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THE
PRACTICAL DISTILLER:
OR
AN INTRODUCTION TO MAKING
WHISKEY, GIN, BRANDY, SPIRITS, &c. &c.
OF BETTER QUALITY, AND IN LARGER QUANTITIES,
THAN PRODUCED BY THE PRESENT
MODE OF DISTILLING, FROM THE PRODUCE
OF THE UNITED STATES:
_SUCH AS_
RYE, CORN, BUCK-WHEAT, APPLES,
PEACHES, POTATOES, PUMPIONS
AND TURNIPS.
_WITH DIRECTIONS_
HOW TO CONDUCT AND IMPROVE THE PRACTICAL
PART OF DISTILLING IN ALL ITS BRANCHES.
_TOGETHER WITH DIRECTIONS_
FOR PURIFYING, CLEARING AND COLOURING WHISKEY,
MAKING SPIRITS SIMILAR TO FRENCH
BRANDY, &c. FROM THE SPIRITS OF RYE,
CORN, APPLES, POTATOES, &c. &c.
_AND SUNDRY EXTRACTS OF APPROVED RECEIPTS_
FOR MAKING CIDER, DOMESTIC WINES, AND BEER.
BY SAMUEL McHARRY,
OF LANCASTER COUNTY, PENN.
PUBLISHED AT HARRISBURGH, (PENN.)
BY JOHN WYETH.
----1809.----
DISTRICT OF _PENNSYLVANIA_,
TO WIT:
[Illustration: SEAL.]
Be it remembered, that on
the twenty fourth day of November,
in the thirty-third year of the Independence
of the United States of
America, A. D. 1808, SAMUEL McHARRY,
of the said district, hath deposited in this
Office, the title of a Book, the right whereof he
claims as author, in the words following, to wit:
_The Practical Distiller: or an introduction to making
Whiskey, Gin, Brandy, Spirits, &c. &c. of
better quality, and in larger quantities, than produced
by the present mode of distilling, from the produce
of the United States: such as Rye, Corn, Buckwheat,
Apples, Peaches, Potatoes, Pumpions and
Turnips. With directions how to conduct and improve
the practical part of distilling in all its branches.
Together with directions for purifying, clearing
and colouring Whiskey, making Spirits similar to
French Brandy, &c. from the Spirits of Rye, Corn,
Apples, Potatoes &c. &c. and sundry extracts of
approved receipts for making Cider, domestic Wines,
and Beer. By SAMUEL McHARRY, of Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania._
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the
United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement
of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps,
Charts, and Books, to the Authors and proprietors
of such copies during the times therein mentioned."
And also to the act, entitled, "An act supplementary
to an act, entitled, 'An act for the encouragement
of Learning, by securing the copies
of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and
proprietors of such copies during the time therein
mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof
to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching
historical and other prints."
