in Coolers. 
 
 18i Barrels X. Gravity 36 = 666 
 
 6 T. 10 = 60 
 
 6 
 
 — 
 
 Mash 
 
 17 
 
 190« 
 
 — 
 
 9 
 
 — 
 
 Set tap 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 36 
 
 10) 726 
 
 9 
 10 
 10 
 10 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 45 
 
 Sparge 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 180 
 180 
 180 
 176 
 
 35 
 
 34.2 
 35.2 
 35.6 
 
 Lbs. weight extracted per quarter 72.6 
 
 Fermentation. 
 
 Mar. 11. M.S. Pitched at 50°. Yeast 3 Gals. 
 
 Heat. Gravity. 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 do. 
 
 1 
 
 178 
 
 35 
 
 Mar. 12 50" 36 
 
 11 
 12 
 12 
 
 35 
 20 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 178 
 175 
 175 
 
 34 
 
 35.7 
 
 32.6 
 
 15 52 33 
 
 16 54 30 
 
 17 56 26 
 
 18 58 23 
 
 12 
 
 45 
 
 do. 
 
 1 
 
 174 
 
 27.5 
 
 19 60 20 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 do. 
 
 1 
 
 173 
 
 25 
 
 20 62 17 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 40 
 20 
 
 Mashe 
 Set tap. 
 
 .11 in ( 
 dfor' 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 I!opper. 
 
 Fable Be 
 
 160 
 
 er. 
 
 7 
 
 21 63 15 
 
 22 62 13^ 
 
 23 62 11^ 
 
 24 61 10^ 
 
 25 61 10^ 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 Caste 
 
 Ilopper, Ale. 
 
 
 26 60 9^ cleansed 
 with salt and flour. 
 
 * The initial letters of the Maltster's name. 
 
56 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 No. 49. March 16th, 18— . Strong Ale. 
 13 Bolls {about 10 quarters) Malt, T. L.— 44 lbs. Hops, Farnham and Kent. 
 
 Hour 
 
 Min. 
 
 
 Bar. 
 
 Heat. 
 
 Gray. 
 
 8 o'clock Worts in Coolers. 
 17 Barrels X. Gravity 40 = 680 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 — 
 
 IMash 
 
 16 
 
 185° 
 
 
 : 7 T. 11 77 
 
 8 
 
 — 
 
 Set tap 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 36.5 
 36 
 
 10) 757 
 
 8 
 
 20 
 
 Sparge 
 
 
 180 
 
 
 8 
 
 50 
 
 do. 
 
 
 180 
 
 36.5 
 
 Lbs. weight extracted per quarter 75 . 7 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 do. 
 
 
 178 
 
 37 
 
 Fermentation. 
 
 9 
 
 30 
 
 do. 
 
 
 175 
 
 37.5 
 
 Mar. 17. M. 5. Pitched at 46° with 3-1 gal. yst. 
 Heat. Gravity. 
 
 9 
 
 50 
 
 do. 
 
 
 175 
 
 37 
 
 18 48« .36 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 do. 
 
 
 173 
 
 34 
 
 20 51 32 
 
 10 
 
 35 
 
 do. 
 
 
 173 
 
 33.5 
 
 22 53 30 
 
 11 
 
 
 do. 
 
 
 172 
 
 30 
 26 
 26 
 
 23 54 28 
 
 24 56 26 
 
 11 
 
 n 
 
 20 
 40 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 
 173 
 172 
 
 25 56^ 24 
 
 26 57i 20 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 All in Copper. 
 Mashed for T. 
 
 
 
 27 60 18 
 
 28 61 16 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 8^ 
 
 158 
 
 
 29 62 14^ 
 
 30 62 13 
 
 12 
 
 58 
 
 Set tap 
 
 8^ 
 
 
 9 
 
 31 61 12 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 Cast Copper 
 
 Ale. 
 
 
 Apr. 1 60 11.7 cleansed. 
 
 No. 50. March 23rd, 18—. Strong Ale. 
 2 Quarters English Malt, E. G.— 58 lbs. East Kent Hops. 
 
 
 Bar. 
 
 Heat. 
 
 Grav. 
 
 Mash 
 
 18 
 
 180° 
 
 
 
 Set tap 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 44i 
 
 Sparge 
 
 3 
 
 180 
 
 44 
 
 do. 
 
 2 
 
 180 
 
 42 
 
 do. 
 
 2 
 
 179 
 
 40 
 
 do. 
 
 2 
 
 180 
 
 36 
 
 do. 
 
 2 
 
 175 
 
 30 
 
 do. 
 
 2 
 
 175 
 
 25 
 
 do. 
 
 2 
 
 175 
 
 20 
 
 do. 
 
 1 
 
 170 
 
 121 
 
 All in Copper. 
 
 
 
 Mashed for a 
 Return. 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 160 
 
 4 
 
 Cast Copper Ale. 
 
 
 Return 
 w 
 
 into ( 
 th the 
 
 Dopper a 
 Hops. 
 
 long 
 
 March 24, morning, 4 Worts in Tun. 
 20i Barrels X. Gravity 42.5 = 860.6 
 20 Barrels i?e/wm, Grav. 6.1 = 122 
 
 12) 982.6 
 
 lbs. weight extracted per quarter 81 .8 
 
 Apr. 
 
