Part 3 (2/2)

Another

Or to make your Cask more pleasant, you may use the Vintners Way thus: Take four Ounces of Stone Brimstone, one Ounce of burnt Alum, and two Ounces of Brandy; melt all these in an Earthen Pan over hot Coals, and dip therein a piece of new Canvas, and instantly sprinkle thereon the Powders of Nuts, Cloves, Coriander and Anise-seeds: This Canvas set on fire, and let it burn hanging in the Cask fastened at the end with the wooden Bung, so that no Smoke comes out

For a Musty Cask

Boil so hot

For a very stinking Vessel

The last Re out one of the Heads of the Cask to scrape the inside, or new-shave the Staves, and is the surest way of all others, if it is fired afterwards within-side a small matter, as the Cooper kno

These several Methods reat Service where they are wanted The sooner also a Remedy is applied, the better; else the Taint commonly encreases, as many have to their prejudice proved, who have made use of such Casks, in hopes the next Beer will overco while, if ever, before it becomes sweet, if no Art is used Many therefore of the careful sort, in case they han't a Convenience to fill their Vessel as soon as it is empty, will stop it close, to prevent the Air and preserve the Lees sound, which will greatly tend to the keeping of the Cask pure and sweet against the next Occasion

To prepare a new Vessel to keep Malt Liquors in

A new Vessel isDrink after only once or twice scalding with Water, which is so wrong, that such Beer or Ale will not fail of tasting thereof for half, if not a whole Year afterwards; such is the Tang of the Oak and its Bark, asScents of Tan-Yards, which the Bark is one cause of To prevent then this Inconvenience, when your Brewing is over put up so hot, and let it run throu' the Grains, then boil it and fill up the Cask, stop it well and let it stand till it is cold, do this twice, then take the Grounds of strong Drink and boil in it green Wallnut Leaves and new Hay or Wheat Straw, and put all into the Cask, that it be full and stop it close After this, use it for shly sweet and fit for strong Drinks; or

Another Way

Take a new Cask and dig a Hole in the Ground, in which itdoards; let it re musty Cask But besides these, I have writ of two other excellent Ways to sweeten

Wine Casks

These, in my Opinion, are the cheapest of all others to furnish a Person readily with, as being ood Casks for Malt Liquors, because the Sack and White-Wine sorts are already season'd to Hand, and will greatly improve Beers and Ales that are put in the Drinks; for its Wood is so tinctured with this sharp Wine, that it will hardly ever be free of it, and therefore such Cask is best used for Sht into a serviceable State for holding strong Drink, if it is two or three times scalded with Grounds of Barrels, and afterwards used for sht a butt or Pipe for eight shi+llings in London with soshead for the sae for a butt by the Waggon thirty Miles is two shi+llings and Sixpence, and the Hogshead Eighteen-pence: But, to cure a Claret Cask of its Colour and Taste, put a Peck of Stone-Lishead, and pour upon it three Pails of Water; bung i, and shake it well about a quarter of an Hour, and let it stand a Day and Night and it will bring off the red Colour, and alter the Taste of the Cask very, new and other tainted Casks, I have writ of in my Account of Casks inCasks and Carrying of Malt Liquors to some distance

I am sure this is of no sht matter by soe, Labour and Care will be lost; and therefore here I shall dissent fro'd up my Ale with Pots of Clay only, or with Clay mix'd with Bay Salt, which is the better of the two, because this Salt will keep the Clay inal State; and the butt Beers and fine Ales were Bung'd with Cork drove in with a piece of Hop-Sack or Rag, which I think are all insipid, and the occasion of spoiling great Quantities of Drink, especially the small Beers; for when the Clay is dry, which is soon in Suular Vent thro' it, and then the Drink froreat loss in a Year to some Owners, and the Benefit of the Brewer; for then a fresh Caskpart of the other throay Now, to prevent this great Inconvenience, est size of all, and yet big enough for the common wooden Iron Hoop'd Funnel used in some Brew-houses: In this I put in a turned piece of Ash or Sallow three Inches broad at Top, and two Inches and a half long, first putting in a double piece of dry brown Paper, that is so broad that an Inch oris drove doith a Haht; this Paper , and another loose piece upon and around that, with a little Yeast, and a s, which is to be raised at Discretion when the Beer is drawing, or at other tiive it Vent if there should be occasion: Others will put so, which will bind very hard, and prevent any Air getting into or out of the Cask; but this in ti-hole by the Salt or Sulphur in the Ashes, and e Beers, it's the best Security of all other hatsoever

