English CJiampagnc 



bring up the gravity to 36 ; therefore, 2^^ lb. 

 — i.e., 2 lb. 10 oz., or, in lieu of the odd 

 ounces, two pounds and a half of loaf sugar, 

 and 4 oz. of pure honey — will be required to 

 prepare a gallon of gooseberry must, equal to 

 the strength of that grape juice, or must, 

 which is used by the makers of cham- 

 pagne. 



4. If one gallon of berries yield a third of 

 juice, 2 2j4 gallons will be required for 15 

 gallons of wine ; that is, to produce y;^ 

 gallons of juice. The proportion of other 

 materials will then be, lY^ gallons of water, 

 37/^ lb. of loaf sugar, 3^ lb. of honey, and 

 the gravity of ' must ' will be about 106 or as 

 1 109, is to 1000. 



The items of the process may thus be con- 

 cisely stated : — 



To make a 15-gallon cask, take the above 

 quantities of materials ; but it is deemed 

 always advisable to make a 2 -gallon cask 

 more, and additional quantities of ingredients 

 will therefore be required. It must not, 

 however, be overlooked, that the sugar will 

 add considerably to the bulk ; and therefore 

 one gallon of berries, and the proportionate 

 extra quantities of water and sugar, will 

 suffice to produce 19 gallons, which, Mr R. 

 says, are required for 1 7 gallons of fermented 

 wine. 



The water and the berries are not all to 

 be mixed up at once ; three tubs are to be 

 employed, one for the berries a second, to 

 bruise them in, and a third to receive them 

 when they are bruised. One gallon is to be 

 bruised at a time in order that every berry 

 may be broken. To those bruised, one-third 

 of a gallon of Avater to be added ; and so on, 

 until the 223^ gallons are bruised, and are 

 put into the third tub, and the 73^ gallons of 

 water are added; this refers to the 15 gallons 

 only ; the quantity required for the extra 2 

 gallons must be superadded. The mixture 

 being completed, the gravity of the liquor will 

 probably be about seventeen or eighteen by 

 the instrument. The tub is then to be covered 

 up, and the next morning the mass is again 

 to be well agitated, or stirred up, and ex- 

 amined. 



" The gravity will not appear to have 



fncreased much, but as long as it does increase 

 the liquor must remain on the husks, because 

 ermentation will not have yet commenced, 

 for which no certain time can be assigned, as 

 sometimes it may be within ten hours, and 

 sometimes not until three days. The instru- 

 ment is the only sure guide in this event, for 

 as soon as a decrease in gravity is perceived, 

 fermentation has assuredly commenced. The 

 husks must then be removed, after having 

 been well pressed with the hand, and the 

 liquor strained. But as they will contain 

 some good, 2 or 3 gallons of water are to be 

 poured on them ; they may again be squeezed 

 and strained, and this second liquor added to 

 the former, which could not be less than 16 

 gallons, if the 15- and the 2-gallon casks are 

 to be filled." We differ from Mr R. in this 

 estimate, as the sugar will make up the required 

 quantity without so much more water ; how- 

 ever, he estimates the gravity of the liquor, as 

 thus reduced, to be fifteen, and requiring one 

 hundred and ten as the standard, he pro- 

 ceeds to adjust the quantity of sugar accord- 

 ingly. " I have," he adds, " been in the habit 

 of using, instead of 2^ lb. of sugar to each 

 gallon, 2^-^ lb. of sugar, and a y^ lb. of virgin 

 honey to each gallon. The honey must be 

 boiled with the same weight of water, for 

 fifteen minutes, and well skimmed during 

 that period." 



We have given the above extract correctly ; 

 though with some curtailment of the periods. 

 What remains may be stated in a fevv words. 

 The tub, with the liquor and sugar, is to be 

 first thoroughly agitated or stirred up, then 

 covered with a blanket : the agitation is to 

 be repeated every alternate hour during the 

 first day ; after the last stirring up, the gravity 

 is to be investigated and recorded. This ex- 

 amination is to be repeated morning and 

 evening till the gravity be reduced to ninety, 

 or rather to eighty. The liquor is then to be 

 strained through a fine sieve, and put into 

 the casks (fifteen gallons and two gallons), 

 and the remainder is to be kept to fill up the 

 casks ; and this filling should be done every 

 three hours, for the first three days, placing a 

 dish to receive the scum which will be thrown 

 off" by the force of fermentation. The fine 



