378 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



beer is brewed from the berries of 

 the juniper. It is not many years 

 since this art was discovered, and 

 it has only very lately become uni- 

 versally known. The method of 

 brewing this beer is as follows : 



Take about SOlbs. of clean juni- 

 per-berries, pound them well in 

 a mortar, put them into the com- 

 mon mash-tub used in brewing 

 beer, pour immediately upon them 

 2f buckets of cold water, and so let 

 them stand for the space of twenty- 

 four hours. When the juices of the 

 berries have thus been properly ex- 

 tracted, draw off the liquor by the 

 cock of the mash-tun, and put it to 

 boil in a copper, taking care to 

 skim it well whilst it is boiling. If 

 it be not properly skimmed, it ac- 

 quires a bitter resinous taste. 



When the liquor has been well 

 boiled and skimmed, take out a 

 quantity of it, and boil with this as 

 much hops as may be sufficient for 

 the quantity of beer you intend to 

 brew, after which pour it again to 

 the rest. Let the liquor stand till 

 it is lukewarm ; then add the yeast, 

 and let it ferment. This beer fer- 

 ments more slowly than that brewed 

 from malt. When the fermenta- 

 tion is completed, barrel your beer, 

 and bung it tight, putting into 

 €ach barrel a small quantity of isin- 

 glass to fine it. 



This beer has a sweet aromatic 

 taste, very grateful to the palate : 

 it is very wholesome ; but does not 

 keep well, being apt to turn sour. 

 It is therefore adviseable to brew 

 only a small quantity of it at a time. 

 During the last autumn I drankdaily 

 of this beer, and found it agree 

 very well with my health. 



10th. By boiling the wort to a 

 proper consistence, we obtain a 

 syrup of juniper, which is very 



useful in pectoral and other com- 

 plaints. 



11th. If we make the wort fer- 

 ment, by adding yeast, but no hops, 

 and then distil it, we obtain the 

 most palatable and wholesome spe- 

 cies of gin. 



12 th. After the ardent spirits 

 have been drawn off, the oil depo- 

 sits itself in globules upon the mass. 

 These are generally collected upon 

 bits of clean cotton, from which 

 they are afterwards pressed out into 

 a glass. A drop of this oil, taken 

 in a glass of brandy, gives it a very 

 pleasant taste, and diffuses a glow 

 through the whole body. Five or six 

 drops, taken in the course of the 

 day, are supposed by some to be a 

 good remedy in the epilepsy. 



13th. An oil is also extracted 

 from the wood of the juniper by the 

 following process. Dry the wood 

 well, split it into small sticks ; and 

 fasten these, in an upright position, 

 in an iron trough. Next fix a 

 glazed pot in the earth, and cover 

 it with a board, having a hole in 

 the middle, with small grooves on 

 the upper surface, that communi- 

 cate with the hole. Then fasten 

 the trough, turned upside down, 

 upon the board, and make a fire all 

 round. In this manner the oil will 

 be melted out, and run, by the 

 grooves and the hole, into the pot. 

 This oil is used by many peo- 

 ple, as an external application, in 

 paralytic afiections and pains in the 

 limbs. During the course of thelast 

 summer, several of the peasants took 

 it with good effect in the dysentery. 



14th. An infusion of the roots 

 and branches of young juniper 

 shrubs, dried and cut into shavings, 

 is drank as tea, and supposed to be 

 serviceable in pains of the joints and 

 pulmonary complaints. 



