little heat as possible, as a solution of sugar, even when kept at a
temperature of boiling water, undergoes slow decomposition. The best
plan is to pour the water (cold) over the sugar, and to allow the two
to lie together for a few hours in a covered vessel, occasionally
stirring, and to apply a gentle heat, preferably that of steam or of
a water-bath, to finish the solution. Syrups are sufficiently boiled
when some taken up in a spoon pours out like oil, or a drop cooled
on the thumb nail gives a proper thread when touched. When a thin
skin appears on blowing the syrup, it is judged to be completely
saturated. These rude tests, however, often lead to errors, which
might be easily prevented by employing the proper proportions, or
determining the specific gravity by immersing in the syrup one of
Baumé’s saccharometers or syrup gauges, as indicated in the following
table:--
Sugar in 100 parts. Sp. Gr. Deg. Baumé.
0 1·000 0
5 1·020 3
10 1·040 6
15 1·062 8
20 1·081 11
25 1·104 13·5
30 1·128 16·3
35 1·152 19
40 1·177 21·6
45 1·204 24·5
50 1·230 27
55 1·257 29·5
60 1·284 32
67 1·321 35
A fluid ounce of saturated syrup weighs 577½ gr.; a gallon weighs
13½ lb.; its specific gravity is 1·319 to 1·321 or 35° Baumé; its
boiling point is 221° F., and its density at the temperature of 212°
is 1·260 to 1·261, or 30° Baumé. The syrups prepared with the juices
of fruits mark about 2° or 3° more on Baumé’s scale than the other
syrups. According to Ure, the decimal part of the number denoting the
specific gravity of a syrup multiplied by 26 gives very nearly the
number of pounds of sugar it contains per gallon.
The preservation of syrups, as well as of all saccharine solutions,
is best promoted by keeping them in a moderately cool, but not a
very cold place. Let syrups be kept in vessels well closed, and in
a situation where the temperature never rises above 55° F. They
are kept better in small than in large vessels, as the longer the
bottle lasts the more frequently will it be opened, and the syrup
consequently exposed to the air. By bottling syrups while boiling
hot, and immediately corking down and tying the bottles over with a
bladder, perfectly air-tight, they may be preserved even at a summer
heat for years, without fermenting or losing their transparency.
The candying of syrups may be prevented (unless the syrup be
over-saturated with sugar) by the addition of acetic or citric acid,
2 or 3 dr. per gallon. Confectioners add a little cream of tartar
to prevent granulation. Syrups may be effectually prevented from
fermenting by the addition of a little sulphite of potash or lime;
also by the use of salicylic acid in small quantities. Fermenting
syrups may be immediately restored by exposing the vessel containing
them to the temperature of boiling water. The addition of a little
spirit is also good, say about 10 per cent.
A solution of sugar prepared by dissolving 2 parts of double refined
sugar in one of water, and boiling this a little, affords a syrup
which neither ferments nor crystallises.
The basis of most mineral water syrups is simple syrup, which is
prepared by adding 16 lb. of finest white sugar and the whites of 4
eggs to 1 gal. water; stir until all the sugar is dissolved; simmer
over a gentle heat for 2 or 3 minutes; skim well and strain through a
fine flannel bag.
The best way to keep fruit syrups from fermenting is by bottling
while hot, into suitable bottles or larger vessels, and to prevent
access of air. This is the principle, and it may be carried out
in various ways. For instance, fill the syrup while hot in quart
bottles, previously warmed, and fill them almost full. Cover or cork
the bottles temporarily until the syrup cools a little and contracts
in volume; then, having heated a small quantity of the syrup, refill
the bottles, cork them securely and wax them.
A great variety of syrups are made by the addition of proper
flavouring ingredients to simple syrup; but in other cases,
especially when the juices of fruits are employed, the syrup is not
first prepared and then flavoured, but the processes go hand-in-hand.
