Part 25 (2/2)

Pick over the raspberries, and to every quart put a quart of water; bruise them, and let them stand two days; strain off the liquor, and to every gallon put three pounds of lump sugar; stir it till the sugar is dissolved, and put it in a clean barrel, or keg; at the end of two months, bottle it, and put a spoonful of brandy, or a gla.s.s of wine in each bottle.

Raspberry Vinegar, and its uses.

Put two pounds of raspberries in a large bowl, and pour on them two quarts of white-wine vinegar; the next day, strain the liquor on two pounds of fresh raspberries; let this stand a day, and strain it into a stone jar; to each pint of the liquor put a pound of loaf sugar; stir till it is dissolved, and put the jar in a sauce-pan of water, which keep boiling for an hour; skim it, and bottle it when cold. This is used not only as a refres.h.i.+ng drink, mixed with water, but is said to be of use in complaints of the chest. No glazed or metal vessels should be used in making it.

Spruce Beer.

Boil some spruce boughs with some wheat bran, till it tastes sufficiently of the spruce; bruise some allspice, and put in; strain it, and put two quarts of mola.s.ses to half a barrel; when it is nearly cold, put in half a pint of yeast; after it has worked sufficiently, bung up the barrel.

To Make Two Gallons of Beer.

Put two pounds of brown sugar in a jug, with a heaped spoonful of ginger, and a pint of strong hop tea; pour in a gallon and a half of warm water, and a tea-cup of yeast; leave out the cork a day--then fasten it up, and set it in a cool place; or if you bottle it, put two or three raisins in each bottle.

Harvest Beer.

To make fifteen gallons of beer, put into a keg three pints of yeast, three pints of mola.s.ses, and two gallons of cold water; mix it well, and let it stand a few minutes; then take three quarts of mola.s.ses, and three gallons of boiling water, with one ounce of ginger; mix them well, and pour into the keg, and fill it up with cold water.

A decoction of the root of sa.s.safras is good to put in beer.

Porter Beer.

A pleasant drink in summer is to take one bottle of porter, five bottles of water, and a pint of mola.s.ses, or a pound of sugar; make a spoonful of ginger into a tea, and mix all well together; have seven clean bottles, with two or three raisins in each; fill them, cork them tight, and lay them on their sides on the cellar floor.

Mola.s.ses Beer.

Take five pints of mola.s.ses, half a pint of yeast, two spoonsful of pounded ginger, and one of allspice; put these into a clean half-barrel, and pour on it two gallons of boiling water; shake it till a fermentation is produced; then fill it up with warm water, and let it work with the bung out, a day, when it will be fit for use; remove it to a cold place, or bottle it. This is a very good drink for laboring people in warm weather.

To Make Cider.

To make cider that will keep sweet for a length of time, requires particular attention to all the points. All the works and utensils in use must be perfectly clean, so that nothing acid shall come in contact with the pulp or liquor while pressing. The casks should be cleaned in the following manner:

After was.h.i.+ng each barrel clean, put in a lump of unslaked lime, and pour in a gallon of boiling water; bung it up, and roll the barrel several times a day, letting it lay with the bung down; in the evening, empty out the lime-water, and wash the barrel clean in several waters; after the water is drained out, burn a brimstone match in it, made of a piece of coa.r.s.e muslin one inch broad, and four long, dipped in melted brimstone; light one end of the match, and put it in; put the bung on slightly, so as to hold the other end, and allow air sufficient to make it burn; when the rag has burned out, drive in the bung to keep in the sulphuric gas, which, if allowed time, will condense on the sides.

The apples should be kept under cover, and secured from rain. After they have laid to mellow for two or three weeks, select those that are sound; break off the stems and leaves; have the trough perfectly clean, and after they are ground, keep them from the sun and rain for twenty-four hours; then press them, and fill into the casks; the first running is always the best; each cask that is filled should be numbered, so as to know the quality; and after they are all filled, draw off and mix them, the weak with the strong; keep the casks filled up with cider while they are fermenting; when the fermentation is subsiding, there will be a thin white sc.u.m rise slowly: when this is all off, lay on the bung lightly; rack it off in a few days in barrels, in which brimstone has been used, and bung it tight; rack it off again in March, and keep the bungs in tight.

To Make Vinegar.

You may always have good vinegar for pickling, and other purposes, by taking a little pains. Get a tight whiskey barrel, if it is clean you need not rinse it, and put into it ten gallons of the best vinegar you can procure, with one quart of whiskey and one quart of mola.s.ses; every day for a week, add a gallon of good cider that has not been watered, and shake the barrel each time; let it stand in this state two weeks, shaking the barrel frequently. After this, you may put in a gallon of cider occasionally, with any that has been left at table, or the settlings of decanters or bottles that have had wine in, but do not put in any water. It will make much sooner in the garret or a warm place, but if the barrel is fixed early in the summer, you will have plenty to pickle with in the fall; taste it so as not to add cider too fast. Have a phial with a string attached to it that you can put in at the bung.

You should have a barrel of good hard cider before you begin to make vinegar. If you are in want of vinegar, fill a jug from the barrel, and set it in the hot sun, where it will turn sour much quicker. It is a good plan to keep a jug in a closet, where you can empty all the slops of cider and wine; and when you get it full, empty it in the barrel.

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