D. CALDWELL,
_Clerk of the district of Pennsylvania._
CONTENTS:
_Page_
SECTION I
_Observations on Yeast._ 25
_Receipt for making stock Yeast._ 27
_Vessel most proper for preserving_ do. 30
_To ascertain the quality of_ do. 31
_To renew_ do. 32
_Observations on the mode in which distillers generally work_ do. 33
_How stock Yeast may be kept good for years._ 34
_To make best Yeast for daily use._ 36
SECTION II
_Observations on the best wood for hogsheads._ 39
_To sweeten by scalding_ ditto. 41
Ditto, _burning_ do. 42
SECTION III
_To mash rye in the common mode._ 44
_Best method of distilling rye._ 45
_To mash one-third rye with two-thirds corn._ 47
Do. _an equal quantity of rye and corn._ 49
Do. _two-thirds rye and one-third corn._ 51
Do. _corn._ 54
_To make four gallons to the bushel._ 55
_To know when grain is sufficiently scalded._ 58
_Directions for cooling off._ 59
_To ascertain when rye works well._ 61
_To prevent hogsheads from working over._ 62
SECTION IV
_Observations on the quality of rye._ 63
_Mode of chopping rye._ 64
Do. _or grinding indian corn._ 65
Do. _malt._ 66
_To choose malt._ 67
_To build a malt-kiln._ 67
_To make malt for stilling._ 69
_Of hops._ 69
SECTION V
_How to order and fill the singling still._ 69
_Mode of managing the doubling still._ 71
_On the advantages of making good whiskey._ 73
_Distilling buckwheat._ 77
_Distilling potatoes, with observations._ 78
_Receipt to prepare potatoes for distilling._ 82
_Distilling pumpions._ 83
Do. _turnips._ 83
Do. _apples._ 84
_To order_ do. _in the hogsheads._ 85
_To work_ do. _fast or slow._ 86
_To know when apples are ready for distilling._ 87
_To fill and order the singling still for apples._ 88
_To double apple-brandy._ 90
_To prepare peaches._ 91
_To double and single_ do. 92
SECTION VI
_Best mode of setting stills._ 93
_To prevent the planter from cracking._ 98
_Method of boiling more than one still by a single fire._ 99
_To set a doubling still._ 100
_To prevent the singling still from rusting._ 101
SECTION VII
_How to clarify whiskey._ 102
_To make a brandy, from rye, spirits or whiskey, to
resemble French Brandy._ 103
_To make a spirit from_ ditto, _to resemble Jamaica
spirits._ 104
Do. _Holland gin._ 105
Do. _country gin, and clarifying same._ 107
_On fining liquors._ 110
_On coloring liquors._ 111
_To correct the taste of singed whiskey._ 112
_To give an aged flavor._ 113
SECTION VIII
_Observations on weather._ 115
Do. _water._ 117
_Precautions against fire._ 119
SECTION IX
_Duty of the owner of a distillery._ 120
Do. _of a hired distiller._ 123
SECTION X
_The profits arising from a common distillery._ 125
Do. _from a patent distillery._ 127
_Of hogs._ 129
_Diseases of hogs._ 133
_Feeding cattle and milk cows._ 134
SECTION XI
_Observations on erecting distilleries._ 135
SECTION XII
_On Wines._ 139
_Receipt for making ditto, from the autumn blue grape._ 140
Ditto, _from currants._ 142
Do. _for making cider, British mode._ 143
Do. do. _American mode._ 145
Do. _for an excellent American wine._ 150
Do. do. _honey wine._ 153
_To make elderberry wine._ 156
Do. do. _cordial._ 157
SECTION XIII
_Of brewing beer._ 160
_Of the brewing vessels._ 160
_Of cleaning and sweetening casks and brewing vessels._ 161
_Of mashing or raking liquors._ 163
_Of working the liquor._ 167
_Of fining malt liquors._ 170
_Season for brewing._ 172
_To make elderberry beer or ebulum._ 173
_To make improved purl._ 174
_To brew strong beer._ 175
_To make china ale._ 176
_To make any new liquor drink as stale._ 177
_To recover sour ale._ 177
_To recover liquor that is turned bad._ 178
_Directions for bottling._ 178
_To make ale or beer of cooked malt._ 179
_To make treacle (or molasses) beer._ 181
PREFACE.
When I first entered on the business of Distilling, I was totally
unacquainted with it. I was even so ignorant of the process, as not to
know that fermentation was necessary, in producing spirits from grain. I
had no idea that fire being put under a still, which, when hot enough,
would raise a vapour; or that vapour when raised, could be condensed by
a worm or tube passing through water into a liquid state. In short, my
impressions were, that chop-rye mixed with water in a hogshead, and let
stand for two or three days; and then put into a still, and fire being
put under her, would produce the spirit by boiling up into the worm, and
to pass through the water in order to cool it, and render it palatable
for immediate use--and was certain the whole art and mystery could be
learned in two or three weeks, or months at farthest, as I had
frequently met with persons who professed a knowledge of the business,
which they had acquired in two or three months, and tho' those men were
esteemed distillers, and in possession of all the necessary art, in this
very abstruse science; I soon found them to be ignorant blockheads,
without natural genius, and often, without principle.