In such instances specific instructions will be given. It is always
advisable, when fresh fruit can be obtained, to use it in preference
to the essence. One general recipe, which answers for nearly all
fresh fruit, is as follows: Use nothing but the very best fresh
fruit, which must be freed from stocks, &c., and crushed with a
wooden instrument (not metal); when well mashed, let it stand in a
room of even temperature (about 68° F.) for 4 days, which will give
sufficient time for fermentation to take place; press out the juice
from the fruit and let it settle in a cool cellar for 2 days, after
which 5 lb. of the clear juice is to be simmered with 9 lb. loaf
sugar; while warm, strain through flannel. The colour may be improved
by a solution of some colouring agent.
It is advisable to add to the fresh fruit before setting it for
fermentation, about 2 lb. powdered loaf sugar for every 100 lb.
fruit. When cold, it is ready for bottling. Cleanliness should
be strictly observed in all the utensils used. When bottling for
storing, skim the top off any floating matter from the syrups in
the large pan, and see that no residue at the bottom goes into the
bottles. Most of the syrups not made of fruit, may have a little
mucilage of gum arabic added, in order to produce a rich froth. The
following recipes comprise syrups made from the fruit, and also from
essences. These may be varied to suit taste and requirements. A
variety of syrups have been brought into use by adding the various
wines, such as claret, hock, sherry, &c., to simple syrup; others, by
the addition of spirits, as milk punch, by adding to vanilla cream
Jamaica rum and nutmeg. Almost any syrup may be made by the addition
of a sufficient quantity of flavouring essence to simple syrup; but
these artificially prepared syrups are inferior to those made from
fresh fruits.
_Red Colouring for Soda-Water Syrups._--The most convenient is
probably tincture of cudbear, as it affords a good, substantial,
and natural-looking colour miscible with syrups without cloudiness.
It may be made as follows:--2 to 4 oz. powdered cudbear, 1 pint
diluted alcohol. Exhaust by maceration or displacement. Used alone,
the tincture gives a shade of red closely imitating the colour of
raspberries or currants. For deeper red, like blackberries, the
addition of some caramel is all that is necessary. The strawberry
colour is best imitated with tincture of cochineal. Aniline red,
owing to its cheapness, is often used for colouring syrups, but it
produces a glaring, artificial-looking bluish-red, and is liable to
the objection that it sometimes contains arsenic.
_Ambrosia Syrup._--A mixture of equal parts of vanilla and strawberry
syrups.
_Apple Syrup._--As for pineapple syrups.
_Banana Syrup._--As for pineapple syrups.
_Blackberry Syrup._--Prepared from ripe fruit the same as raspberry
syrups. Improved by adding 1 oz. best French brandy to each quart.
_Capillaire Syrup._--9 lb. loaf sugar, 5 lb. orange-flower water.
Boil till the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear; while hot,
strain through flannel; add to the cool syrup 2 dr. tartaric acid,
previously dissolved in 8 oz. strongest orange-flower water; lastly
add 4 oz. best Rhine wine.
_Cream Syrup._--(_a_) 1 pint condensed milk, 1 pint water, 1¼ lb.
sugar. Heat to boiling and strain. This will keep for over a week in
a cool place.
(_b_) Imitation.--Make an emulsion with 3 oz. fresh oil of sweet
almonds, 2 oz. powdered gum arabic, and 2 oz. water; then dissolve 1
lb. white sugar by gentle heat, strain, and when cool, add the whites
of two eggs. It should be put up in small bottles, well corked, in a
cool place. This is not only an excellent imitation and substitute
for cream syrup, but will keep for a considerable time.
_Currant Syrup._--(_a_) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints water, 2 oz.
tartaric acid, 3 dr. fruit essence. Mix; colour with liquid carmine
for red currants, and with burnt sugar, for black.
(_b_) 1 pint red currant juice, 1 gal. simple syrup.
_Ginger Syrup._--(_a_) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints water, 1 oz.
tartaric acid, 2 oz. ginger. Burnt sugar to colour.
(_b_) 4 oz. extract Jamaica ginger, 1 gal. syrup. Shake well. A few
drops of tincture curcuma to colour.
(_c_) 9 lb. loaf sugar, 5 lb. water, 12 oz. essence of ginger, 4 oz.
Rhine wine. Boil sugar and water until dissolved and clear; when
cool, add ginger and wine. Mix well and let settle.
_Grape Syrup._-½ pint brandy, 1 oz. tincture of lemon, 1 gal. simple
syrup, 1 qt. tincture red saunders.
