The Art of Making Whiskey Part 4

The first of all, is derived from the composition of a vinous liquor, richer, and more proper to raise a vigorous fermentation, than that which is obtained by the usual method. Now, as it is proved that the quant.i.ty of spirit is in proportion to the richness of the fermenting liquor, mine therefore yields a great deal more spirit than any other.

2dly. We have seen that a heat of 75 or 80 must be kept up in the fermenting room: this being summer heat, proves that such a rich vinous liquor runs no risk of pa.s.sing to the acid state with as much rapidity as that of the common distillers; and, consequently, that he who will follow my method can work all the year round without fear of losing the fruits of his labor, as it often happens--an advantage precious for him who makes it his sole business. The only change he has to make, is to suppress the heat of the stove, when the temperature of the atmosphere is sufficient to keep up a good fermentation in the liquor.

As to my distilling apparatus, this is not a new idea. I present it to the public under the sanction of experience. I had it executed in Philadelphia eight years ago, after having obtained a patent. It was made for a rum distillery, where they still continue to use it. It presents the greatest advantages.

The first is, that with a single fire, and a single workman, I distil and rectify the spirit three times, and bring it to the degree of alcohol; that is, to the greatest purity, and almost to the highest degree of concentration.

2dly. It lowers the cost of transportation, by two-thirds; because one gallon at 35 represents three gallons at the usual degree. The merchant, being arrived at the place of his destination, has only to add 2 gallons of water to 1 gallon of this alcohol, in order to have 3 gallons of whiskey; which is of a considerable advantage, either for land or sea carriage.

3dly. As the price of spirits is, in trade, in proportion to their degree of concentration, those made with my apparatus being at a very high degree, need no more rectifying, either for the retailer, the apothecary, or the painter; and the considerable expenses of that operation turn entirely to the profit of the distiller, as they are totally suppressed. Distillers may hereafter sell spirits of all degrees of concentration.

Such are the advantages of my processes. I offer them the more willingly to the public, as they are founded upon the most approved principles of natural philosophy: by reflecting upon them, distillers will be easily convinced of it.

However perfect the description of a new thing may be, our ideas of it are always defective, until we have seen it put into practical use. Few men have the means of establishing a distillery on a new plan, and even the most enlightened may make notable errors. Few, besides, are bold enough to undertake, at their own risks, the trial of a new fabrication: they are afraid of losing, and of being blamed for having too lightly yielded to the persuasion of new projectors. Hence it follows that a useful discovery falls into oblivion, instead of doing any good.

But no discovery of general utility ought to experience that fate in a republic. Government itself ought to promote the first undertaking, or a certain number of citizens ought to join in order to give it a start. It is the more easy in this case, as my apparatus requires very little expense.

If a distillery according to my directions, was established in some of the princ.i.p.al towns of the state, my method would then make rapid progress, and thus prove the truth of the principle which I have advanced; and the distillers, after having meditated upon my method in this book, would come and satisfy themselves of its goodness, by seeing it put into practice, and yielding the most perfect results, with all the advantages for trade that may be expected: hence would naturally ensue the rapid increase of distillation, and consequently that of agriculture and commerce.

THE ART OF MAKING GIN, AFTER THE PROCESS OF THE HOLLAND DISTILLERS.

Having indicated the most proper means of obtaining spirits, I will now offer to the public the manner of making _Gin_, according to the methods used by the distillers in Holland. It may be more properly joined to the art of making whiskey, as it adds only to the price of the liquor, that of the juniper berries, the product of which will amply repay its cost.

Many distillers in the United States have tried to imitate the excellent liquor coming from Holland, under the name _gin_. They have imagined different methods of proceeding, and have more or less attained their end. I have myself tried it, and my method is consigned in a patent.

But those imitations are far from the degree of perfection of the Holland gin: they want that unity of taste, which is the result of a single creation; they are visibly compounds, more or less well combined, and not the result of a spontaneous production.

To this capital defect, which makes those imitations so widely different from their original, is joined their high price, which prevents its general consumption. In fact, it is made at a considerable expense: the whiskey must be purchased, rectified and distilled over again with the berries. These expenses are increased by the waste of spirit occasioned by those reiterated distillations. This brings the price of this false gin to three times that of the whiskey: consequently the poorer sort of people, whose number is always considerable, are deprived of the benefits of a wholesome liquor, and restrained to whiskey, which is commonly not so.

The methods used in Holland, have reduced gin to the lowest price; that of the juniper berries being there very trifling, and increasing but little the price of whiskey: still that small addition is almost reduced to nothing, as will be seen hereafter.