 Mar. 25 
 
 28 
 30 
 1 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 Gravi ty. 
 
 41 
 
 Fermentation. 
 
 Mar. 24 M. 4 pitched at 51° 
 
 Heat, 
 
 52° 
 
 56 
 60 
 62 
 65 
 66 
 67 
 67 
 66 
 66 
 64 
 
 Yeast 4 Gals 
 
 39 
 
 34 
 
 32 
 
 29 added 1 lb. yeast, 
 
 25 
 
 23 
 
 20 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 
 14.5 cleansed. 
 
BREWING. 
 
 57 
 
 It may be observed, with respect to 
 Ihe left-hand portion of these tabular 
 statements, that the gravities are taken 
 as averages to direct the brewer in the 
 number of his sparges, and are not 
 minutely correct. The weights are those 
 of worts, warm as they issue from the 
 mash-tun ; and, even in those small 
 sparges, it would make some difference 
 if taken from the former or the latter 
 part of each running. The sparges 
 themselves, too, may not be made with 
 extreme nicety with regard to the quan- 
 tity. The whole of the process, how- 
 ever, is easily acquired by practice, with- 
 out which, in the manipulations of the 
 arts, science is of little avail. 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 Of Scotch Twopenny. 
 
 At and previous to the beginning of the 
 ^eighteenth century, every publican in 
 Scotland (being every man who chose to 
 embark in the trade) brewed his own 
 ale ; and the resort to his house de- 
 pended on the quality of his liquor; 
 which, when thunder or witchcraft did 
 not interfere, was generally excellent. 
 The strong ale was reserved for holidays 
 and the tables of the great ; but the two- 
 penny (so called because it was sold at 
 twopence the Scotch pint*) was so much 
 esteemed as a national beverage, that it 
 was inserted by name, and guarded by 
 peculiar privileges, in one of the Articles 
 of the Union. Another Article, how- 
 ever, in the same Act, secured to the 
 ^cottish brewery an Exchequer Court ; 
 and this, conjoined with the enormously 
 increased malt duties, so lessened the 
 exhilarating qualities of this ancient ale, 
 that it has now lost its fame. In its 
 stead, a kind of small drink is brewed ; 
 but it is destitute of all the qualities 
 which were so often celebrated in Scot- 
 tish song, and is scarcely superior to 
 the trash termed table-beer in the work- 
 houses of the metropolis. 
 
 "When the Scotch twopenny was the 
 boast of the nation, saccharometers were 
 unknown, and thermometers had not 
 been heard of by the brewer. He shaped 
 his course by habit, and with surprising 
 accuracy, as blind men are often known 
 to do. When we first knew the article 
 it had much degenerated ; but even then 
 it must have weiofhed from fourteen to 
 
 * The old ale pint was nearly two English 
 qttarts. 
 
 sixteen pounds per barrel, as far as we 
 could judge from the lengths which they 
 drew. The quantity of hops seldom 
 exceeded two pounds and a-half to the 
 boll of malt, or about three pounds to a 
 quarter. This was forty years ago, 
 and the old tapsters were then ac- 
 customed to tell tales of how they 
 managed to brew ale without hops irt 
 their youth. 
 
 The boiled worts were usually cast 
 into what were then called half-barrel 
 casks, for few had coolers * ; and the 
 gyle-tun (which was often the mash-tun- 
 also) was first started, or pitched, at 
 about blood heat. This was done with 
 a single half barrel, or less, for the pur- 
 pose of chipping the worts ; and the tun 
 was aftei-wards filled up, by half-barrels 
 at a time, when they had cooled to the 
 requisite degree. The heat of the fer- 
 mentation was regulated by the appear- 
 ance of the yeasty head, and great care 
 was taken that it should neither be 
 scalded nor chilled. When the smell of 
 the tun became strong, the ale was 
 cleansed into half-barrels, and dis- 
 charged its yeast into tubs. But the- 
 whole brewing was never so fermented ; 
 for a great part, often one half, was 
 preserved (in the casks in which it had 
 been thrown from the copper) in the 
 state of worts. 
 
 On reading this account of turning the 
 worts boiling hot into the casks, and 
 allowing them to remain there for seve- 
 ral days, the modern brewer will im- 
 mediately exclaim that the ale must 
 have hQenfoxed,\di term which he gives 
 to an incipient stage of putrefaction, 
 which is supposed to be attended with 
 a smell like that of the animal whose 
 name it bears. We can assure him, 
 however, that this accident was very 
 rare, although it would probably be an 
 inevitable consequence of the same 
 practice in many other breweries. Th.e 
 great preventive was cleanliness. The 
 casks were repeatedly washed and 
 steamed with hot water before every 
 brewing ; and, in order that not a speck 
 of dirt should be left, the bungholes were 
 cut square, and large enough to allow 
 the brewer to put in his arm, and scour 
 them completely with a heather rinse. 
 The large size of the holes, as well as 
 the highly fermenting state of the liquor, 
 rendered it inconvenient to use corks ; 
 and, therefore, when the ale was sent 
 
 • They held about sixteen English ale gallons. 
 