_Imperial Syrup._--Equal parts of raspberry and orange syrups.
_Lemon Syrup._--(_a_) Grate off the yellow rinds of lemons, and
beat it up with a sufficient quantity of granulated sugar; express
the lemon juice; add to each pint of juice 1 pint of water, 3½ lb.
granulated sugar, including that rubbed up with the rind; warm until
the sugar is dissolved and strain. Under no circumstances must the
syrup be allowed to boil, and the less heat that can be used to
effect the complete solution of the sugar the better will be the
syrup.
(_b_) Add to 1 gal. simple syrup when cold, 20 drops fresh oil lemon
and ½ oz. citric acid, previously dissolved in 3 oz. water; mix by
shaking well in a bottle; add 4 oz. gum solution, made by dissolving
2 oz. fine white gum arabic in 2 oz. warm water.
(_c_) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints distilled water, 2 oz. essence of
lemon, 2 oz. citric acid, dissolved in boiling water. Mix, and, if
required, colour with saffron.
_Maple Syrup._--3½ lb. maple sugar, 1 qt. water. Dissolve, and, if
desired, add a small proportion of gum solution to produce a rich
froth.
_Milk-Punch Syrup._--To 1 pint heavy syrup add ½ pint each brandy and
Jamaica rum; flavour with 2 teaspoonfuls of an extract prepared by
macerating 2 oz. ground nutmegs in 8 oz. alcohol. The syrup is first
to be poured into the glass in the proper quantity, and ordinary
cream syrup added before drawing the soda water.
_Mulberry Syrup._--Made from the fruit, the same as strawberry, and
acidulated slightly with a solution of citric acid. It may also be
made from the fruit essence in the same manner as for strawberry,
using about half the quantity of tartaric acid.
_Nectar Syrup._--(_a_) 1 oz. extract of vanilla, 1 oz. extract of
rose, 1 oz. extract of lemon, 1 oz. extract of bitter almonds. Mix
and add 1 gal. of simple syrup; colour pink with cochineal.
(_b_) Mix 3 parts vanilla syrup with 1 each of pineapple and lemon
syrups.
_Orange Syrups._--These may be made from the fresh fruit or from the
essence in a similar manner as for lemon syrups. Orange syrups may be
coloured slightly with tincture of saffron or of turmeric.
_Orgeat Syrup._--(_a_) ½ pint cream syrup, ½ pint simple syrup, 1
pint vanilla syrup, 5 drops oil bitter almonds.
(_b_) Beat to an emulsion in a mortar 8 oz. blanched sweet almonds
and 4 oz. bitter ones, adding a little water; when smooth, add 3
pints water; mix and strain; dissolve in this without heat 6 lb.
sifted white sugar, and 4 oz. fresh orange-flower water.
(_c_) An excellent imitation of orgeat syrup is made by flavouring
cream syrup, made with eggs and milk, with a few drops of oil of
bitter almonds.
_Pear Syrup._--As for pineapple syrups.
_Pineapple Syrup._--(_a_) Take a convenient number of the fruit; pare
and mash them in a marble or porcelain mortar, with a small quantity
of sugar; express the juice; for each quart of juice take 1½ pint
water, and 6 lb. sugar; boil the sugar and water, and add the juice;
remove from the fire; skim and strain.
(_b_) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints distilled water, 1 oz. tartaric
acid, 1 dr. essence of pineapple. Saffron to colour.
(_c_) Proceed as for raspberry (_d_); but the hard nature of this
fruit requires pounding with a heavy chump of wood (not metal) in a
tub with a strong bottom; when well mashed, it will require great
pressure to extract all the juice from this fruit; a cider press will
answer the purpose; add 14 lb. sugar to 1 gal. juice and a little
pure acetic acid; put it on a slow fire, and stir until the sugar
dissolves; when cold, bottle and tie down.
_Raspberry Syrup._--(_a_) Take fresh berries and enclose them in a
coarse bag; press out the juice, and to each quart add 6 lb. white
sugar and 1 pint water; dissolve, raising it to the boiling point;
strain; bottle and cork hot, and keep in a cool place. Raspberry
syrup is improved by adding 1 part of currants to 4 parts of
raspberries.