Thus benighted, and with only the above light and knowledge, I entered
into the dark, mysterious and abstruse science of distilling, a business
professed to be perfectly understood by many, but in fact not
sufficiently understood by any. For it presents a field for the learned,
and man of science, for contemplation--that by a judicious and
systematic appropriation and exercise of certain elements, valuable and
salutary spirits and beverages may be produced in great perfection, and
at a small expense, and little inconvenience, on almost every farm in
our country.
The professed chymist, and profound theorist may smile at my ideas, but
should any one of them ever venture to soil a finger in the practical
part of distilling, I venture to say, he would find more difficulty in
producing good yeast, than in the process of creating oxygen or hydrogen
gas. Scientific men generally look down on us, and that is principally
owing to the circumstance of so many knaves, blockheads and conceited
characters being engaged in the business.--If then, the subject could be
improved, I fancy our country would yield all the necessary liquors,
and in a state of perfection, to gratify the opulent, and please the
epicure.
I had no difficulty in finding out a reputed great distiller, whose
directions I followed in procuring every necessary ingredient and
material for distilling, &c. He was industrious and attentive, and
produced tolerable yield, but I soon found the quantity of the runs to
vary, and the yield scarcely two days alike. I enquired into the cause,
of him, but his answers were, he could not tell; I also enquired of
other distillers, and could procure no more satisfactory answer--some
attributed it to the water, others to witchcraft, &c. &c.
I found them all ignorant--I was equally so, and wandered in the dark;
but having commenced the business, I determined to have light on the
subject; I thought there must be books containing instructions, but to
my surprise, after a diligent search of all the book-stores and
catalogues in Pennsylvania, I found there was no American work extant,
treating on this science--and those of foreign production, so at
variance with our habits, customs, and mode of economy, that I was
compelled to abandon all hope of scientific or systematic aid, and move
on under the instructions of those distillers of our neighborhood, who
were little better informed than myself, but who cheerfully informed me
of their experiments, and the results, and freely communicated their
opinions and obligingly gave me their receipts. In the course of my
progress, I purchased many receipts, and hesitated not to procure
information of all who appeared to possess it, and sometimes at a heavy
expense, and duly noted down all such discoveries and communications--made
my experiments from time to time, and in various seasons, carefully
noting down the results. Having made the business my constant and only
study, carefully attending to the important branch of making yeast, and
studying the cause and progress of fermentation, proceeding with
numerous experiments, and always studying to discover the cause of every
failure, or change, or difference in the yield. I could, after four
years attention, tell the cause of such change, whether in the water,
yeast, fermentation, quality of the grain, chopping the grain, or in
mashing, and carefully corrected it immediately. By a thus close and
indefatigable attention, I brought it to a system, in my mind, and to a
degree of perfection, that I am convinced nothing but a long series of
practice could have effected.
From my record of most improved experiments, I cheerfully gave
receipts to those who applied, and after their adoption obtaining some
celebrity, I found applications so numerous, as to be troublesome, and
to be impossible for me to furnish the demands gratis, of consequence, I
was compelled to furnish to some, and refuse others; a conduct so
pregnant with partiality, and a degree of illiberality naturally gave
rise to murmurs.
My friends strongly recommended a publication of them, the plan
requiring the exercise of talents, order and method, with which I
presumed myself not sufficiently versed, I for sometime obstinately
refused, but at length and after reiterated solicitation, I consented to
enter on the talk, under a flattering hope of affording useful
information to those of my country engaged in the distillation of
spirits from the growth of our native soil, which together with the
following reasons, I offer as the only apology.
1st. I observed many distillers making fortunes, whilst others
exercising an equal share of industry, and of equal merit were sinking
money, owing to a want of knowledge in the business.
2d. In taverns I often observed foreign liquors drank in preference to
those of domestic manufacture, though really of bad quality, possessing
pernicious properties acquired from ingredients used by those in our
commercial towns, who brew and compose brandies, spirits, and wines,
often from materials most injurious to health, and this owing to so much
bad liquor being made in our country, from which the reputation of
domestic spirit has sunk. Whilst, in fact, we can make domestic spirits
of various materials, which with a little management and age, will be
superior to any of foreign produce.
