BREWING. 



In: fa-"dy raifeJ to nearly lyo'. The proponioii of wort to 

 be obtained fiom cicii biilhcl of malt, ilepeiuls entirely on 

 tlie propoftd llren|rth of the liquor. For tiiuiul finall beer, 

 30 "• liloiia of wort nny be taken from each bufhel of malt ; 

 but for the ftrongeft ale, only the produce of ihc firll m.ilh- 

 in}(, or about 6" gallons per buflul, is employed. But 

 whatever be the proportion of wort required, it muft be 

 held in mind, that every buHiel of well m?.dc malt will ab- 

 forb, and retain jj gallons of water, and, therefore, the 

 wster made uTe of mud exceed the wort required, in the 

 fame proportion. 



It is of jireat importance to tlie brewer, to afcertain the 

 ftrrnglh of his worts, or their ricIiTufs in facchariiie matter; 

 this may be done, partly by the ta'.le, but more accurately 

 by an inftruiccrit called a Sncchcrctmler. which in fact is only 

 a hydrometer, the fcale of which is adapted to the various 

 dtnfities of wort. The name Saccharoincter, however, is 

 an improper one, as it is apt to miilcad the brewer : this in- 

 llrument (liows merely the fpecific gravity of the liquor, and 

 this depends, not only upon the fugar, but the ilarch, and 

 every other part of the malt which is foluble in water. But 

 the relative proportions of thcfe fubllances are, in all like- 

 lihood, very various in different parcels of malt ; whence 

 arifes a ferious objection to much dependence on the fac- 

 charometcr. 



§ 2. Boiling and hopping. 

 If only one kind of liquor (whether ale or beer) is to be 

 made, the produce of the three mafhings is to be mixed to- 

 £;el!ier: but, if both ale and beer are required, the wort of 

 "the firll, or of the firft and fecond mathings, is appropriated 

 to the ale, and the remainder is ftt afide for the beer. All 

 the v/ort dcllined for the fame liquor, after it has run from 

 the ma(h-tun, is transferred to the large lower copper, and 

 mixed while it is heating with the required proportion of 

 hop'. The Wronger the woit is, the larger proportion of 

 hops does it demand : and this is calculated in two 

 ways, either according to the quantity of malt employed, 

 or the richnefs of the wort. A^Tiere the former bafis of cal- 

 culation is referred to, the quantity of hops, efpecially in 

 private famiUes, where economy is not fo tlriftly attended 

 to as in large eilablifliments, is one pound of hops to a 

 bufliel of malt, whether the wort is intended for the ftrong- 

 tlt ale, or the weakeft fmall beer. In public breweries, the 

 proportion of hops is confiderably fmaller, and is regulated, 

 not merely by the quantity of malt, but the richnefs of the 

 wort. For ftrong ales, the common proportion is about i 

 pound of hops to I. J bn(hel of malt ; for beer, the quan- 

 tity is lowered to 1 pound of hops to 1. 7 bufliel of malt. 

 When bcth ale asid beer are brewed from the fame malt, 

 the ufual praftice is to put the whole quantity of hops in the 

 ale wort ; and after they have been boiled a fuPicient time in 

 this, to traubfer them to the beer-wort, in order to be ex- 

 haudcd by a fecond boiling. 



When the hops are mixed with the wort in the copper, 

 the liquor is brought to boil ; and the bed pra&ice is to 

 keep it boiling as fall as poflible, till, upon taking a little 

 of the liquor out, it is found to be full of minute flakes, like 

 curdled foap. Thefe flaktjs confill of the gluten and ftarch 

 of the malt fcparated from their former folution in the wort, 

 by the joint action, in all probability, of the heat, and the 

 bitter extract of the hops. For the afcertainmer.t of this 

 important quefiion, no regular experiments, however, have 

 been as yet inllituted. 



