352 JUDGMENT IN HOPS BEST WATER FOR BREWING. 



of the plant, must be pure and unmixed with any 

 other of its parts. Its moist, adhesive feel, and aro- 

 matic scent, are well known. It requires practical 

 skill to judge of the age, colour, and condition of the 

 hop. The brown colour is not always an indication 

 of either age or bad condition ; it is the natural colour 

 of some, as the pale green is of others ; for example, 

 of the celebrated Farnham hop. The colour and 

 qualities vary with soil and situation ; clay lands pro- 

 ducing the strongest and harshest hops. Neverthe- 

 less, a brown colour, with a dry and harsh feel, and 

 hardness of the seed, indicate either age, or the de- 

 teriorating effects of a bad season. 



OLD HOPS will doubtless preserve beer; and, in 

 fact, good-conditioned old ones are to be preferred to 

 new which are bad ; but, generally, new hops, or 

 those of an immediately preceding season, are far the 

 most valuable to a consumer, age necessarily despoil- 

 ing the hop of great part of those volatile, aromatic, 

 and peculiar qualities for which it is used, and per- 

 haps the whole of that material part, its farina. In 

 fact, age works a considerable change in the proper- 

 ties of this article. The soil being proper, the culti- 

 vation of the hop, to the extent of family consump- 

 tion, may answer the purpose of a country resident 

 devoted to rural pursuits. 



The WATER best adapted to the purpose of brewing, 

 is the soft) or that which will most freely and easily 

 lather with soap ; it will not only render the most 

 pleasant, wholesome, and best-keeping beer, but also 

 a considerably greater quantity from an equal measure 

 of malt. It must be understood, nevertheless, that 



