Good home-brewed beer has been styled by some _vinum Britannicum_,
and by others liquid bread. There can be no doubt of its highly
nutritive and wholesome qualities, and it is much to be regretted, that
so few families in this kingdom now ever brew their own beer, but are
content to put up with the half-fermented, adulterated wash found in
public-houses, or with the no less adulterated and impure drink called
porter.
Malt liquors are divided into small beer, strong beer, ale, and porter.
Small beer is best calculated for common use, being less heating and
stimulating than other malt liquors. When used soft and mild, after
having been thoroughly fermented and purified, it forms an excellent
diluent with food, more especially at dinner. Sydenham was in the habit
of using it in this manner, both at dinner and supper, and he justly
considered its being well hopped a great advantage. In general it is,
without doubt, the best drink which can be taken at dinner, by persons
in the middle and higher ranks of society, who are in the habit of
drinking wine after that meal. As it abounds with carbonic acid gas, or
fixed air, it is the most useful diluent for labourers, because it cools
the body, abates thirst, and, at the same time, stimulates very
moderately the animal powers. Small beer, when stale and hard, is
unwholesome to all persons.
Sound strong beer is very nutritious and wholesome; indeed, it is
generally considered more nourishing than wine. It is a most useful
drink to the weak, the lean, and the laborious, provided they are not
very subject to flatulency, nor troubled with disorders of the breast.
If taken in moderate quantity, and of the best quality, it will often be
found of great service to the invalid, in assisting to restore his
strength, spirits, and flesh. It should be drunk from the cask; bottled
beer being more likely to disagree with the stomach, and to produce
flatulency.
There is a general prejudice against beer in the case of the bilious
and the sedentary, but it appears to me without sufficient foundation.
Bilious people are such as have weak stomachs and impaired digestion,
and those who are sedentary are nearly, in these respects, always in a
similar state. Now, I have not observed that beer tends to weaken such
stomachs, or to become ascescent, or otherwise to disagree with them; on
the contrary, I believe, it will be found, in the majority of cases,
that this beverage agrees much better than wine, since it is far less
disposed to acescency, and better fitted to act as a stomachic, and,
therefore, to invigorate both the digestive organs, and the constitution
at large. That it is very far superior for such persons to diluted
spirit, in any form, I am fully persuaded. Of course, I here speak of
sound home-brewed strong beer, and of a moderate strength. No man can
answer for the effects of the stuff usually sold as beer; and we know
strong ale is always difficult of digestion.
Strong ale is, undoubtedly, the most nutritive of all malt liquors, but
being digested with greater difficulty than the other sorts, it cannot
with propriety be taken but by those who are strong, and who use much
active exercise. The best ale is made from fine pale malt, and with hops
of the finest quality. It should sparkle in the glass, but the smaller
the bubbles the better. I ought to add, that in some cases of general
weakness, where the individual is certainly recovering, and is possessed
of a good measure of strength of stomach, a little of the finest ale
daily will be found highly restorative.
Porter, when good, is not an unwholesome drink; but it is very difficult
to procure it of the best quality. I cannot recommend it to those who
are desirous of preserving their health.--_Sure Methods of Improving
Health, &c._
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