58 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 out in casks, it was kept in the barrels 
 by means of covers made of clay. " It 
 is in allusion to this practice that Shak- 
 speare speaks of tracin<r the dust of 
 Alexander till it be found stopping a 
 bunefhole." * 
 
 After that part of the ale which was 
 cleansed had discharged the greater por- 
 tion of its yeast, a pailfull was drawn 
 from every cask, into other casks, and 
 the vacancy in each was replaced by a 
 pailfull of the reserved wort. The fer- 
 mentation was thereby renewed, and the 
 operation was repeated once a day until 
 all the reserved worts were expended ; 
 and those were so proportioned as to 
 keep the fermentation alive until the 
 succeeding brewing. This operation was 
 called handling ; and it was in this 
 slowly fermenting state that the ale was 
 sent out to the customers, in casks, or 
 sold in flaggons. We have seen ale 
 preserved, by this means, for nearly a 
 fortnight, in summer weather, without 
 the least perceptible tendency to acidity. 
 Ale, in Scotland, whether strong or 
 weak, was always bottled. In the kind 
 of which we now speak, the cask was 
 allowed to be undisturbed, before draw- 
 ing off, for twenty-four hours, or per- 
 haps twice that period, according to the 
 length of time which it was to remain 
 in the bottles before ripening. It was 
 generally expected to be very brisk in 
 the course of a week. 
 
 With respect to unlawful ingredients, 
 we have already said that the Scotch 
 are less to be complained of than their 
 brethren of the South. The legislature, 
 however, has, it seems, always thought 
 otherwise; for, in addition to the caveats 
 which are addressed to the whole island, 
 there are some which are peculiarly 
 directed against the brewers of Scotland. 
 The following extraordinary prohibition, 
 for example, is still in the Statute Book, 
 and is regularly promulgated under the 
 authority of the Excise : — 
 
 ^ In Scotland.— By the Act Will, 
 Pari. 1. Sess. 6. c. 43. no salt shall be 
 made use of in brewing beer or ale, whe- 
 ther in washing and seasoning of ves- 
 sels, or any other way whatever, under 
 pain of confiscation of looms and vessels, 
 with the hquor found therein, attour the 
 loss of his freedom, if the transgressor 
 be a burgess, and the being incapable to 
 
 • Booth's Analytical Dictionary of the English 
 Language. 
 
 use the trade of brewing thereafter. The 
 looms and vessels shall be given to the 
 informer, who shall be free from the said 
 penalty, albeit he have been a servant or 
 accessory." 
 
 To prevent ale or beer iromfoxingy 
 we are convinced that no cleansing ma- 
 terial could be better than salt. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 Of Burton Ale. 
 
 We have formerly given Mr. Richard- 
 son's instructions for the brewing of this 
 liquor ; but we acknowledge that we have 
 never been able to produce the flavour 
 and permanent sweetness of Burton ale 
 by following that gentleman's directions. 
 The indiscriminate prohibitions of the 
 Excise rise up before us, as they proba- 
 bly did before Mr. Richardson. They 
 may have arrested his pen; but they 
 shall not ours. We write not for the 
 common brewer, but for the private 
 gentleman, whose operations are unfet- 
 tered. We will not say that the plan 
 which we shall here point out is followed 
 by the brewers at Burton, but we know 
 that ale very like to theirs, in all re- 
 spects, has been the result of this pro- 
 cess. 
 
 Two ounces of salt of steel, dried until 
 it becomes white, is infused mto twenty 
 barrels of liquor before mashing, that 
 quantity of liquor being usually allowed 
 for the first mash of ten quarters of 
 malt. The use of this small portion of 
 salt of steel is supposed to assist the 
 extract ; but we think that it has, more 
 probably, been introduced to catch any 
 incipient dose of oxygen which might 
 favour the production of acidity. Its 
 value may be questioned ; but this 
 small proportion, at any rate, is harm- 
 less. 
 
 Twenty barrels of this liquor is then 
 turned upon the ten quarters of malt, 
 in the ordinary way, upwards, through 
 the false bottom. The heat is between 
 165° and 170°,— generally nearer the 
 former. The mashing is continued 
 about an hour, after which it is al- 
 lowed to infuse about an hour and a 
 half longer; the goods being covered 
 with a sack of dry malt to preserve the 
 heat. 
 
 When the first mash is run off, from 
 ten to fifteen barrels of liquor (accord- 
 ing to the proposed strength) is run 
 over the goods at the heat of 185°. This 
 
BREWING. 
 
 is allowed to infuse two hours, when it 
 will have sunk and mixed with the goods, 
 without having been mashed. This 
 differs from the Scotch practice by mak- 
 ing up the length with one, in place of 
 many sparges. Practice enables the 
 brewer to fix the quantity of this 
 second liquor ; but he runs some risk 
 of error in untried malts, while the 
 Scotch brewer is always safe by weigh- 
 ing the wort in separate and successive 
 portions. 
 