(_b_) 5 qt. raspberries, 12 lb. white sugar, 1 pint water. Sprinkle
some of the sugar over the fruit in layers, allowing the whole to
stand for several hours; express the juice and strain, washing out
the pulp with the water, add the remainder of the sugar and water;
bring the fluid to the boiling point, and then strain. This will keep
for a long time.
(_c_) 6 pints simple syrup, 2 pints water, 2 oz. tartaric acid, 2 oz.
essence of raspberry. Colouring sufficient. Colouring for raspberry,
blackberry, &c., syrups may be made by boiling 1 oz. cochineal with
half a teaspoonful cream of tartar; filter.
(_d_) Take any quantity of fully ripe fruit; free them from stalks;
place them in a tub and crush them with a wooden spatula; after
they have been mashed, let them remain for 3 or 4 hours, and strain
the crushed berries through a strong flannel bag or strainer into
a suitable vessel. Dissolve ½ oz. citric acid in 3 oz. water, and
add this quantity to each gallon of juice; mix 14 lb. broken sugar
to every gallon of juice; put on a slow fire and stir until all the
sugar is dissolved (not boil); take off the fire, and when cold,
bottle and cork for future use. If too thick when cold, it may be
brought to a proper consistency by the addition of water.
(_e_) Imitation.--3 oz. bruised orris root, 2 oz. acetic acid, 1 oz.
acetic ether, 1 pint alcohol. Cochineal to colour. Mix and allow to
stand a few days; filter, and use to flavour simple syrup.
_Rose Syrup._--1 gal. simple syrup, 1 oz. essence of rose. Colour
pink with prepared cochineal, and acidulate lightly with a solution
of citric acid.
_Rowan Syrup._--Dry the berries till they are quite shrivelled. Then
place them in brandy, and leave them in it for 7-10 days. Strain
it off the berries at the end of that time, and mix with an equal
quantity of thick very clear syrup made with loaf sugar in a brass
boiler. A handful of picked berries is sufficient for 1 pint brandy.
This is a very palatable liqueur.
_Sarsaparilla Syrup._--(_a_) 1 gal. simple syrup, 2 oz. essence of
sarsaparilla. Colour with caramel.
(_b_) 1 gal. simple syrup, essence of sarsaparilla, q.s., 1 oz.
powdered extract licorice, 15 drops oil of sassafras, 15 drops oil of
wintergreen, 10 drops oil of aniseed. Stir the oils with the powdered
licorice; add a portion of the syrup; stir smoothly, and mix the
whole together by agitation.
_Sherbet Syrup._--Mix equal parts of orange, pineapple, and vanilla
syrups.
_Sherry Cobbler Syrup._--To 1 pint good sherry add an equal measure
of heavy simple syrup, and one lemon cut in very thin slices. Allow
the syrup to stand a few hours; strain through a sieve, and bottle
for use.
_Strawberry Syrup._--Proceed as for raspberry syrup (_d_); but the
fruits being more stubborn will require a good beating with the
spatula to mash them; when they have stood 3 or 4 hours, strain and
press the juice out by squeezing the strainer between the hands;
add to the juice the same quantity of citric acid; dissolve in each
gallon 14 lb. loaf sugar; simply warm the juice sufficiently to
dissolve the sugar; take from the fire, and when cold bottle and cork
till required.
_Vanilla Syrup._--(_a_) 1 gal. simple syrup, 1 oz. extract vanilla, ½
oz. citric acid. Stir the acid with a portion of the syrup; add the
extract of vanilla; mix.
(_b_) 4 pints simple syrup, 2 oz. extract of vanilla.
The essences used by aerated water makers are usually purchased ready
made, though in many cases it is found desirable to prepare them at
the factory. Below are given a few recipes for those most commonly
used:--
For essence of lemons, remove the outer rinds of 40 lemons, without a
particle of pulp, and macerate them with 6 qt. perfectly pure alcohol
at 85°. After two or three days, distil to dryness in a water-bath;
add 2 qt. water and rectify to obtain 5 qt. of the essence. The
essences of oranges and cedrats are made in precisely the same way.
