25 Aphorrfms concerning Cider. 



day J draw a little, and fee what finenefs it is of 5 for when it is 

 bottled it muft not be pcrfedly fifte •-, for if it be fo, it will not fret 

 in the hottle, which gives it a fine quickncfs, and will inakc it 

 mantle and fparkle in the gUfi when you pour it out : And if it 

 be too thick when it is bottled^ then, when it hath ftood fome time 

 in the bottles it will ferment fo much that it may poffibly eitbec 

 drive out the corks^ or break the bottles^ or at leaft be of that fort 

 (which fome call Potgun-drink) that when you open the bottks it 

 will fly about the houfe, and be fo windy and cnttitrg that it will be 

 inconvenient to drink : For the right temper oi Bottle-Cider is, that 

 it mantle a little and jparklc when it is put out into the glaf-^ but if 

 \t froth Audfl)/ it was bottled too (oon : Now the *c«/p£T of theCi- 

 der is fo nice, that it is very hard when you bottle it to foretell 

 which of thefe two conditions it will have : but it is very cafie 

 within a few days after (that is to fay, about a wee^ » or-ib) to find 

 its temper as to this point. For firft, if it be bottled too foon 5 by 

 this time it will begm to frrment m the Bottles^ and in that cafe 

 you muft open the Bottles, and let them ftand open two or three 

 minutes , that that abundance of jpirits may have yejtt , which 

 otherwife kept in would in a (hort time make it of that j^r^ I cal- 

 led before rot-guM-dri»k.j but being let out, that danger will be 

 avoided, and the C/^cr (without danger of breaking the bottles) 

 wi\l/{eep :ind frrmenty but not too much. Now this is focaltea 

 remedy, that I would advile all men rather to erre on th^aixl of 

 bottling it too foon, then ^gf it b^too//?e vi^hen they'/'<?f/^/e it ^ for 

 if fo, it will notfiet in the bottle at ail , and, confequently, want 

 that bi!;isk,nef which is defireable. 



Yet even in this cafe there is a Remedy , but fuch a one as I am 

 always very careful to avoid, that fo I may have nothing (how lit- 

 tle focv^r) in the Cider but the juice of the Jpple : But the reme- 

 dy is, in cafo you be put to a neceffity to ufe it, that you open 

 every bottle after it hath been bottled about a week or fo, and put 

 into each /'tf/^;/e a little piece of white Sugar, about the bignefsof a 

 Nutmeg, and this will fet it into a little frrmentatioa, and give it 

 that brkkneji which otherwife it would have wanted. But the 

 other way being full as eafie, and then nothing to be added but 

 the juice of the Apple to be firaply the fubftance of yonx Cider ^ I 

 chufe to prefer the errour of being in danger to bottle the Cider 

 too foon, rather ^han too late: Nayfometimes in the bottling oi 

 one and the fa^e Hogfjead (or other Vejjel) oi Cider, there may the 

 firft part of it be too/wt' 5 thefecond partweZf'^ .and thelaft not 

 /^e enough : and this happens when it \s broached firft above the 

 middle, zi\d then below ^ and then when it begins to run low, tilted 

 or raifed at the further end, and fo all drawn out. But to avoid 

 this inconvenience, I commonly fet the bottles in the order they 

 were filled, and fo we need not open all to fee the condition of 

 the Cider ; Imt trying one at each end, and one in tlie mid- 

 dle, will llrvc thv turn ; And to prevent tiie inconvenien- 

 cy,, broach not at all above the middle, nor too low ^ and when 

 ypu have drawn all that will run at the Tap , you may be 



fociue 