 This second liquor being run off, the 
 strong ale worts are all extracted ; and 
 table beer, or a return, is made to ex- 
 haust the goods. It is usual, in the 
 case of table beer, to cap the goods with 
 a quantity of dry malt, which is under- 
 stood to be necessary in order to pro- 
 cure the requisite strength. We believe 
 that this practice (of which we do not 
 approve) originated from a different 
 cause. There was a time when the Excise 
 objected io party -gyles, that is, to making 
 two kinds of beer from the same malt ; 
 the cappi?ig was introduced to make 
 (formally) a separate brewing, and was 
 continued from the influence of custom. 
 The least quantity of capping answered 
 the purpose, so that it covered the goods, 
 the strength being regulated by the 
 quantity of liquor in the table-beer mash. 
 This mash is generally made at 150° of 
 heat, and allowed to stand about an 
 hour: — but we return to the strong 
 ale. 
 
 The quantity of hops is usually about 
 six pounds to the quarter of malt, and 
 the time of boiling from two to two and 
 a half hours. From ten to fifteen mi- 
 nutes before turning off, a quantity of 
 honey, at least equivalent to a pound 
 per barrel, is put into the copper The 
 honey is previously dissolved in scalding- 
 hot liquor. 
 
 With respect to the fermentation, the 
 tun is pitched at sixty-four or sixty- five 
 degrees, with a pound of solid yeast per 
 barrel. The first head is skimmed to 
 rid the wort of the impurities which 
 usually float upon the surface. After 
 this the tun is generally kept covered, 
 except when it is roused, which it is, 
 twice or thrice a day. In from forty- 
 eight to sixty hours it ought to rise to 
 eighty degrees, or more ; and when the 
 
 gravity is about twelve pounds, it is 
 usual to put half a gallon of bean flour 
 and four ounces of sal prunella, previ- 
 ously well roused together in a portion 
 of the worts, to every twenty barrels. 
 The whole is then cleansed into barrels, 
 which are filled up every two hours until 
 they cease to discharge any yeast. 
 Should the fermenting tun fall in heat, 
 some recommend that two ounces and 
 a half of jalap should be added for every 
 twenty barrels of the wort. 
 
 Immediately after the casks have 
 ceased workins:, six ounces of unburnt, 
 but bruised, sulphate of lime, mixed up 
 with an ounce of powdered black rosin, 
 (both previously whisked in a small 
 quantity of the ale,) are put into each 
 barrel. Over this a small handful of 
 half-boiled hops is also inserted ; and 
 the cask, being then quite full, is closely 
 bunged up, having a gimlet hole, closed 
 with a peg, at the side of the bung-hole, 
 as an occasional vent for the escape of 
 the carbonic acid which may afterwards 
 be generated. The rosin and hops pre- 
 clude the access of atmospheric air; and 
 the sulphate of hme, which in a short 
 time disappears, is said to prevent any 
 secondary fermentation,— the usual fore- 
 runner of acidity. The honey is also 
 understood to ward off the acid fermen- 
 tation. Honey and water, especially 
 when boiled, does not readily complete 
 its attenuation, and hence it is supposed 
 to answer all the preservative purposes 
 of hops in the beer of Lou vain. 
 
 The strength of the Burton, like that 
 of every other species of ale, varies with 
 the price. The qualities are seldom 
 more than two ; the one weighing from 
 30 to 32 pounds per barrel, and the 
 other somewhere between 35 and 40, 
 differing in the several brewhouses and 
 with the demands of their customers. 
 The latter, however, is accounted a 
 maximum strength, and exceeded only 
 in rare instances. Below 28 pounds the 
 preservative quality, so peculiar to this 
 sort of ale, is not to be depended on. 
 The charge is usually by the gallon, 
 because the sizes of their casks are 
 various. 
 
 The following are notes of a brew- 
 ing conducted according to the preced- 
 ing directions : — 
 
60 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 April 27th, 18 — . Mashed for Burton Ale. 
 Malt 6 quarters. — Hopx 3(ilbs. — Honey 20lbs. — S. Steel 2oz^ 
 
 
 
 
 Bar. 
 
 
 Bar. 
 
 
 
 Hour. 
 
 Min. 
 
 
 Li (J. 
 
 Heat. 
 
 Wort. 
 
 Grav. 
 
 April 28, M. 8. Worts in Tun. 
 
 7 
 
 
 Mashed. 
 
 12 
 
 165 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 _ 
 
 Set tap. 
 
 _._ 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 12 Barrels X. Gravity 34.8 = 417.6 
 
 — 
 
 20 
 
 Spent. 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 7 
 
 35 
 
 10 Barrels Return in Copper, 
 
 Gravity 6.2 = 62 
 
 
 
 
 Run on. 
 
 9 
 
 180 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 30 
 
 Set tap. 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 6) 479.6 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 Spent. 
 In Copper. 
 
 : 
 
 — 
 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 22 
 
 Extract Gravity per Qr. = 79.9 
 Fermeniaiion. Yeast 10 lb. 
 
 27.7 
 
 
 
 Mashed for 
 
 12 
 
 165 
 
 
 
 Heat. Gravity. 
 April 28 66 34.8 
 
 
 
 Return. 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 Mixed 
 Honey. 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 _ 
 
 Morning 29 70 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 75 20 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Cast Copper. 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Evening 10 80 14 cleansed. 
 
 
 
 Return 
 
 andH 
 
 ops in Copp( 
 
 jr. 
 
