Take a small bunch of all, or part of the following: Sweet fern,
sarsaparilla, winter-green, sassafras, prince's pine, and spice wood.
Boil them with two or three ounces of hops to three or four gallons of
water, and two or three raw potatoes, pared and cut in slices. The
strength of the roots and hops is obtained more thoroughly by boiling
them in two waters--for, when the liquor is strongly saturated with the
hops, it will rather bind up the roots than extract their juices. The
roots should be boiled five or six hours--the liquor should then be
strained, and a quart of molasses put to three gallons of the beer. If
you wish to have the beer very rich, brown half a pound of bread, and
put it into the liquor. If the liquor is too thick, dilute it with cold
water. When just lukewarm, put in a pint of fresh lively yeast, that has
no salt in it. The salt has a tendency to keep it from fermenting. Keep
it in a temperate situation, covered over, but not so tight as to
exclude the air entirely, or it will not work. When fermented, keep it
in a tight keg, or bottle and cork it up.