3d. By making gin, &c. as good if not better, we might in a few years,
meet those foreign merchants in their own markets, and undersell them;
which we certainly could do, by making our liquors good, and giving them
the same age. The transportation would of consequence improve them in an
equal degree, for the only advantage their liquors of the same age have
over our good liquors, is the mildness acquired by the friction in the
warm hold of the ship in crossing the ocean.
And moreover as liquors will be drank by people of all standings in
society, I flattered myself I could improve our liquors, render them
more wholesome to those whose unhappy habits compel a too free use of
ardent spirits, and whose constitutions may have been doubly injured
from the pernicious qualities of such as they were compelled to use. For
there are in all societies and of both sexes, who will drink and use
those beverages to excess, even when there exists a moral certainty,
that they will sustain injury from such indulgence, and as an evidence
of my hypothesis, I offer the free use of coffee, tea, &c. so
universally introduced at the tables of people of every grade.
The wise Disposer of worlds, very happily for mankind, permits the
exhibition of genius, mind and talents, from the peasant and lower
order, as well as from the monarch, the lord, and the opulent. To Europe
they of course are not confined--Genius has already figured in our
hemisphere--The arts and sciences are becoming familiar, they rise
spontaneously from our native soil, and bid fair to vie with, if not
out-shine accomplished Europe. In possession, then, of all the necessary
materials, ingredients and requisites, I would ask why we cannot afford
ardent spirits and wines equal to those imported; and thus raise our
character to a standing with other countries, and retain those millions
of dollars at home, which are yearly shipped abroad for those foreign
liquors, so common, so universally in use, and much of which so
adulterated, as to be followed, when freely used, with unhappy
consequences. Would men of capital and science, turn their attention to
distillations, from the produce of our own country, preserve the liquor
until age and management would render it equal, if not superior to any
imported; is it not probable that it would become an article of export,
and most sensibly benefit our country at large.
Considerations such as those have combined to determine a publication of
my work; fully apprised of the scoffs of pedants, kicks, bites and
bruises of critics--but I hope they will find latitude for the exercise
of a share of compassion, when I inform them candidly, that a mill and
distillery, or still house, were substituted for, and the only college
and academy in which I ever studied, and those studies were broken, and
during the exercise of my business, as a miller and distiller.
That it contains errors in the diction and perspicuity, I will readily
confess--but that it is in substance true, and contains much useful
information, I must declare as an indisputable fact. And though the road
I travelled was a new one, without compass, chart, or even star to steer
by, not even a book to assist me in thinking, or cheer me in my gloomy
passage--seeking from those springs of nature, and inherent endowments
for consolatory aid--pressing on a frequently exhausted mind, for
resources and funds, to accomplish the objects of my pursuits--not
denying but that I met many of my fellow-beings, who cheerfully aided me
with all the information in their power, and to whom I now present my
thanks--I must acknowledge, I think my labors and exertions will prove
useful to those of less experience than mine, in which event I shall
feel a more ample remuneration for my exertions, than the price asked
for one of those volumes.
Could I have witnessed the publication of a similar work by a man of
science and education, mine should never have appeared. But it would
seem the learned and scientific have never considered a work of the kind
as meriting their attention; a circumstance deeply to be regretted, as a
finer colouring to a work of the same properties and value often
procures celebrity, demand and currency. My object is to be useful, my
style plain, and only laboured to be rendered easy to be understood, and
convey the necessary instruction to those who may honor this work with a
perusal, or resort to it for information, and that it may be useful to
my countrymen, is the sincere wish of
THE AUTHOR.
INTRODUCTION.
It is not more than twenty years since whiskey was first offered for
sale in the seaport towns in large quantities; and then, owing to its
badness, at a very low price. Since that period it has been gaining
ground yearly, and at this time, it is the second great article of
commerce, in the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
In the interior of these states, it has nearly excluded the use of
foreign distilled spirits, and I fancy might be made so perfectly pure
and nice, as to ultimately supersede the use of any other throughout the
United States.