 In two days the ale had ceased throw- 
 ing off yeast; and when it had stood two 
 days more with occasional fillings, it was 
 bunged up, after receiving a handful of 
 half- spent hops, &c. as in the directions. 
 This ale was kept through the summer ; 
 and, in the following September, it had 
 become quite pure, and was bottled at a 
 gravity of six pounds. In a month after- 
 wards it became pretty ripe, and was well 
 liked. 
 
 Chapter XI. 
 Of Small Brewings. 
 
 Although it is our wish that the Art 
 of Brewing should be understood in 
 every family of the kingdom, it, never- 
 theless, in its simplest form, requires 
 manipulations that cannot be communi- 
 cated in a few detached sentences, like 
 the receipts of a cookery book. A cer- 
 tain degree of practice, however small, 
 is necessary before general directions 
 can be of any value ; and, notwithstand- 
 ing that we have endeavoured to be ex- 
 tremely plain, we fear that our observa- 
 tions would scarcely be understood by 
 one who never saw a mash-tun, nor wit- 
 nessed the production of a malt extract. 
 It is, therefore, only to such as have 
 already been present at private brewings, 
 however well or ill conducted, that we 
 are enabled to address ourselves ; and 
 to those persons we would recommend 
 the attentive perusal of what we have 
 
 already written, before they place their 
 confidence in the succeeding examples. 
 For those families whose consump- 
 tion requires, and whose means enable 
 them, to brew two or three quarters at 
 a time, our instructions may be simpli- 
 fied. Let them take any of the examples 
 already given (according with the sort 
 of beer, or ale, which they want) and di- 
 minish the measure of liquor in the 
 mash, and the weight of the hops, as 
 there specified, in proportion to th^ 
 quantity of the malt which it is intended 
 to brew. It would be well to keep to the 
 same time of infusion ; but, in that case, 
 the heats of the mashing liquor should 
 be four or five degrees higher ; because, 
 in small brewings, the mash-tun is apt to 
 become so cool as to risk acidity in the 
 worts. A like observation may be given 
 respecting the fermentation. It must 
 begin higher by five or six degrees ; and 
 it will be discovered, that under no cir- 
 cumstances will the heat of the tun rise 
 so far above its first pitch as it usually 
 does in large gyles. The criterion for 
 cleansing and the previous proper atte- 
 nuation to be aimed at are the same. 
 In the case of porter, it will be more 
 convenient to use pale malt, and give. 
 the colour (and consequent flavour) by 
 means of sugar, burnt as directed at 
 page 51. The aloes or quassia, which 
 may be here used with impunity, will not 
 only be a saving, but will be preferable to 
 giving the whole of the bitter with hops. 
 
BREWING. 
 
 CI 
 
 In makinsj sfrono: ale, the private 
 brewer is generally obliged to use more 
 malt than he otherwise would ; because, 
 having no means of taking the advan- 
 tage oid. Return, he must make a quan- 
 tity of small beer, whether it is wanted 
 or not, for the purpose of searching the 
 grains. In such a case, either the 
 Scotch or the Burton system would be 
 the best. His worts might thereby be 
 made sufficiently strong without any 
 loss of extract, and might be divided, as 
 they passed from the tun, into any re- 
 quisite strengths; either making the 
 whole strong ale, or a part of it table 
 teer, in such proportions as might be 
 found convenient. The saccharometer 
 -would form the best assistant ; and it 
 -would be extremely advantageous to 
 quality and flavour, as well as to pre- 
 servation, that the potency of the ale 
 should be increased by the addition of 
 honey. The quantity of this ingredient 
 is to be regulated solely by taste ; the 
 mixture forming the link between Malt 
 Liquor and Mead. 
 
 The history of the last-mentioned ar- 
 ticle is evidence of the baneful effects of 
 the excise upon manufactures. The 
 duties upon Mead were increased, from 
 time to time, until it could no longer be 
 made for sale. The duties, prohibitions, 
 and penalties, still remain in the Statute 
 Book ; but we do not know that there 
 now exists a single person liable to 
 their inflictions. It is melancholy to 
 Bee its expiring effort, in the excise ac- 
 counts for 1808:— "The gross actual 
 receipt in money" for duties on Metheg- 
 lin, or Mead, during the whole year, 
 is there stated to have been " one 
 pound eleven shillings and six-pence," 
 The quantity, on which this duty was 
 charged, could not have exceeded twen- 
 ty-one wine gallons; and the maker 
 must have paid, besides, two pounds for 
 a license. It might be supposed that 
 these prohibitory duties, upon the ma- 
 nufacturer for sale, must be advanta- 
 geous to private families who pay 
 nothing ; but in the present instance it 
 is otherwise. Good mead cannot be 
 brewed, even without duty, at less than 
 five shillings a gallon, being equivalent 
 to a shilling the wine bottle. It requires 
 to be made in quantities of ten gallons 
 at least, and is seldom fit for bottling in 
 less time than a twelvemonth. With 
 this outlay and care it once rivalled the 
 wines of France, but the rich are con- 
 tented with the latter, for which they 
 are able to pay ; while the poorer classes. 
 
 who, on occasional merry-makings, or 
 in sickness, might prefer it to a bottle of 
 adulterated port, can purchase it no- 
 where, and are unable to lay in a stock 
 for themselves. This is one among a 
 thousand greater instances of the price 
 which the people pay for the wars they 
 have been so fond of. Some directions 
 for making Mead will be found in the 
 Treatise on Wine-making, to which 
 subject it more immediately belongs. 
 
