The American Practical Brewer and Tanner Part 3

2 lb. of Grains of Paradise, ground.

Heat of the first mashing liquor 175, mash one hour and a half, putting in your malt very gradually, and mash uncommonly well, and let it stand two hours; second liquor at 190, mash one hour, and stand two more; run down as before, boil these two runs together for one hour and a half, putting in your hops, &c., save the sugar, which is to be put in but a few minutes before striking off, at which time the rousing of the copper should commence, and so continue until the worts are nearly run off. Small beer may be brewed, in the usual way, after both these worts, in which case, cold water will answer full as well as hot; pitch your strong worts at 62, with a small proportion of good yest, and let your fermenting heat rise to 80; thus your attenuation will proceed 18 degrees; cleanse with salt and bean flour as already directed, but in suitable proportion in point of quant.i.ty to your malt, fill in the usual way, and when nearly done working, use fine ale to top with, before you bung down, putting into each barrel one large handful of scalded hops, that have been previously cooled down.

Wirtemberg Ale.

brewed as follows: 128 Bushels of Pale Malt.

32 Bushels of Amber Malt.

160 Bushels of Malt.

188 lb. of Hops.

28 lb. of Honey.

20 lb. of Sugar.

4 lb. of Hartshorn Shavings.

4 lb. of Coriander Seed, ground.

1 lb. of Caraway Seed, ground.

Cleansed 50 Barrels of Ale.

Give your first mashing liquor at 172, mash for one hour and a half, stand two hours, run down fine, but smartly.

Second mashing liquor 180, mash one hour, stand two hours, run down as before; get up your two worts; put in, with your hops, the other ingredients, save the honey and sugar, which is to be put into your copper but a few minutes before striking off, rousing your copper while any wort remains in it. This ale should be boiled hard for one hour and a half; pitch your tun at 62, raise your fermenting heat to 80, which will generally rise in the course of 70 hours. Give of good solid yest four gallons, two gallons at first, and two gallons more in twelve hours after, rouse your tun each time.

Hock.

This is a beer that has within a few years had a great run, particularly in Germany.

process as follows: 112 Bushels of Pale Malt.

48 Bushels of Amber Malt.

160 Bushels.

206 lb. of Hops.

4 lb. of Cocculus Indicus Berry, ground.

2 lb. of Fabia Amora, or Bitter Bean.

20 lb. of Brown Sugar, of good quality.

Cleansed 54 Barrels.

First liquor 176, mash one hour and a quarter, stand one hour and a half; second liquor 182, mash one hour, stand two hours; when both worts are in the copper, add your hops and other ingredients, except the sugar, which is to be put in as already directed a little time before striking off, boil two hours and a quarter as hard as you can. Pitch your tun at 64, giving four gallons of solid yest at once, and cleanse the second day, or in forty-eight hours; fill as already directed, and put into each barrel one handful of fresh steeped hops before bunging down.

Scurvy Gra.s.s Ale.

This species of ale is considered a great sweetener of the blood, has been much approved of, and is strongly recommended as a wholesome and pleasant medicine.

process as follows: 40 Bushels of Pale Malt.

25 lb. of Hops.

10 lb. of Mola.s.ses.

2 lb. of Alexandrian Senna.

5 Bushels of Garden Scurvy Gra.s.s.

Cleansed 14 Barrels of Ale.

Your malt should be fine ground; give your first liquor at 170, mash one hour, stand one hour; heat of your second liquor 172, mash three quarters of an hour, stand one hour; give your third mashing liquor at 160, mash twenty minutes, stand half an hour; these three worts should be run into your copper together, and boil together for one hour gently, for one quarter of an hour more as hard as you can; all your ingredients to be put in with your hops, except the mola.s.ses, which should only be put in a few minutes before striking off; from the time you put in your mola.s.ses, keep stirring your copper until its contents is nearly off. About the middle of your fermentation, procure one pound of horse-radish, wash it well, dry it with a cloth, after which slice it thin, and throw it into your tun, rousing immediately after; when done, replace your tun cover, pitch your worts at 66 degrees, with about two gallons of solid yest; cleanse the third day, with the sweets on. This ale is drank both hot and cold.

Dorchester Ale.

This quality of ale is by many esteemed the best in England, when the materials are good, and the management judicious.

54 Bushels of the best Pale Malt.

50 lb. of the best Hops.

1 lb. of Ginger.

of a lb. of Cinnamon, pounded.

Cleansed 14 Barrels, reserving enough for filling.