To assist in effecting this, the greatest attention should be paid to
cleanliness, which in a distillery is absolutely necessary, the want of
which admits of no excuse, where water is had without price.
If a distiller does not by a most industrious well-timed care and
attention, preserve every utensil perfectly sweet and clean, he may
expect, notwithstanding he has well attended to the other branches, but
indifferent whiskey and not much of it.
If, for instance, every article, or only one article in the composition
of yeast be sour or dirty, that one article will most assuredly injure
the whole; which being put into a hogshead of mashed grain, soon imparts
its acidity or filth to the whole mass, and of course will reduce the
quantity and quality of the spirit yielded from that hogshead.
Cleanliness in every matter and thing, in and about a distillery becomes
an indispensable requisite, without a strict observance of which the
undertaker will find the establishment unproductive and injurious to his
interest. Purity cannot exist without cleanliness. Cleanliness in the
human system will destroy an obstinate itch, of consequence, it is the
active handmaid of health and comfort, and without which, decency does
not exist.
Care is another important and necessary consideration, and a basis
necessary, on which to erect a distillery, in order to ensure it
productive of wealth and reputation. Care and industry will ensure
cleanliness; an eye of care must be extended to every thing, that
nothing be lost, that every thing be in its proper place and order, that
every thing be done in due time; the business must be well timed, and
time well economised, as it ranks in this, as in every other business
very high. Let a judicious attention be paid to care, cleanliness, and
industry, and when united with a competent knowledge of the different
branches of the distilling business, the character of a compleat
practical distiller is perfect.
With such a distiller, and a complete still-house, furnished with every
necessary utensil for carrying on the business--it cannot fail to prove
a very productive establishment, and present to the world, from the
materials of our own farms, a spirit as wholesome, and well flavored and
as healthy as any spirit whatever--the produce or yield of any country,
provided it be permitted to acquire the same age.
What a grand and great idea strikes the thinking scientific mind, on
entering a complete and clean distillery, with an intelligent cleanly
distiller, performing his duty in it.
To see the four elements, each combining to produce (with the assistance
of man) an article of commerce and luxury, and at the same time, a
necessary beverage to man. The earth producing the grain, hops and
utensils, which a combination of fire and water reduces into a liquid by
fermentation, and when placed in the still to see air engaging fire to
assist her in reducing the liquid that fire and water had produced, into
a vapour, or air, and afterwards to see fire abandoning air, and
assisting water to reduce it into a liquid by means of the condensing
tubes, and then to consider the number of hands employed in keeping the
distillery a going, will present one other patriotic idea. The farmer
with all his domestics and people, engaged in the cultivation of the
rye, corn, &c. The wood choppers--the haling--the coopers engaged in
making casks--the hands engaged in feeding cattle and the pork--haling,
barrelling and selling the whiskey, spirits, pork, &c. The produce of
the distillery, presenting subject for commerce, and employ for the
merchant, mechanic and mariner--and all from our own farms.
After seeing the distillery afford employment for so many hands, bread
to their families, and yielding the means of an extensive revenue and
increase of commerce--with a flattering prospect of completely
annihilating the use of foreign liquors in our country, and thereby
saving the expenditure of millions of dollars; and ultimately rendering
our liquors an article of export and source of wealth--I presume every
mind will be struck with the propriety of encouraging a branch of
business so promising in wealth and comfort.
The following receipts are intended to convey all the instruction
necessary in the science of distilling, and producing from the growth of
our own farms, the best spirits of every description, and such as I
flatter myself will supersede the use of all imported liquors, and
thereby fulfil the views and wishes of
THE AUTHOR.
PRACTICAL DISTILLER.
SECTION I.
