192 



A Practical Plan for conducting [Apri! t, 



Persons in bnsincss have not limp, 

 JiiclTiiation, or the means, ot" accurately 

 asccrlainiii2j the nature and plienomena 

 of !'( rmciitation, so essentially uccossary 

 to the production of a good vinous 

 liquor, wiictiicr produced from fruits, 

 grain, or any saccharine substance. 

 The vinous fermentation commences at 

 a temperature of at least 54°of Fahreiv 

 heit's tlierniometer. Tiie acetous at 

 about 80°; and, by the fluid bavins 

 already passed the vinous state, ami 

 absorbing oxygen from tiie atmospheric 

 air, is ciianged into vinegar. 



This oxygen is the basis of tlie acidi- 

 fying principle ; and any liquor, having 

 passed the vinous fermentation, and 

 exposed to the open air, absorbs a por- 

 tion of oxygen from the common air, 

 and soon begins to turn acid. 



Atmospheric air contains twenty- 

 seven parls of oxygen, and is the vital 

 or constituent part of the atmosphere. 



This fact shows the necessity of pre- 

 venting, as far as possible, the admission 

 of too much atmospheric air to beer, 

 or other worls or musts, in a state of 

 fermentation ; tiie meansof doing which, 

 in a simple way, will be explained. 



Soon after the addition of yeast 

 (which contains the latent principles of 

 fermentation) to the must or wort, it 

 increases in heat; and, in a short time, 

 is in a violent ebullition, and begins to 

 tlisengagc a quantity of gas, wliich is 

 found to be carbonic acid, not in a state 

 of purity, but containing a considerable 

 quantity of alcohol or spirit in solution. 

 Fcrnventation is one of nature's hid- 

 den operations, by some called divine; 

 but this operation tends, as all her 

 works do, to the more speedy destruc- 

 tion of whatever it acts upon ; it is man 

 alone who converts the product of it to 

 bis own use or pleasure, by preventing 

 or protracting, in some degree, the fur- 

 ther elTccts of decomposition by casking 

 ,and bottleing the vinous fluids. 



The alcohol, or spirit which is ob- 

 tained by distillation, actually exists, 

 ready formed, in fluids that have passed 

 the vinous fermentation. The fluids, 

 being placed in close vessels, and 

 acted upon by heat, only give out the 

 fine and subtile spirit, which, as before 

 said, already existed in them. 



A patent has been lately obtained by 

 Messrs. Uemhro^cq and Nichols, for an 

 apparatus to ferment worls in close vats. 

 'J he 'invention is not uew, although the 

 adoption of it in the brewery is but 

 recent; the celebrated chemist, Lavoi- 



sier, having some years ago shown the 

 practicability of the operation. 



There is no necessity for using this 

 particular apparatus, and paying a large 

 sum for the use of it, unless any one 

 chooses to do it. 



A new era is now taking place for the 

 bettering our own liquors ; and, although 

 no one ought to deprive the patentees of 

 any fair remuneration for their trouble 

 and expense, yet the subject is one of 

 loo great importance to be confined 

 and shackled by patent regulations. 

 The i)rinei|)!e was discovered long ago; 

 the apjilication of it is in every one's 

 power, in a simple, easy, and efficacious, 

 manner. 



It will now be shown, that an appara- 

 tus can be applied to the fermenting of 

 worts in close vats, by adopting the 

 method used for a long time by chemists 

 for separating and condensing the gases, 

 and for which there needs not any 

 patent; and which, by a very trifling 

 expense, can be made available to 

 working vats or vessels of any size, 

 without altering them. 



Let A be tl.-c vessel to contain the 

 wort or must to be fermented, and which 

 is made air-tight, excepting the bung- 

 bole, into which the pipe B is to be 

 firmly placed, so as to turn into the 

 small 