The United States are, in some parts, almost covered with the tree called here _cedar_; which tree is no other than the juniper, and grows almost every where, and bears yearly a berry, which is in reality the juniper berry. Some Hollanders knew it at Boston, collected considerable quant.i.ties of it in Ma.s.sachusetts, and shipping it to some of the eastern harbors, sold it as coming from Holland. I have seen some at Philadelphia ten years ago, at the house of a Hollander, who received it from Ma.s.sachusetts in hogsheads of about ten hundred weight, and sold as the produce of his own country, what was really that of the United States.

I collected myself a great quant.i.ty of those berries, at Norfolk, Va. by means of negroes, to whom I paid one dollar per bushel of 40 lbs. being 2-1/2 cts. per pound. Two years ago, it sold for 6 cents in Philadelphia, and bore the same price at Pittsburgh.

There is a great deal of cedar in Kentucky, and consequently of berries.

I have seen them at Blue Licks, and they abound near the Kentucky river.

Although an incredible number of those trees is cut down daily, there is still a greater number standing, in the United States; and millions of bushels of berries are lost every year, while only skilful hands are wanted, to make them useful to mankind. The juniper berry has many medical properties: it is a delightful aromatic, and contains an oil essential, and a sweet extract, which by the fermentation yields a vinous liquor, made into a sort of wine in some countries; that is called wine for the poor: it strengthens the stomach, when debilitated by bad food or too hard labor.

The Hollanders, who have long had the art of trading upon every thing, have constantly turned even their poverty to account. They have immense fabrications of gin, and scarcely any juniper trees. They only collect the berry in those countries where it is neglected as useless, as in France and Tyrol, which produce a great deal of it. The United States need have no recourse to Europe, in order to get the juniper berries: they have in abundance at home, what the Hollanders can only procure with trouble and money. They can therefore rival them with great advantage; but they must follow the same methods employed in the Holland distilleries.

The juniper berry contains the sweet mucous extract, in a great proportion: it has therefore the principle necessary to the spirituous fermentation; and, indeed, it ferments spontaneously. When fresh, and heaped up, it acquires a degree of heat, but not enough to burn, as I have ascertained: it is therefore safely transported in hogsheads. From that facility of fermenting, it must be considered as a good ferment, and as increasing the quant.i.ty of spirit, when joined to a fermentable liquor.

A distiller may at pleasure convert his whiskey into gin. He needs only to perfume the wort which he puts in fermentation, by adding a certain quant.i.ty of the berries, slightly broken: the fermentation is then common to both; their sweet mucosity enriches that of the wort, and increases the spirit, while at the same time the soapy extract, which is the proximate principle of vegetation, yields the essential oil, which perfumes the liquor.[C]

The fermentation being common to both substances, unites them intimately; and when, by the distillation, the spirit is separated from the water, there remains an h.o.m.ogenous liquor, resulting from a single creation, and having that unity of taste, and all the properties of Holland gin, because obtained by the same means.

One single and same distillation can therefore yield to the distiller either gin or whiskey, as it requires no more labor, and its conversion into gin costs only the price of the berries, which repays him amply, either by the spirit it yields, or by its essential oil, which, floating on the surface, may be easily collected. This oil bears a great price, and the Hollanders sell much of it.

We have seen, in the 10th chapter of this work, that my hogsheads for the fermentation, contain about 120 gallons of wort, being the production of the saccharine extract of 12 bushels of grain. The intelligent distiller will himself determine the quant.i.ty of berries necessary for each hogshead to have a good aromatic perfume. He may begin with 10 lbs. per hogshead; and will, upon trial, judge whether or not this quant.i.ty is sufficient, or must be increased. At any rate, economy should not be consulted in the use of the berries, since their price does not increase that of the whiskey. This low price must naturally become the principle of an immense fabrication of gin; and henceforth it will be an important article of exportation for the United States, as well as a considerable and wholesome object of home consumption.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Some rum distillers make a stronger vinous liquor, but it is still very far from Lavoisier's proportions. Others add successively new mola.s.ses to their vinous liquor, and thus prolong their fermentation, without making their liquor stronger, and consequently without obtaining more spirit. This is absolutely contrary to the true principles of distillation.

[B] See his beautified operation on the decomposition of water.

[C] I must here observe, that the juniper berry, as well as several other fruits, contains two kinds of essential oil: one is the proximate principle of vegetation, and the other is the superabundant oil: the first is combined with the soapy extract, and dissolves in water; while the second does not unite with it, and floats on the surface.

END