_Observations on Yeast._
That yeast is the main spring in distilling, is acknowledged by all
distillers, tho' but few if them understand it, either in its nature or
operation; tho' many pretend a knowledge of the grand subject of
fermentation, and affect to understand the best mode of making stock
yeast, and to know a secret mode unknown to all others--when it is my
belief they know very little about it; but, by holding out the idea of
adding some drug, not to be procured at every house, which has a hard
name, and that is little known to people of common capacities: Such as
Dragons blood, &c. frequently retailing their secret, as the best
possible mode of making stock yeast, at ten, twenty, and in some
instances one hundred dollars.
Confessing it a subject, abstruse, and a science little understood in
Pennsylvania, and notwithstanding the numerous experiments I have made
with care and close observation, yet from a consciousness of not
understanding it, _too well_, I have in several instances purchased
receipts, and made faithful experiments; but have never yet met the man
of science, theory, or practice, whose mode of making stock yeast,
yielded a better preparation for promoting fermentation, than the simple
mode pursued by myself for some years, and which I have uniformly found
to be the best and most productive.
In making yeast, all drugs and witchcraft are unnecessary--Cleanliness, in
preserving the vessels perfectly sweet, good malt, and hops, and an
industrious distiller, capable of observation, and attention to the
following receipt, which will be assuredly found to contain the essence and
spirit of the ways and art of making that composition, a knowledge of which
I have acquired, by purchases--consultations with the most eminent brewers,
bakers, and distillers in this commonwealth, and above all, from a long
practice and experience, proving its utility and superior merits to my
most perfect satisfaction; and which I with pleasure offer to my
fellow-citizens, as meriting a preference--notwithstanding the proud and
scientific chymist, and the flowery declarations or treatises of the
profound theorist, may disapprove this simple mode, and offer those which
they presume to be better, tho' they never soiled a finger in making a
practical experiment, or perhaps witnessed a process of any description.
ARTICLE II.
_Receipt for Stock Yeast._
_For a stock yeast vessel of two gallons, the size best adapted for that
purpose._
Take one gallon good barley malt, (be sure it be of good quality) put it
into a clean, well scalded vessel, (which take care shall be perfectly
sweet) pour thereon four gallons scalding water, (be careful your water
be clean) stir the malt and water with a well scalded stick, until
thoroughly mixed together, then cover the vessel close with a clean
cloth, for half an hour; then uncover it and set it in some convenient
place to settle, after three or four hours, or when you are sure the
sediment of the malt is settled to the bottom, then pour off the top, or
thin part that remains on the top, into a clean well scoured iron pot,
(be careful not to disturb the thick sediment in the bottom, and that
none of it goes into the pot); then add four ounces good hops, and cover
the pot close with a clean scalded iron cover, and set it on a hot fire
of coals to boil--boil it down one third, or rather more, then strain
all that is in the pot through a thin hair sieve, (that is perfectly
clean) into a clean well scalded earthen crock that is glazed--then stir
into it, with a clean stirring stick, as much superfine flour as will
make it about half thick, that is neither thick nor thin, but between
the two, stirring it effectually until there be no lumps left in it. If
lumps are left, you will readily perceive that the heart or inside of
those lumps will not be scalded, and of course, when the yeast begins to
work, those lumps will sour very soon, and of course sour the
yeast--stir it then till those lumps are all broken, and mixed up, then
cover it close for half an hour, to let the flour stirred therein, be
properly scalded, after which uncover and stir it frequently until it is
a little colder than milk warm, (to be ascertained by holding your
finger therein for ten minutes, but beware your finger is clean) then
add half a pint of genuine good yeast,[1] (be certain it is good, for
you had better use none, than bad yeast) and stir it effectually, until
you are sure the yeast is perfectly incorporated with the ingredients in
the pot--after which cover it, and set it in a moderately cool place in
summer, until you perceive it begin to work, or ferment--then be careful
to stir it two or three times at intervals of half an hour--then set it
past to work--in the winter, place it in a moderately warm part of the
still-house--and in summer, choose a spring house, almost up to the brim
of the crock in water--avoiding extremes of heat or cold, which are
equally prejudicial to the spirit of fermentation--of consequence, it
should be placed in a moderately warm situation in the winter, and
moderately cool in the summer.