 The midland counties of England 
 have generally been famed for their 
 malt liquors. That of Burton has al- 
 ready been particularly described; but 
 those of Nottingham and Birmingham 
 also find their way into the London 
 market : indeed, any sort of country ale 
 is preferred to what is usually manu- 
 factured, under that name, in the metro- 
 polis. Private brewing, too, is more 
 general in the district above-mentioned, 
 than in other quarters of the island ; and 
 the following description of the practice 
 of a private family of our acquaintance 
 in Worcestershire may be considered 
 as generally prevalent in that and the 
 neighbouring counties. It is obviously 
 capable of improvement in regard to 
 the saving of expense ; but, in quality, 
 the ale is by no means objectionable. 
 
 1. For Good Commoin- Ale. 
 The strength of this ale was fixed to 
 twelve gallons for every bushel of malt, 
 and two bushels was the quantity usually 
 brewed at a time ; for which one and 
 a half to two pounds of hops were al- 
 lowed, according to their quality and 
 the season. The Worcester hops were 
 preferred as being milder in flavour than 
 the Sussex or Kent. The malt was 
 ground, rather coarsely, in which case 
 it was supposed to drain better than 
 when too fine; and the drainage was 
 made to pass through a small cap-like 
 wicker basket, called a Betwel, which 
 was placed on the bottom of the tun so 
 as to cover the entrance to the draining 
 cock, or spiggot, as the case might be. 
 
 When every thing was prepared, and 
 the liquor had begun to boil, the furnace 
 door of the copper was thrown open, 
 and the boiling having just ceased, as 
 much of the hot hquor was run into the 
 mash-tun as covered the bottom to the 
 depth of an inch, or an inch and a half. 
 About half a bushel of the malt was 
 then put in, and stirred intimately with 
 the liquor, until it was completely wetted. 
 Another quantity of the hot water, suf- 
 ficient to wet a second half bushel of the- 
 
m2 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 malt, was then let on ; and this remainder 
 of the first bushel was put into the tun, 
 and the whole stirred together until 
 every particle of the malt was supposed 
 to be wet. The same process was carried 
 on, by half a bushel at a time, mixed 
 with continually added liquor, until the 
 whole mash became completely soaked. 
 A gallon of the liquor (as muchas might 
 have been contained within the draining 
 basket or betwel) was then drawn off 
 from the bottom of the tun, and thrown 
 upon the top of the goods, which, after 
 being covered with a sprinkling of dry 
 malt, and marked with a cross, drawn 
 over the surface with the end of the 
 mashing oar, were allowed to rest, for 
 the purpose of infusion. 
 
 When the mash had stood three hours, 
 it was let off slowly into a tub (or under- 
 back) upon the hops, which had been 
 previously steeped in hot water ; and, 
 after the draining was completed, an 
 additional quantity of liquor (about the 
 same heat as before) w^as laded regu- 
 larly over the goods until the whole were 
 as wet as at the first mash. This second 
 infusion was allowed to stand an hour, 
 when it was also run off, and trans- 
 ferred, along with the first worts and 
 hops, into the copper for the purpose of 
 being boiled. The quantity of worts re- 
 quired to produce the twenty-four gal- 
 lons of ale (which, to allow for waste in 
 boiling, might be about thirty gallons), 
 was made up by sprinkling hot water 
 over the goods, while the mash- tun was 
 allowed to continue slowly draining. 
 
 When the worts had boiled in the 
 copper for an hour, they were cast into 
 wide tubs for the purpose of coohng. 
 These being of different sizes, cooled 
 unequally ; but care was always taken 
 not to mix hot worts with cold. A few 
 quarts of the worts, when about milk 
 warm, were stirred up with a quart of 
 good fresh yeast, in the bottom of the 
 fermenting tun, at which heat they rose 
 into immediate action ; and the remain- 
 ing worts (except a small part) were 
 added as soon as they were considered 
 to be sufficiently cool. 
 
 When the head of the tun got very 
 strong, and before it had begun to sink, 
 the ale was cleansed ; but previously to 
 this being done, the bottom of each cask 
 was covered about an inch deep, with 
 the reserved worts above-mentioned ; — 
 we say the bottom, because the casks 
 were placed upright, and discharged 
 their superfluous yeast down the sides, 
 from a wide tap-hole in the upper end. 
 
 In two or three days the fermentation 
 generally subsided, so as to allow them 
 to be loosely bunged ; and in about a 
 week more, after inserting a handful of 
 half boiled hops in each cask, and filling 
 it up, it was bunged up close, having a 
 vent-hole and peg to loosen if necessary. 
 In four months the ale was judged ready 
 for tapping, and was drunk from the 
 cask without bottling. This sort of ale 
 is brewed, of course, at such times, and 
 in such quantities, as to ensure a regular 
 succession of four or five months old, 
 keeping in view that the spring and 
 autumn are the best seasons. 
 