The boiling copper is in mod breweries uncovered, but 

 in fome it is fitted with a lleam-tight cover, from the centre 

 of which paffes a cylindrical pipe, that terminates by feveral 

 recurved branches in the upper or mafning copper : the fteam, 



therefore, produced by the boiling, inlleiid of being wafteiJ, 

 is let into the cold water of the upper copper, and thuj 

 raifco it veiy nearly to the temperature rcquiud for malliing, 

 betides impregnating it very fenlibly with the tfrcntial oil of 

 the hops, in which the whole of the flavour refides, and 

 which would otherwife be difcharged into the air, and thus 



bclod. 



ij 3. Cooling, 



When the liquor is fufRciently boiled, it is difcharged 

 into a number of Ihallow tubs called coolers, where it 

 remains expofed to a free draft of air, till it has depo- 

 fited the hopfetds and coagulated flakes with which it 

 was charged, and is become lufliciently coi 1 to be fub- 

 mitted to the next procefs, which is that of fermentation. 

 It is neccffary that the procei.s of cooling fnoufd be carried 

 on as expeditioudy as poflible, particularly in hot weather ; 

 for unfermented wort, by cxpofure to a hot clofc air for a 

 few hours, is very liable to contraft a naufeous fnell and 

 tafte, when it is faid technically to be foxed, in confequcnce 

 of finall fpots of white mould forming on its fiirface. Li- 

 quor made from pale malt, and which is intcjided for im- 

 medi?,te drinking, need not be coole.i lower than 73' or So°, 

 and in confcquence may be made all the year through, except 

 perhaps during the very hotted feafon ; but beer from brown 

 malt, efpecially if intended for long keeping, requires to be 

 cooled to 6<,° or 70°, and therefore cannst poflibly be 

 made except in cool weather ; hence it is that the months 

 of March and October have always been reckoned pecu- 

 liarly favourable to the manufafture of the bed malt liquor. 

 § 4. Tunning and barrelling. 



From the coolers the liquor is transferred into the fer- 

 menting or working tun, which is a large cubical wooden 

 veifel capable of being cloisd at pleafure. As foon as the 

 wort is let in, it is well mixed with yead, in the proportion of 

 about one gallon to four barrels, and in about five hours 

 afterwards the fermentation commences. The figns of fer- 

 mentation are muddinefs of the liquor, the formation of 

 froth or yeaft on the furface, and a copious difengagcment of 

 carbonic acid. In the lird dage of fermentation, on taking 

 fome of the yeaft in a bowl it foon falls down into a' liquid ; 

 but when the fermentation is fufiiciently eftabhflied to allow 

 of barrelling, the yead has a certain degree of toughnefs, 

 and will remain a long time without falling in. When the 

 wort is let down hot into the working tun, the fermentation 

 is condufted with the tun clofcd, and proceeds rapidly, fo 

 that in about 18 or 20 hours it is fit to be cleanfcd or put 

 into the barrels ; but when the wort is let down at 65° it 

 requires 4S hours for the fird fermentation, and is peculiarly 

 liable to be affefted by a confiderable change of weather. 



Although, in common practice, the coagulated fecula and J 

 gluten are depofited and left in the coolers, yet, fl<ilful \ 

 brewers mix them again with the wort by agitation, and fer- 

 ment the liquor in this date. Fermentation is confiderably 

 retarded by this practice ; but, in return, the liquor is much 

 clearer and more completely fermented, as is obvious from 

 the remarkable diminution of fpecific gravity which it 

 undergoes. 



The lad procefs is transferring the liquor from the work- 

 ing tun to the barrels, when the fermentation is completed. 

 During a few days, a copious difcharge of yead takes place 

 from the bung-hole, and the barrels mud be carefully filled 

 up every day with frefli liquor : this difcharge gradually 

 becomes iefp, and in about a week ceafes ; at which time the 

 bupg-hole is cloftd up and the liquor is fit for ufe, after 

 Handing from a fortnight to three months according to its 

 drength, and the temperature at which it has been fer- 



KChUd. 



I BrEWINGj 