[Footnote 1: If none can be obtained that is good, the following is a
receipt to make it, viz.
Procure three wooden vessels of different sizes and apertures, one
capable of holding two quarts, the other three or four, and the third
five or six; boil a quarter of a peck of malt for about eight or ten
minutes in three pints of water; and when a quart is poured off from the
grains, let it stand in a cool place till not quite cold, but retaining
that degree of heat which the brewers usually find to be proper when
they begin to work their liquor. Then remove the vessel into some warm
situation near a fire, where the thermometer stands between 70 and 80
degrees (Fahrenheit,) and here let it remain till the fermentation
begins, which will be plainly perceived within thirty hours; add then
two quarts more of a like decoction of malt, when cool, as the first
was; and mix the whole in the larger sized vessel, and stir it well in,
which must be repeated in the usual way, as it rises in a common vat:
then add a still greater quantity of the same decoction, to be worked in
the largest vessel, which will produce yeast enough for a brewing of
forty gallons.]
This yeast ought to be renewed every four or five days in the summer,
and eight or ten days in the winter--but it is safer to renew it
oftener, or at shorter intervals, than suffering it to stand longer. In
twenty-four hours after it begins to work, it is fit for use.
Between a pint and half a pint of the foregoing stock yeast, is
sufficient to raise the yeast for the daily use of three hogsheads.
ART. III.
The most proper vessel for preserving stock yeast is an earthen crock,
that will hold three gallons at least, with a cover of the same, well
glazed--as it will contract no acid from the fermentation, and is easily
scalded and sweetened. There ought to be two of the same size, that when
one is in use, the other may be sweetening--which is effected by
exposing them to frost or fire.
ART. IV.
_To know when Yeast is good or bad._
When you perceive your yeast working, observe if it works quick, sharp
and strong, and increasing in bulk nearly double what it was before it
began to work, with a sweet sharp taste, and smell, with the appearance
of a honey comb, with pores, and always changing place, with a bright
lively colour, then you may pronounce your yeast good; on the contrary,
if it is dead, or flat and blue looking, with a sour taste, and smell,
(if any at all,) then you may pronounce it bad, and unfit for use, and
of course must be renewed.
ART. V.
_How to renew Yeast when sour._
About two hours before you begin to make your beer, take one pint of the
sour yeast, put it into a clean dish or vessel, and pour clean cold
water over it--changing the water every fifteen minutes, until the acid
be extracted, have it then in readiness to mix with the beer, which is
to be prepared, in the following manner, viz. Take one pint malt, and
scald it well in a clean vessel, with a gallon of boiling water, let it
stand half an hour closely covered--then pour it into a pot with plenty
of hops--then strain it into a well scalded earthen jug, when milk
warm--add then a small quantity of the yeast, (sweetened as directed in
the first part of this receipt,) with two or three table spoon fulls of
molasses ... set it past for twenty four hours to ferment ... then pour
off the top, or beer that is in the jug, leaving about a quart in the
bottom ... then that which remains in the bottom will be yeast with
which to start your stock yeast.
ART. VI.
The method of procuring and keeping stock yeast, by the generality of
distillers, merits in the mind of the author of this work, most decided
disapprobation. They generally procure yeast once a week, or month, from
brewers, and if not convenient to be had in this way, they often use
such as is used by country women, for baking bread, without paying any
regard to the quality, or whether sour; with such, tho' generally bad,
they proceed to make their daily yeast, and often continue the use of
it, until the grain will no longer yield a gallon of whiskey to the
bushel, and so often proceed in this miserable and indolent mode of
procuring and renewing yeast, to the great prejudice of their own, and
employer's interest ... attributing the small yield of liquor to the
badness of the grain ... the manner in which it is chopped, or some
other equally false cause. Then to the idle and careless habits of
distillers, must be attributed any yield short of three gallons to the
bushel of rye.... To ensure this quantity at least from the bushel, the
author discovers the anxiety expressed, and the care recommended in the
foregoing pages, on the subject of preserving and keeping good yeast,
and recommends the following as the best mode of preparing.