 2. For Strong Ale. 
 
 The quality of the strong ale is calculated 
 from the length that is drawn from the 
 bushel. Some gentlemen make it a rule 
 that a gallon of malt shall produce a 
 gallon of ale ; while others draw only five 
 or six gallons from the bushel. The 
 brewing of which we have now to speak 
 consisted of twelve bushels, and from 
 this about seventy gallons of strong ale 
 were made. For this purpose about 
 eighty gallons of wort were drawn from 
 the goods, in the same manner as in the 
 common ale. The hops (twelve pounds) 
 were boiled with the worts an hour, or 
 an hour and a quarter ; and about the 
 middle of that period a lump of salt 
 (perhaps a pound) was thrown into the 
 copper. Salt is also put, by some, in 
 the common ale, in the same manner. 
 
 During this time, as much liquor was 
 infusing with the goods as produced, 
 when boiled and fermented, eighteen 
 gallons of very good table beer. The 
 hops of the strong ale were more than 
 sufficient for the small, and part was 
 usually kept out. 
 
 The fermentation was begun and con- 
 ducted in the same way as in the last 
 article, only with a larger portion of 
 yeast, on account of the greater strength 
 of the worts. The time in the ferment- 
 ing tun was longer, the cleansing being 
 guided by the appearance of the head^ 
 as it began to thicken. In cleansing, 
 there was no reserved wort used, as m 
 the preceding brewing. 
 
 In about three weeks after cleansing, 
 the ale was racked into other casks; 
 and a quart of ground malt tied in a 
 clean linen bag was put into each. A 
 handful of half boiled hops was also put 
 in, and the bung made firm. Some 
 persons put horse beans, either bruised 
 or whole, in place of the malt, and also 
 a few egg shells and a pound of loaf 
 
BREWING. 
 
 63 
 
 sugar to a barrel, with the view of better 
 preservation. 
 
 This ale was kept six months in the 
 cask before it was tapped. It was then 
 bottled, and ran no further risk of acidity, 
 although kept for years. October or 
 November is accounted the best season 
 for brewing, because the six winter 
 months are understood to be most 
 favourable to the keeping of ale that is 
 newly brewed. When it has passed 
 those months, it runs less risk of acidity 
 during the succeeding summer, in the 
 case of its continuing in the casks. 
 
 On reviewing the preceding directions, 
 it will be observed that much is left to 
 the experience of the brewer, which, 
 from the want of instruments, cannot be 
 communicated to the reader. The heat 
 of the mashing liquor was probably 
 above 190°, but this is left to conjec- 
 ture. It must have varied with the heat 
 of the atmosphere, but in the worst di- 
 rection ; for, in cold weather, the liquor 
 would be at a lower when it ought to 
 be at a higher temperature. The heat 
 of the fermentation must have been 
 liable to the same accidents. The pro- 
 per period for cleansing, too, must have 
 been very difficult to ascertain, there 
 being no mode of discovering the at- 
 tenuation ; and in consequence, under 
 such management, the strong ale might 
 be ready for bottling two or three months 
 sooner, or it might be protracted two or 
 three months later than the period in- 
 tended. 
 
 The mode of mashing (akin to the 
 Scotch sparging system) is capable of 
 drawing out the whole strength of the 
 malt, were it not for two prominent 
 errors : one of which is the consequence 
 of the other. The want of a false bot- 
 tom makes coarse grinding necessary to 
 enable the worts to work their way to 
 the basket. Without either fine grind- 
 ing, or crushing, the malt cannot be suf- 
 ficiently searched ; and, unless the sparges 
 are allowed to descend in horizontal 
 strata, we leave one side of the mash- 
 tun to be less acted upon than the other. 
 We are well convinced that, in the fore- 
 mentioned examples, and especially in 
 the second, one- third of the extractible 
 saccharum of the malt was left in the 
 grains. 
 
 In the details of which we now speak, 
 the reader's attention was particularly 
 directed to the cro5.s that was dravi'n on 
 the surface of the goods. This sign of 
 the cross, in those counties, is univer- 
 sal, although no one knows why. The 
 
 Protestants consider it as a remnant of 
 Popish superstition. There is, how- 
 ever, no superstition in the case. It is 
 a useful proof of the perfection of the 
 process. After the mashing is finished, 
 and the goods strewed over with dry 
 malt, the cross can only be fairly drawn 
 when the whole of the goods are com- 
 pletely broken. If any knots or lumps 
 remain, being lighter than the rest, they 
 rise to the surface ; and meeting the 
 rod by which the cross is drawn, they 
 will break the continuity of the line. A 
 similar practice is observed by the malt- 
 sters in Scotland, and perhaps in other 
 places. After a floor has been turned, 
 the maltman makes a cross on a corner 
 of the surface with the end of a shovel, 
 the appearance of which shows whether 
 the grains of the malt be well separated, 
 or clotted together. Formerly, every 
 craft had its mysteries, which were hid 
 from the uninitiated, for whom some 
 wonderful tale was invented that might 
 satisfy their curiosity without adding to 
 their information. Another of those 
 mystical symbols will be seen in the 
 following instructions, which were sent 
 to a lady by an eminent Scotch brewer : 
 
 " Leith, nth November, 1793. 
 