There is also a late Invention practised by a common Brewer in the Country that I ae of Drink on Drays, to so any of it, and that is in the Top Center of one of these Bungs, he puts in a wooden Funnel, whose Spout is about four Inches long, and less than half an Inch Diameter at Bottom; this is turned at Top into a concave Fashi+on like a hollow round Bowl, that will hold about a Pint, which is a constant Vent to the Cask, and yet hinders the Liquor fro no faster than the Bowl can receive, and return it again into the Barrel: I ht a Barrel two Miles, and it was then full, when it arrived at his Customers, because the Pint that was put into the Funnel, at setting out, was not at all lost when he took it off the Dray; this may be also made of Tin; and will serve from the butt to the small Cask

In the butt there is a Cork-hole made about two Inches below the upper Head, and close under that a piece of Leather is nailed Spout-fashi+on, that jetts three Inches out, from which the Yeast works and falls into a Tub, and when the working is over the Cork is put closely in, for the Bung in the Head of the upright Cask is put in as soon as it is filled up with new Drink: Nohen such a Cask is to be broach'd and a quick Draught is to follow, then it may be tapp'd at Bottoht to be first put in at the middle, and before the Drink sinks to that it should be Tapp'd at Bottorowing stale, flat and sour

In some Places in the Country when they brew Ale or Beer to send to London at a great Distance, they let it be a Year old before they Tap it, so that then it is perfectly fine; this they put into se Cork, and then they immediately put in a Role of Bean-flour first kneaded with Water or Drink, and baked in an Oven, which is all secured by pitching in the Cork, and so sent in the Waggon; the Bean-flour feeding and preserving the Body of the Drink all the ithout fretting or causing it to burst the Cask for want of Vent, and when Tapp'd will also make the Drink very brisk, because the Flour is in such a hard Consistence, that it won't dissolve in that time; but if a little does mix with the Ale or Beer, its heavy Parts will sooner fine than thicken the Drink and keep it mellow and lively to the last, if Air is kept out of the Barrel

CHAP XIX

Of the Strength and Age of Malt Liquors

Whether they be Ales or strong Beers, it is certain that the reeable of any, especially to those of a sedentary Life, or those that are not occupied in such Business as proh to throw out and break the Viscidities of the stronger sorts; on which account the laborious Man has the advantage, whose Diet being poor and Body robust, the strength of such Liquors gives a Supply and better digests into Nourishshead of Ale which is made from six Bushels of Malt is sufficient for a Diluter of their Food, and will better assist their Constitution than thesort, that would in such produce Obstructions and ill Humours; and therefore that Quantity for Ale, and ten Bushels for a Hogshead of strong Beer that should not be Tapp'd under nine Months, is thesuch an Aood Malt, as to be of a Vinous Nature, that would per leave a Person light, brisk and unconcern'd This then is the true Nostruht to be studied and endeavoured for by all those that can afford to follow the foregoing Rules, and then it will supply in a great eable (and often adulterated tartarous arthritick) Wines So likewise for small Beer, especially in a Farh, the Drinkers will be feeble in hot Weather and not be able to perfor on Distereat waste of such Beer that is generally much throay; because Drink is certainly a Nourisher of the Body, as well as Meats, and the o through his Work, especially at Harvest; and in large Families the Doctor's Bills have proved the Evil of this bad Oeconoe of that Malt that would have kept the Servants in good Health, and preserved the Beer from such Waste as the smaller sort is liable to

'Tis therefore that some prudent Far of five or six Bushels of Malt, and two Pounds of Hops to the Hogshead of Ale, and a quarter of Malt and three Pounds of Hops to five Barrels of small Beer Others there are, that will brew their Ale or strong Beer in October, and their small Beer a Month before it is wanted Others will brew their Ale and s to humour, and therefore I have hinted of the several Seasons for Brewing these Liquors: However inor small Drinks, they should be clear, sn'd for Profit and Health; for if they are otherwise, it will be a sad Evil to Harvest Men, because then they stand reatest BalsaredientsReceipts should be ly, if these Drinks are brewed forward And that this particular i Oeconomy may be better understood, I shall here recite Dr Quincy's Opinion of Malt Liquors, viz The Age of Malt Drinks makes them more or less wholsome, and seems to do soest kept, are certainly the least viscid; Age by degrees breaking the viscid Parts, and rendering them smaller, makes them finer for Secretion; but this is always to be deterth, because in Proportion to that will they sooner or later come to their full Perfection and likewise their Decay, until the finer Spirits quite make their Escape, and the remainder becomes vapid and sour By what therefore has been already said, it will appear that the older Drinks are the more healthful, so they be kept up to this Standard, but not beyond it So Beer brewed in October should be Tapp'd at Midsureeable to the Seasons of the Year that follow such Brewings: For then they will both have part of a Suest their several Bodies; and 'tis th of the Beer, the Quantity of Hops, the boiling Fered, there Drink e, than at nine Years, for Health and Pleasure of Body But to be truly certain of the right Ti the Vessel to prove if such Drink is fine, the Hop sufficiently rotted, and it be mellow and well tasted

CHAP XX

Of the Pleasure and Profit of Private Brewing, and the Charge of buying Malt Liquors