BEER, ITS NATURE AND PROPERTIES. 367 



Beer, or the WINE OF MALTED GRAIN, is made by 

 fermenting a' solution and decoction of the saccha- 

 rine matter, or sugar of malt, and impregnating it 

 with the essential oil and bitter quality of the hop, in 

 order to restrict the beer to the requisite vinous fer- 

 mentation, and prevent its advance to the acetous or 

 acid. That the saccharine matter of the malt may be 

 extracted clear of the farinaceous, the temperature 

 or heat of the water must not be too high, or even at 

 a scalding heat ; otherwise a due fermentation will be 

 prevented, and the beer rendered thick and un- 

 wholesome. Beers that are dense, mucilaginous, 

 and muddy, from being unskilfully brewed, and im- 

 perfectly fermented, sit heavily, and are indigestible 

 by weak stomachs, in which they induce the acid 

 fermentation and its consequences. On this account, 

 the beer of common brewers, as being more carefully 

 and thoroughly fermented than the ordinary home- 

 brewed, has generally the advantage with respect to 

 lightness and facility of digestion. These few re- 

 marks on the important subject of fermentation, are 

 intended as prefatory to an account of the following 

 NOVEL, or revived PLAN of brewing, in which, indeed, 

 time and labour may be saved, but I apprehend not 

 advantageously; the experiment, however, may be 

 easily made. 



It is recommended to remove the beer, hops and 

 all, immediately from the copper, and, as I under- 

 stood, hot as it may be, to the casks, which are left 

 open to produce the spontaneous fermentation, no 

 yeast being used. This, it is said, will begin in 

 four or five days, when the beer shall have become 

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