 "Dear Madam, 
 
 " * * * I have sent you 18 lbs. 
 of hops. I generally put in 7 lbs. to the 
 boll* of my best ale, but I think 6 lbs. 
 of these hops should do ; and, as good 
 store (yeast) is essentially necessary to 
 the making of strong ale, I have sent 
 you up as much in a small cask as will 
 answer your brewing, the produce of 
 my double ale. 
 
 «****♦ J t^\^Q\] iisg WiQ free- 
 dom of mentioning a few directions, at 
 least, that I follow :— I, in the first 
 place, allow the liquor, or water, in the 
 copper, to come to a boil for ten mi- 
 nutes or so. I then run it off into the 
 mash-tun, and cool it to 190 degrees by 
 the thermometer : or, if you have not 
 one, you may stir it for eight or ten 
 minutes, which brings it near about it. 
 I then put in the malt, and stir it well 
 till all is wet. I then throw a little dry 
 malt, which is left on purpose, on the 
 top of the mash, with a handful of salt, 
 to keep the witches from it, and then 
 cover it up. I allow it then to stand 
 three hours, and then let go the cock of 
 the mash-tun, and run off the wort 
 slowly, to keep it fine, into the wort- 
 
 * About 9 lb. per quarter. 
 
€4 
 
 BREWING. 
 
 stane*. When the frst is run off, I 
 sparse it with liquor at ISO cley;rees; 
 allowing the cock to run all the time 
 till I have as much as I want of quan- 
 tity. I then pump the w^orts into the 
 copper, (having put more liquor on the 
 goods for the following, or small beer, 
 at 1 GO or 165°) and allow them to boil 
 for an hour. Having mashed the hops 
 with liquor at the time of sparging the 
 malt, they are put in when putting the 
 worts into the copper. After they are 
 boiled the above-mentioned time, I throw 
 them (the worts) into the coolers, and 
 allow them to stand till cool. 1 then 
 let them into the tun, giving them some 
 store ; and, after they are chipped\, I 
 add more store by degrees ; and, mixing 
 them frequently with a scoop, or cudyj, 
 I let them stand still till the fermentation 
 is very strong ; perhaps three days. I 
 then tun (cleanse) them into casks, fill- 
 ing up twice, or thrice, a day till pro- 
 pel ly^wrought. * * * 
 " I remain, with esteem, &c. 
 
 " W. G." 
 
 Mr. G.'s directions, though less mi- 
 nute than those of our Worcestershire 
 friend, show a little moie of science, by 
 the introduction of the thermometer. 
 It is surprising, however, considering 
 the comparatively recent period at which 
 he wrote, and his fame as a brewer 
 (for he was the first of his day), that 
 he makes no mention of the saccharo- 
 meter, in default of which, or something 
 equivalent, no brevv'ing, whether great 
 or small, can be conducted with advan- 
 tage. Without it, good ale may be made, 
 but the expense, in family brewings, is 
 not calculated : and the proverb is for- 
 
 * A stone imderback. 
 -f Creamed on the surface, 
 
 X A Cudij, or Cuddy, is a small shallow pail, 
 'Kaviiig one of its staves lengthened and shaped so as 
 to form a handle. 
 
 gotten, that " what is the private gentle- 
 man's boast would be the public brew- 
 ers ruin." Further, what with some 
 is reckoned a matter of more conse- 
 quence, the quality is always uncertain. 
 The malt, it may be, contains a less 
 quantity of fermentable matter, or it 
 does not give out the extract at the 
 heat usually employed. In either case, 
 the same length is drawn ; and the dis- 
 covery^is made, a year or two afterwards, 
 in consequence of the obvious weak- 
 ness, or degeneracy, of the ale. Thera 
 was a time when instruments were un- 
 known in the brewery; but there was 
 also a time when a jug, of indefinite 
 dimensions, was taken as a measure ; 
 and a stone was selected, by guess-work, 
 from a field, as a representative of 
 weight. Those days, however, are 
 gone by ; and, with the degree of know- 
 ledge which we now possess, the expec- 
 tation of being able to brew good malt 
 liquor, without knowing the strength of 
 the worts, seems almost as absurd as to 
 attempt the process, without either weigh- 
 ing the hops or measuring the malt. 
 
 Additional information on this sub- 
 ject will be found in'the pamphlet which 
 accompanies " The Brewer s Saccharo- 
 meter,"^ an instrument made and ad- 
 justed under the direction of the writer 
 of this treatise. 
 
 While closing the present treatise, we 
 are well aware that we have left it im- 
 perfect. This is partly owing to the 
 narrowness of the limits that have been 
 assigned to it, w^hich has obliged us to 
 abridge many of the illustrations. The 
 treatises on Wine-making, and the 
 Manufacture of Cyder and Perry (which 
 are, in fact, continuations of Brewi?ig) 
 will afford opportunities of remedving, 
 in a great measure, these 'unavoidable 
 defects. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 16, col. 2, line 4 from the bottom, for qualities rjad quantities. 
 Page 32, note, dele last and read 182U. 
 
THE BREWER'S SACCHAROMETERo 
 
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 BESCRIPTION AND USE OF THE BREWER'S SACGHARO- 
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 also the quantity of Extract, obtained or obtainable from Malt-or from Raw Grain, 
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 THE AMULET, a Christian and 
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