Boil your copper, temper your liquor in the same to 185, and when ready, run it on your keeve a little at a time, putting in the malt and the water gradually together, mashing at the same time; when the whole of your malt is thus got in, continue the operation of mashing half an hour, cap with dry malt, and let your mash stand one hour and a half. Second liquor 190, mash three quarters of an hour, stand two hours; in both mashes get your worts as fine as you can into your underbank; rub and salt, before mashing, 30 pounds of your hops; infuse them in boiling water before mashing, and let the vessel containing them be close covered. The other twenty pounds of hops should have been rubbed the evening before brewing, but not salted, put into another close vessel, covered with boiling water, and there suffered to digest for 12 hours: at the time of putting the hops in your copper, the extract, in both cases, is to be added; but the first 30 pounds of hops in substance only to be added; these, with the two extracts will be sufficient for the brewing; the remaining 20 pounds of hops will answer for single ale, or table beer, but should be used on the same day. Your worts being now in the copper, with the hops and extract, boil hard for one hour; after which, draw your fire, open your copper and ash-pit doors, and so let it stand one hour, then strike off gently on your cooler; when your worts are cooled down to 55, prepare your puncheons, suppose four, containing four barrels each; see that they are dry, sweet, and clean; take three pints of solid yest for each puncheon, to which you should add three quarts of the wort at 65, mix and blend the wort and yest together, putting this proportion to each cask, containing four barrels, then fill up with the wort, at the heat of 55, already mentioned; put in your tin workers, one into each puncheon, and when you perceive it begins to work freely, which probably will not be till the third or fourth day, begin to fill up your casks, and so continue doing from time to time, till they have done working. (The tin worker is described in page 139.) This mode of brewing appears to be peculiarly adapted for shipping to warm climates; the fermentation being slowly and coolly conducted: it is also well calculated for bottling.

Table beer may be made, after this strong, of good quality, with cold water, if not over drawn; 10 pound of the steeped hops will be sufficient to preserve this beer; one hour's boiling will be enough; ferment as already directed, and add six pounds of sugar just before striking off, rousing, as already directed, while any remains in the copper.

Porter.

In England, is a liquor of modern date, which has nearly superseded the use of brown stout, and very much encroached on the consumption of other malt liquors, till it has become the staple commodity of the English brewery, and of such consequence to the government, in point of revenue, that it may be fairly said to produce more than all the rest. Porter, when well brewed, and of a proper age, is considered a wholesome and pleasant liquor, particularly when drank out of the bottle; a free use is made of it in the East and West Indies, where physicians frequently recommend the use of it in preference to Madeira wine: the following three processes are given under the denomination of No. I., II., and III., the first and second of which I knew to be the practice of two eminent houses in the trade. The third I cannot so fully answer for. An essential object to attend to, in order to ensure complete success to the porter process, is the preparation of the malt. Directions for that purpose will be found at the end of these processes.

Porter Process.

No. I.

materials.

186 Bushels of Pale Malt.

94 Bushels of Brown Malt.

280 Bushels of Malt.

300 lb. of Hops.

10 lb. of Gentian Root, sliced.

10 lb. of Calamus.

10 lb. of the essence of Gentian.

Cleansed 121 barrels. The hops, with the other ingredients, to be put in with the first boil, and retained in the copper by wire strainers, or otherwise, for the succeeding worts.

First mashing liquor 165, mash one hour, stand one hour, run down smartly; second mash 170, mash one hour, stand one hour, run down as before; third mash 180, mash half an hour, stand half an hour, run down smartly; divide these three runs into two boilings, boil your first copper as hard as you can for half an hour, the second for three hours as hard as possible; pitch your first wort at 65 degrees, with 10 gallons of smooth yest; pitch your second at 70 degrees, with six gallons, both runs to mix in the same tun, as soon as the head of your tun begins to fall and close, which will possibly happen from thirty to forty hours, at which time it is expected the fermenting heat will rise to 80, but in no case should it be suffered to exceed it; two pecks of bean meal flour, with two pounds of bay salt mixed together, should be evenly scattered over the surface of the tun, before cleansing, and then well roused. After cleansing, this drink should be filled every two hours, for the first twelve fillings, after which, twice a day will be sufficient; and, in about a week after cleansing, porter so brewed, and treated as here directed, will be gla.s.s fine, and in a week more may be vatted. As porter is generally sent out in iron-bound hogsheads of seventy gallons each, there should, at the time of going out, be three half pints of finings, with as much heading mixed through the finings at will go on a two shilling piece; this fining and heading should be well stirred in the hogshead by means of a fining brush used for the purpose, with a long iron handle; treated thus, porter will fall fine in a few days. The faster draught porter is drawn off the cask the better it will drink; for when too long, it is apt to get flat, and sour.

