B R E 



459 



B R E 



wrought at a small expence, the coal (as has been al- 

 ready mentioned,) lying horizontally a few fret In-- 

 low the surface ; and as no coal lias as yet been dis- 

 1 in Canada, that article might be rendered a 

 source of great emolument and advantage. Its fo- 

 rests n "PP' V tiniboi- for the navy ; the com- 

 munication with the Ulterior of the island being 



by means of a number of Likes and inlets from tli- 

 S<M, which an- found in every direction. 

 Li'lti-i-f /'rum Cfiiiudi:, p. ID. Hen-ii'- Tnirrlx li 

 Ilic Cumulus, p. 17; I'iiikertcm's dcografi/i./ 

 i'. p. 6'2<); and Smollct's . History of England, vol 

 iii. iv. (\. F.) 





B II E W I N G. 



al 



eof 

 era- 

 >f 



BUENVING is tlie art of making malt liquors, such as 

 porter, ale, and beer, which have a vast numberof local 

 appellations, depending upon their taste, colour, &c. 



The art of brewing is of great importance in this 

 country, where the principal beverage of the inhabi- 

 tants consists of fermented malt liquors, which arc 

 generally considered as the least prejudicial to the con- 

 stitution, of any of those inebriating liquors, which, 

 in the present state of society, are looked upon 

 as essential to the support of the human frame. 

 The practice of brewing porter is brought to great 

 perfection in London, and many other towns are cele- 

 brated for their ales, &c. ; but the principles upon 

 which these advantages depend, are not perfectly un- 

 derstood. The superiority of particular ales, is ge- 

 nerally attributed to local conveniences of water, cli- 

 mate, malt, &c. which might, in a great degree, be 

 attained, from a particular management of the pro- 

 cesses upon which the art of brewing depends. It 

 would be presumptuous to attempt to settle the prin- 

 ciples of an art so complicated ; but we shall endea- 

 vour to describe faithfully the different processes of 

 brewing, from the extraction of the virtue of the 

 malt, to the fining of the beer. This is all that our 

 limits will permit us to accomplish ; and we hope it 

 may be found of utility to the practical brewer, in 

 giving him the detail of the art as practised in Lon- 

 don, where porter is brewed on such a large scale, 

 and where the most scrupulous attention is paid to 

 the economy of materials, and the perfection of the 

 process. In doing this, we shall first give a full de- 

 scription of a London brewery, and of the various 

 utensils employed in it ; and then a detailed ac- 

 count of the different processes which are employed in 

 this useful art. But before we proceed to any of these 

 heads, we shall first give a general outline of the dif- 

 ferent operations in brewing. 



The principal ingredients employed in brewing 

 beer, are malt and hops, from which the virtues are 

 extracted by solution in hot water, and this extract 

 is fermented with yeast. Malt is made from barley, 

 which being steeped in water, and then spread out in 

 thin layers, vegetates, and produces a sweet substance 

 termed saccharum, which did not previously exist (at 

 least in the same form) in the dry corn, and which 

 disappears if the process of vegetation (or germina- 

 tion as it is called,) is carried too far. In order to 

 prevent this, when the corn is judged, by ki.own 

 signs, to be in that stage which produces the greatest 

 quantity of saccharine matter, the germination is 

 stopped by drying the corn upon a kiln. This evapo- 

 ratea the moisture, and prevents the farther growth of 

 the corn, now converted into malt, which will keep till 



it is wanted by the brewer. The malt in the brewer's 

 hands is first ground coarsely, so as to break every - > -' 

 grain into 3 or 4 pieces. The malt, or, as it is now JIallin g' 

 called, the grist, is put into a large vessel, termed the 

 mash tun, and hot water admitted into it from the 

 copper, where it remains till the water is supposed to 

 have extracted sufficient sweetness from the goods, as 

 the malt is called in this stage of the process. The 

 goods are stirred up at intervals, to expose every part 

 of the mass to the action of the liquor ; and for a cer- Mashing, 

 tain time, at the conclusion of the mashing, it is not 

 disturbed, that the extract (which is called wort,) 

 may not be thick, from holding the gross parts of 

 the flour and mucilage of the malt in mechanical mix- 

 ture-. After being left at rest a short time, these 

 gross parts subside upon the goods ; and the wort run- 

 ning through them when let off, is, in some degree, 

 filtered, and flows clear into a vessel beneath the 

 ina.:h tun, called the underback. From this vessel it Boiling, 

 is again pumped up into the copper ; and when the 

 hops are put in, it is boiled for some time, in order to 

 extract the bitter of the hops, to coagulate the muci- 

 lage extracted from the malt, and evaporate a portion 

 of the water used in mashing. When sufficiently boil- 

 ed, the wort is run off into a vessel called the hop- 

 back, which detains the hops, but permits the liquor 

 to flow into the coolers. These are large vats, not 

 more than 5 inches deep, in which the liquor remains 

 till it is cooled to a proper temperature for the pro- 

 cess of fermentation ; which gives the strength or spi- Ferment-' 

 rituous quality to the beer. This is effected in ves- ing. 

 sels, called squares or gyle tuns, in which a sufficient 

 quantity of yeast is added, to put the liquor in fer- 

 mentation ; the symptoms of which are an internal 

 commotion of every part of the liquor, caused by the 

 extrication of gas, which rises through the fluid in 

 innumerable bubbles, producing an universal motion, 

 and a continual singing, and raising to the surface a 

 constant stream of yeast, in which the bubbles of gas 

 are enveloped. This yeast floats upon the beer, and 

 is called the head. After this fermentation has con- 

 tinued some time, and the head does not seem likely 

 to rise any higher, it is necessary to put a stop to it, 

 as it would be quickly succeeded by another fermen- 

 tation, called the acetous fermentation : the first being 

 called vinous, producing alcohol or spirit; while the se- 

 cond generates acetic acid, or vinegar. This opera- 

 tion of checking the fermentation is called cleansing. 

 It is performed by drawing off the beer, and putting 

 it into small casks called rounds, where it still conti- 

 nues to ferment -and discharge yeast for some time, 

 the casks being filled up as they diminish in their con- 

 tents. When the working ceases, the casks are 