ART. VII.
_Stock Yeast good for years._
When the weather is moderately warm in autumn or the spring, take of
your best stock yeast that has fermented about twenty four hours, and
stir it thick with the coarsest middlings of wheat flour, add small
quantity of whiskey, in which, previously dissolve a little salt, when
you have stirred the middlings with a stick, rub it between your hands
until it becomes pretty dry, then spread it out thin, on a board to dry
in the sun ... rubbing once or twice in the day between your hands until
it is perfectly dry, which will be in three or four good days--taking it
in at night before the dew falls--when it is properly dried, put it up
in a paper and keep it in a dry airy place for use.
Thus yeast will keep good, if free from moisture, for any length of
time, and it is the only effectual mode of preserving stock yeast pure
and sweet ... when put up conformably to the foregoing instructions, the
distiller may always rely on having it good, and depend on a good turn
out of his grain, provided he manages the other parts of his distilling
equally well.
About two hours before you mean to use the dried yeast, the mode is to
take two gills, place it in any convenient vessel, and pour thereon
milk-warm water, stir and mix it well with the yeast, and in two or
three hours good working yeast will be produced.
In the spring every distiller ought to make as much as would serve 'till
fall, and every fall as much as will serve thro' the winter, reckoning
on the use of one pint per week, three gills being sufficient to start
as much stock yeast as will serve a common distillery one week.
ART. VIII.
_To make the best Yeast for daily use._
For three hogsheads take two handfuls of hops, put them into an iron
pot, and pour thereon three gallons boiling water out of your boiler,
set the pot on the fire closely covered half an hour, to extract the
strength from the hops, then strain it into your yeast vessel, thicken
it with chopped rye, from which the bran has been sifted ... stir it
with a clean stick until the lumps are all well broken and mixed ...
cover it close with a cloth for half an hour, adding at the time of
putting in the chopped rye, one pint of good malt when the rye is
sufficiently scalded, uncover and stir it well until it is milk-warm,
then add one pint good stock yeast, stirring until you are sure it is
well mixed with the new yeast. If your stock yeast is good, this method
will serve you ... observing always, that your water and vessels are
clean, and the ingredients of a good quality; as soon as you have cooled
off and emptied your yeast vessel, scald and scour, and expose it to the
night air to purify. Tin makes the best yeast vessel for yeast made
daily, in the above mode.
In the course of my long practice in distilling I fully discovered that
a nice attention to yeast is absolutely necessary, and altho' I have in
the foregoing pages said a great deal on the subject, yet from the
importance justly to be attached to this ingredient in distilling, and
to shew more fully the advantages and disadvantages arising from the use
of good and bad yeast, I submit the following statement for the
consideration of my readers.
Advantages in using good yeast for one month,
at 5 bushels per day; 30 days at 5 bushels,
is 150 bushels at 60 cents, costs $ 90 00
Contra
150 bushels yield 3 gallons per bushel, at
50 cents per gallon--450 gallons,
225 00
--------
Profit $ 135 00
Disadvantages sustained during the above period.
150 bushels at 60 cents, $ 90 00
Contra
150 bushes yielding 1-1/2 gallons to the
bushel--225 gallons at 50 cents, 112 50
-------
Profit $ 21 50
Thus the owner or distiller frequently sustains in the distillation of
his produce, a loss, equal and in proportion to the foregoing--from the
use of indifferent yeast, and often without knowing to what cause to
attribute it. This statement will shew more forcibly, than any other
mode--and is made very moderate on the side of indifferent yeast, for
with bad sour yeast the yield will be oftener under one gallon to the
bushel than above one and an half--whereas with good yeast the yield
will rarely be so low as three gallons to the bushel. It is therefore, I
endeavor so strongly to persuade the distiller to pay every possible
attention to the foregoing instructions, and the constant use of good
yeast only, to the total rejection of all which may be of doubtful
quality.