Porter Process.

No. II.

160 Bushels of Pale Malt.

120 Bushels of Brown Malt.

280 350 lb. of Hops.

Cleansed 121 Barrels of Porter.

Heat of the first mashing liquor one hundred and seventy-two, mash one hour, stand one hour, run down smartly; second mashing liquor one hundred and eighty, mash one hour, stand two hours, run down as before; third mash one hundred and sixty-four, mash half an hour, stand half an hour, run down smartly; boil the extract of the first, with half the extract of the second mash; boil as hard as you can for one hour and a quarter, then strike off, retaining your hops in the copper for your second boil, which includes half your second wort, and the whole of your third; these should be boiled for four hours as hard as you can make them; pitch your first wort at seventy, or so high that, when in the tun, it will make up at sixty-four, to which give six gallons of smooth yest; pitch your second wort at sixty-five, giving seven gallons more of yest; when all your worts are in your tun, it should make up at sixty-four. Thus managed, it will be fit to cleanse in thirty-six or forty hours; the closing and falling in of the head will direct the period of performing this operation; fill, &c., as in the foregoing process.

Porter Process.

No. III.

88 Bushels of Pale Malt.

102 lb. of Hops.

12 Gallons of Essentia Bina, or sugar colouring.

Cleansed twenty-seven and a half Barrels of Porter.

First mashing liquor one hundred and sixty, mash one hour, stand one hour; second mashing liquor one hundred and seventy, mash one hour, stand one hour and three quarters; third mashing liquor one hundred and seventy-five, mash half an hour, stand one hour; divide these three runs into two equal parts, boil the first one hour, the second two hours and a half, as hard as you can in both instances; pitch your first wort at sixty, giving two gallons of solid yest; your second at sixty-five, giving the same complement of yest; let your fermenting heat rise to eighty, then cleanse, first topping your tun with two pounds of bean meal flour, and half a pound of bay salt pounded and mixed with the flour; fill fine, and head your porter casks, as already directed to do with hogsheads; let your finings and heading be in that proportion with lesser casks.

Porter Malt.

This species of malt should be made from strong, well-bodied barley, the process exactly the same as for pale malt, until it is about half dried on the kiln; you then change your fuel under the kiln from coak or coal to ash or beech wood, which should be split into small handy billets, and a fierce, strong fire kept up, so as to complete the drying and colouring in three hours, during which time it should be frequently turned; when the colour is found sufficiently high, it may be thrown off; the workmen should be provided with wooden shoes, to protect their feet from the uncommon heat of the kiln in this last part of the process, which requires the grain to snap again from the excessive heat of the kiln. For the better performing this part of the process, I would recommend a wire kiln to be placed adjoining the tiled one, from which it may be cast on the wire; this would be a better and more certain mode of conveying the porter flavour to the malt, than if the drying was finished on the tiled kiln. Where a wire kiln was thought too dear, a tiled one might be made to answer.

Porter Colouring.

