1. Although alcohol can be extracted from any substance containing
saccharine matter, yet sugar-cane, grapes, apples, peaches, rye, corn,
and rice, on account of their abundance, and superior adaptation to
the purpose, are more commonly used than any other. As whiskey is the
chief article of this kind, manufactured in the United States, it will
be selected to illustrate the general principles of distillation.
2. Corn and rye are the materials from which this liquor is mostly
extracted; and these are used either together or separately, at the
option of the distiller. The meal is scalded and mashed in a large
tub: it is then permitted to stand, until it has become a little
sweet, when more water is poured upon it, and, at a suitable
temperature, a quantity of yeast is added. To aid in producing rapid
fermentation, a little malt is sprinkled on the top.
3. After an adequate fermentation has taken place, the _beer_, as it
is called, is transferred to a large close tub, from the top of which
leads a tube extending to the worm in another tub filled with cold
water. The worm is a long pewter tube, twisted spirally, that it may
occupy a small space.
4. The beer is heated in the close tub, by means of steam, which is
conveyed to it, from a large kettle or boiler, by a copper or iron
pipe. The heat causes the alcoholic particles to rise like vapour, and
pass into the worm, where they are condensed into a watery fluid,
which passes out into a receiver.
5. At first, pure alcohol distils from the worm; but the produce
becomes gradually weaker, until, at length, the spirit in the beer
being exhausted, it consists only of water condensed from steam. The
remains of the beer are given as feed to hogs and cattle.
6. Brandy is distilled from grapes, rum from sugar-cane, arrack from
rice, whiskey from various kinds of grain, peach-brandy from peaches,
and cider-brandy from apples.
7. The great variety of articles employed in the productions of
different kinds of ardent spirits, must necessarily vary the process
of distillation in some particulars; but, in all cases, fermentation
and heat are necessary to disengage the alcoholic properties of the
saccharine matter, and also an apparatus for condensing the same from
a gaseous to a liquid form. In some countries, the _alembic_ is used
as a condenser, instead of a worm. The form of this instrument is much
like that of the retort; and when applied, it is screwed upon the top
of the boiler.
8. Spirits, which come to market in a crude state, are sometimes
distilled for the purpose of improving their quality, or for
disguising them with drugs and colouring substances, that they may
resemble superior liquors. The process by which they are thus changed,
or improved, is called rectification. Many distilleries in large
cities, are employed in this branch of business.
9. There is, perhaps, no kind of merchandise in which the public is
more deceived, than in the quality of ardent spirits and wines. To
illustrate this, it is only necessary to observe, that Holland gin is
made by distilling French brandy with juniper-berries; but most of the
spirits which are vended under that name, consist only of rum or
whiskey, flavoured with the oil of turpentine. Genuine French brandy
is distilled from grapes; but the article usually sold under that
denomination, is whiskey or rum coloured with treacle or scorched
sugar, and flavoured with the oil of wine, or some kind of drug.
10. The ancient Greeks and Romans were acquainted with an instrument
for distillation, which they denominated _ambix_. This was adopted, a
long time afterward, by the Arabian alchemists, for making their
chemical experiments; but they made some improvements in its
construction, and changed its name to _alembic_.
11. The ancients, however, knew nothing of alcohol. The method of
extracting this intoxicating substance, was probably discovered some
time in the twelfth or thirteenth century; but, for many ages after
the discovery, it was used only as a medicine, and was kept for sale
exclusively in apothecary shops. It is now used as a common article of
stimulation, in almost every quarter of the globe.
12. But the opinion is becoming general, among all civilized people,
that the use of alcohol, for this purpose, is destructive of health,
and the primary cause of most of the crimes and pauperism in all
places, where its consumption is common. The formation of Temperance
Societies, and the publication of their reports, together with the
extensive circulation of periodical papers, devoted to the cause of
temperance, have already diminished, to a very great extent, the use
of spirituous liquors.
13. Although the ancients knew nothing of distilling alcohol, yet they
were well versed in the art of making wine. We read of the vineyard,
as far back as the time of Noah, the second father of nations; and,
from that period to the present, the grape has been the object of
careful cultivation, in all civilized nations, where the climate and
soil were adapted to the purpose.
14. The general process of making wine from grapes, is as follows. The
grapes, when gathered, are crushed by treading them with the feet, and
rubbing them in the hands, or by some other means, with the view to
press out the juice. The whole is then suffered to stand in the vat,
until it has passed through what is termed the _vinous_ fermentation,
when the juice, which, in this state, is termed _must_, is drawn off
into open vessels, where it remains until the pressing of the husks is
finished.
15. The husks are submitted, in hair bags, to the press; and the
_must_ which is the result of this operation, is mixed with that drawn
from the vat. The whole is then put into casks, where it undergoes
another fermentation, called the _spirituous_, which occupies from six
to twelve days. The casks are then bunged up, and suffered to stand a
few weeks, when the wine is racked off from the _lees_, and again
returned to the same casks, after they have been perfectly cleansed.
Two such rackings generally render the wine clear and brilliant.
16. In many cases, sugar, brandy, and flavouring substances, are
necessary, to render the wine palatable; but the best kinds of grapes
seldom require any of these additions. Wine-merchants often adulterate
their wines in various ways, and afterwards sell them for those which
are genuine. To correct acidity, and some other unpleasant qualities,
lead, copper, antimony, and corrosive sublimate, are often used by
the dealers in wine; though the practice is attended with deleterious
effects to the health of the consumers.
17. The wines most usually met with in this country, are known by the
following denominations, viz., _Madeira_ and _Teneriffe_, from islands
of the same names; _Port_, from Portugal; _Sherry_ and _Malaga_, from
Spain; _Champagne_, _Burgundy_, and _Claret_, from France; and _Hock_,
from Germany.
[Illustration: BUTCHER.]