For essence of strawberries and raspberries, take 56 lb. of the
fresh fruit, free from stalks and leaves, and place them in 45 qt.
pure alcohol at 80°. Macerate for 24 hours in a vessel closed in
a water-bath; add 20 qt. water, and distil to obtain 44 qt., each
containing 17½ oz. of essence.
=Beer.=--Owing in a great measure to Excise restrictions, very little
home-brewed beer is made now in England; but a few notes may be
useful.
_Half-hogshead of Ale._--Take 5 bush. pale malt, 4 lb. best Worcester
hops; put into mash tub 30 gal. hot water (202° F.), 13 gal. cold
water (49° F.), mean heat 166° F.; shake the malt in and stir it
well about, and let it stand 1½ hour; draw off the wort and mix it
with the hops; pour over the grains sufficient hot water at 200° F.
to fill your barrel, allowing some for waste in boiling and working.
Boil the wort and hops for one hour. Put 1 pint yeast to 3 gal. wort,
at 72° F., to begin to work, and add the remainder at 68° F.
_Summer Beer._--Over 1 bush. (40 qt.) malt pour enough boiling water
to enable you to draw off 100 qt. of wort. Put into the wort ½ lb.
hops, and boil it an hour. Having washed your mashing tub well
from the grains, pour the wort into it, and, when cooled to the
temperature of new milk, add in summer ½ pint of yeast, in winter a
little more. Cover the tub with a cloth, and let it work till next
day; pour it into your barrel before it begins to sink, and rack
it before the barrel is stopped up. It will be fit to drink in a
fortnight or three weeks.
_Champagne Beer._--According to Teltscher, of Breslau, this beer
is prepared in the following manner:--A light, strongly hopped,
bottom-fermentation beer is left in cask until fit for consumption,
and is then mixed with 2 per cent. of “Krausen-beer” (that is to
say, beer in the first stage of active fermentation), and bottled.
The bottles are filled up, carefully corked, and racked with the
necks downwards, in which position they are left for a fortnight.
The mixture develops an amount of carbonic acid not obtainable in
other light bottom-fermentation beers strongly hopped. The reversed
position of the bottles causes the floating particles of yeast to
settle inside the necks, and by drawing the bottles lengthwise
through the hands daily, these particles are detached and settle down
finally on the cork. When the beer has generated enough carbonic acid
gas, as indicated by its paleness, which sometimes occurs as early as
the eighth day, the bottles are taken one by one in the left hand,
with the neck inclining outwards and downwards, and the cork being
removed with the right, the internal pressure is allowed to blow away
the sediment from the neck. The bottles are then carefully re-corked.
In this way a light bottom-fermentation beer, strong of the hop,
and perfectly free from yeast, is obtained, which, owing to the
large proportion of carbonic acid it holds, retains its refreshing
properties at temperatures as high as 18° C. (64° F.), whereas beers
of a _like_ character with little or no carbonic acid become flat at
8° C. (46° F.). That the beer can be drunk without artificial cooling
is put forward as another recommendation.
_Bottling Beer._--(_a_) The bottles should be clean, sweet, and dry,
the corks sound and good, and the beer “fine.” When the bottles are
filled, if for home consumption, they should not be corked till the
day following, and if for exportation to a hot climate, they must
stand 3 days or more (if the liquor is new); it should be well corked
and wired, but for family use they may do without wiring, only they
should be well packed in sawdust, and stand upright. But if some are
wanted ripe, keep a few packed on their sides, so that the liquor
may touch the corks, and this will soon ripen, and make it fit for
drinking.
(_b_) Choose clear weather, and leave the bung out of the cask all
night. Fill the bottles, throw sheets of paper over them to keep out
the dust, let them stand 24 hours, then cork, wire, and pack away in
a cool place. If for immediate use, ripen by adding a piece of sugar
to each bottle before corking.
_Brightening Cloudy Beer._--Add calcined oyster shells, but after the
application of oyster shells the ale requires to be rapidly drunk, as
it will not keep good for any length of time. At the time of being
brewed, if it is rapidly cooled, it never will become cloudy. All
depends upon the time it takes to cool.