In modern language, is termed essentia bina. This is made from brown sugar, and is now generally subst.i.tuted by the London brewers for porter malt, as more economical, and full as well calculated to answer all the purposes of flavour and colouring. Muscovado, or raw sugar, with lime water, are the usual ingredients of this colouring matter. Another kind, of inferior quality, is prepared from mola.s.ses, boiled until it is considerably darker, bitter, and of a thicker consistence; and when judiciously made, at the close of the boiling, it is set on fire and suffered to burn five or six minutes, then it is extinguished, and cautiously diluted with water to the original consistence of treacle. The burning or setting on fire gives it the greater part of its flavour, which is an agreeable bitterness, and burns out the una.s.similating oil. Muscovado, or raw sugar, when treated in a similar manner, and diluted to the same consistence before it sets, obtains a bitterness that more nearly strikes the porter flavour on the palate; it is of a deep dark colour, between black and red. To prepare it to advantage, take three pounds, or three hundred weight of Muscovado sugar, for every two pounds, or two hundred pounds, of essentia bina intended to be made, put it into an iron boiler set in brick work, so that the flue for conveying the smoke of the fire into the chimney, rises but about two thirds of the height of the boiler in its pa.s.sage to the chimney. The boiler should have a socket or pivot in the centre of its bottom to receive the spindle of wrought iron, with a crank in it, above the brim of the boiler, the upper end of which turns on a corresponding pivot in an iron bar fixed across several feet above the boiler, with a transverse iron arm to reach from the crank for some feet over the boiler for a man to stand, and turn it with its sc.r.a.per of iron also, which works on the bottom of the boiler to keep the sugar from burning on the bottom before the upper part melts; this arm may be placed in a wooden handle at the end, and held by the man, lest it become too hot for his hand. Put one gallon of pure water into the boiler with every hundred weight of sugar to be employed, that is, one pint to every fourteen pounds weight of sugar, then add the sugar, light the fire, and keep it stirring until it boils, regulating the fire so as not to suffer it to boil over; as it begins to lessen in quant.i.ty, dip the end of the poker into it, to see if it candies as it cools, and grows proportionably bitter to its consistence; mark the height of the sugar in the boiler when it is all melted, to a.s.sist in judging of its decrease; when the specimen taken out candies, or sets hard pretty quickly, put out the fire under the boiler, and set the vapour or smoke arising from the boiler on fire, which will communicate to the boiling sugar, and let it burn for ten or twelve minutes, then extinguish it with a cover ready provided for the purpose, and faced with sheet iron, to be let down on the mouth of the boiler with a chain or rope, so as exactly to close the boiler.

As soon as it is extinguished, cautiously add strong lime water by a little at a time, working the iron stirrer well all the time the water is adding, so as to mix and dilute it all alike to the consistence of treacle; before it sets in the boiler, which it would do, as the heat declined, in a manner that would give a great deal of trouble to dilute it after, and be imperfectly done then, it is easy to conceive this kind of work requires to be done in an open place, or out-house, to prevent accidents from fire. If the essentia bina is neither burned too little nor too much, it is a rich, high-flavoured, grateful bitter, that preserves and gives an inimitable flavour and good face to porter; to be added in proportion as the nature and composition of the grist is varied with a greater or less proportion of pale malt. To convert old hock into brown stout, it will take three pounds of essentia bina of middling or ordinary kind, and but two pounds of the best made from Muscovado raw sugar as directed, it should weigh ten pounds to the gallon. The essentia bina should be mixed with some finings, and roused into the tun soon after the yesty head gathers pretty strong, in order to undergo the decomposing power of fermentation, part of it being p.r.o.ne to float on the surface of the beer under the form of a flying lee. When employed in the usual way of colour, with this precaution, the colouring and preserving parts unite with the beer, and the gross charry parts precipitate with the lees, and other feculencies in the tun, previous to cleansing, adding a firm and keeping quality to the beer. Lime water for diluting the burnt sugar, in the proportion of essentia bina: thirty pounds of lime will make one puncheon, or one hundred and twenty gallons of lime water: put fresh lime from the kiln, previously slaked into coa.r.s.e powder, into an airtight cask, gradually add the water, stirring up the lime to expose a fresh surface to the solvent powers of the water, which will rarely dissolve more than one ounce troy weight in the gallon, or retain so much when kept ever so closely excluded from the external air. If Roche lime was first grossly pounded, and slaked in the cask, the lime water might be made still stronger; the reason for directing the water to be slowly and cautiously added at the first, is for the more conveniently mixing the lime with the water, which otherwise would not be properly wet. Do not fill the vessel within a few gallons of the bung-hole, that it may be rolled over and over with effect, fifteen or twenty different times before left to settle, in order to have the water fully saturated with the lime; when settled it should be perfectly clear. It is important, as well at necessary to state, that when the lime water is about to be added to the essentia bina in the kettle, it should be hot, otherwise there would be danger of cracking the cast iron, of which the kettle is composed, as well as causing a partial explosion and waste of the sugar when coming in contact with the cold medium of the lime water; this precaution should be carefully attended to.

Strong Beer.

Process for brewing strong beer, alleged to be the practice in Switzerland, by which it is a.s.serted that an excellent and preserving beer will be produced. I would recommend a small experiment to be made at first, in order to establish its character and success on a more extended scale. At a first view, there appears to be one serious objection to this process, and that is, that it requires but a small quant.i.ty of oily or fatty matter to destroy the fermentation of any guile of beer. In answer, it may perhaps be truly said, that the precaution of skimming off the fatty matter, as it rises on the surface of this beer while in the copper, as well as the time allowed it there to settle, also, its straining through the hops before getting on the cooler, gives another chance to deposite this matter in the hops, if any should remain in the copper after the skimming off.