_Restoring Sour Beer._--When beer has once been sour, i.e. has once
been through acetous fermentation, it never again will have its
former brilliancy, liveliness, or full flavour; it will always remain
acid. Procure a 4½ gal. cask (commonly called a pin), rack the ale
into it, and get about 3 oz. of new hops, which put in the pin, bung
it down tight, put it in a cellar, where let it remain six months at
least; it may then be better.
If beer is sour in bottles, put ¼ teaspoonful of soda carbonate and
a large teaspoonful of brown sugar into each bottle; then cork well,
and tie it down the same as ginger beer, and place the bottles cork
downwards for about 3 weeks, where it is not too cold.
_Finings._--(_a_) Take 1½ pints water and 2 oz. unslaked lime, mixed
well together; let them stand 4 hours, and when the sediment is
settled pour it off clear and mix 2 oz. isinglass, cut small, in ½
pint water. When dissolved put it into a barrel of beer.
(_b_) Eggs, any quantity; beat them to a froth and expose them to a
gentle heat or in the sun to dry; then powder. In some cases a little
fine wheat flour is added, the paste made into balls, and dried in
the sun or a warm room, and then powdered.
(_c_) Isinglass, 1 lb.; water, 8 gal.; vinegar, 4 gal. Mix the
vinegar and isinglass, and macerate for 4 days, then add the water.
(_d_) Isinglass, 1 lb.; sour beer or cider, 5 gal.; water, 6 gal.
Digest the first two until the isinglass is dissolved, then add the
water, and strain.
_Weevil in Malt._--This can be killed by heat or checked by cold. If
the temperature is raised to 167°-190° F., the insects die; if cold
air is introduced, they cease to breed. Frequent turning of the malt,
careful whitewashing of the walls, and the introduction of cold air
(leaving all the windows open for two or three frosty nights) are the
best preventives.
=Bitters.=--The following are the chief kinds in vogue.
_Amazon._--90 gal. plain proof spirit; 3¼ lb. red Peruvian bark; 3¼
lb. calisaya bark; 1⅛ lb. calamus root; 4¾ lb. orange peel; 3½ oz.
cinnamon; 3½ oz. cloves; 3½ oz. nutmeg; 2 oz. cassia buds; 6½ lb. red
sanders wood. First mash all the ingredients, put them in the spirit,
and let them infuse 14 days, stirring the mixture well twice every
day. Rack off and colour with 11 pints brandy colouring, to get a
dark red tint. Stir ¼ hour. Dissolve 30 lb. white sugar in 30 gal.
water; add, and again stir ½ hour. Let the mixture rest 4 or 5 days,
and when bright, bottle. If the sanders wood is not used, the colour
will be a bright amber. Compounded according to the above directions,
will yield 120 gal. 25° below proof.
_Angostura._--4 oz. gentian root; 10 oz. each calisaya bark, Canada
snake-root, Virginia snake-root, liquorice root, yellow bark,
allspice, dandelion root, and Angostura bark; 6 oz. cardamom seeds;
4 oz. each balsam of tolu, orangetis, Turkey rhubarb, and galanga;
1 lb. orange peel; 1 lb. alkanet root; 1½ oz. caraway seed; 1½
oz. cinnamon; ½ oz. cloves; 2 oz. each nutmegs, coriander seed,
catechu, and wormwood; 1 oz. mace; 1¼ lb. red sanders wood, and 8 oz.
turmeric. Pound these ingredients and steep them for 15 days in 50
gal. proof spirit; before filtering, add 30 lb. honey.
_Aromatic._--Macerate 2¾ lb. ground dried small orange apples, ¼ lb.
ground dried orange peel, 2 oz. ground dried calamus root, 2 oz.
ground dried pimpinella root, 1 oz. ground dried cut hops, for 14
days, with 10 gal. of spirit at 45 per cent.; press, and add 2½ pints
brown-sugar syrup. Filter. Colour dark brown.
_Boker’s._--1½ oz. quassia; 1½ oz. calamus; 1½ oz. catechu
(powdered); 1 oz. cardamom; 2 oz. dried orange peel. Macerate for 10
days in ½ gal. strong whisky, and then filter and add 2 gal. water.
Colour with mallow or malva flowers.