private families in large towns and cities, owing probably to a want of
conveniences for the purpose, and an aversion to the labour and trouble
which it might occasion. But if the disagreeable filthiness attending
the process in large public breweries were duly considered, together
with the generally pernicious quality of the beer offered to sale, as
well as the additional expense incurred by this mode of procuring it, no
one who regards economy, or the health and comfort of his family, would
be without home-brewed beer, so long as there were any means left of
obtaining it. Beer as strong of malt and hops, when all the foreign
ingredients are extracted, may be manufactured at home at less than one
third of what it could cost at a public brewery, besides the
satisfaction of drinking, what is known to be wholesome, and free from
any deleterious mixture. Twelve shillings for malt and hops will provide
a kilderkin of beer far superior to one that could be purchased under
license for a pound, while the yeast and the grains are sufficient to
repay all the labour and expense of brewing. On every account,
therefore, it is desirable that the practice of domestic brewing were
universally adopted. The health and comfort of the community would be
increased; and by a larger consumption of malt, the growth of barley
would be extended, and agriculture proportionably benefited. In order to
this however, the enormous duty upon malt requires to be diminished or
repealed. The farmer, unable to make three shillings a bushel of his
barley, is suffering severely under this grinding taxation, as well as
the consumer, who is compelled to pay a duty of four shillings and
six-pence for every bushel that is converted into malt.--The best
seasons of the year for brewing are March and October, the weather in
those months being generally free from the extremes of heat and cold,
which are alike injurious to the process of fermentation. If this is not
in all cases practicable, means should be used to cool the place where
the liquor is set for working in the summer, and of warming it in the
winter: otherwise the beer will be likely to turn sour or muddy. The
beer which is brewed in March should not be tapped till October, nor
that brewed in October till the following March; taking this precaution,
that families of an equal number all the year round, will drink at least
a third more in summer than in winter.--The most suitable water for
brewing is soft river water, which having had the rays of the sun and
the influence of the air upon it, will more easily penetrate and
extract the virtues of the malt. Hard water possesses an astringent
quality, which prevents the goodness of the malt from being freely
communicated to the liquor. If two parcels of beer be brewed in all
respects the same, except in the quality of the water, it will be found
that the beer brewed with soft river water will exceed the other in
strength above five degrees, in the course of twelve months' keeping.
Where water is naturally of a hard quality, it may in some measure be
softened by exposing it to the action of the sun and air, and infusing
in it some pieces of soft chalk. Throwing into it a quantity of bran
while it is boiling, and before it is poured on the malt, will likewise
have a good effect.--Previous to commencing the process of brewing, it
will be necessary to ascertain the quantity of malt and hops, which of
course will be regulated by the demands of the family, the convenience
of cellerage, and other circumstances. Supposing two or three sorts of
liquor be required, six bushels of malt, and about three quarters of a
pound of hops to each bushel, will make half a hogshead of ale, half a
hogshead of table beer, and the same of small beer; or about nine
gallons of each to the bushel. But if in a smaller brewing, only two
sorts are required, or the whole be blended into one, then eighteen
gallons of wholesome beverage may be produced at something less than
three farthings a pint.--Having thus adjusted the proportion of malt and
hops to the quantity of beer to be brewed, the next thing will be to
heat water sufficient for the purpose. Meanwhile see that the brewing
utensils be properly cleaned and scalded, and the pen-staff in the mash
tub well fixed. Then put a quantity of boiling water into the mash-tub,
in which it must stand till the greater part of the steam is gone off,
or you can see your own shadow in it. It will then be necessary that
one person should pour the malt gently in, while another is carefully
stirring it. A little malt should be reserved to strew over the mash in
order to prevent evaporation, and then the tub may be covered over with
sacks. If it be not sufficient to contain the whole at once, the mashing
must be repeated, observing that the larger the quantity that is mashed
at once, the longer it will require to stand before it is drawn off. The
mash of ale must be allowed to steep three hours, table beer one hour,
and small beer half an hour afterwards. By this mode of proceeding, the
boilings will regularly succeed each other, which will greatly expedite
the business. In the course of mashing, be careful to stir it thoroughly
from the bottom, especially round the basket, that there may be no
adhesion, in any part of the mash. Previous to running it off, be
prepared with a pail to catch the first flush, as that is generally
thick, and return it to the mash two or three times, till it run clear
and fine. By this time the copper should be boiling, and a convenient
tub placed close to the mash-tub. Put into it half the quantity of
boiling water intended for drawing off the best wort; after which the
copper must be filled up again, and proper attention paid to the fire.
Meanwhile, keep slopping and wetting the mash with the hot water out of
the tub, in moderate quantities, every eight or ten minutes, till all
the water is added to the mash. Then let off the remaining quantity,
which will be boiling hot, and this will finish the process for strong
beer. Boil up the copper as quick as possible for the second mash,
whether intended for strong or small beer. Empty the boiling water into
the tub by the side of the mash, as in the former instance, and renew
the process. Great care is required in boiling the wort after it is
drawn off, and the hops must be put in with the first boiling. In
filling the copper with the wort, leave sufficient room for boiling,
that there may be no waste in boiling over, and make a good fire under
it. Quick boiling is a part of the business that requires particular
attention, and great caution must be observed when the liquor begins to
swell in waves in the copper. The furnace door must be opened, and the
fire damped or regulated to suit the boiling of the wort. In order to
ascertain the proper time for boiling the liquor, lade out some of it;
and if a working be discovered, and the hops are sinking, the wort is
boiled enough. Long and slow boiling injures and wastes the liquor. As
soon as it is sufficiently boiled, run the liquor through a cloth or
fine sieve into some coolers, to free it from the hops, and to get a
proper quantity cooled immediately to set it to work. If the brewhouse
be not sufficiently airy to cool a quantity soon, the liquor must be
emptied into shallow tubs, and placed in a passage where there is a
thorough draught of air, but where it is not exposed to rain or wet. The
remainder in the copper may then be let into the first cooler, taking
care to attend to the hops, and to make a clear passage through the
strainer. The hops must be returned into the copper, after having run
off four or five pailfuls of the liquor for the first cooling, and then
it must be set to work in the following manner. Take four quarts of
yeast, and divide half of it into small wooden bowls or basons, adding
to it an equal quantity of wort nearly cold. As soon as it ferments to
the top of the basons, put it into two pails; and when that works to the
top, distribute it into two wide open tubs. Fill them half full with
cool wort, and cover them over, till it comes to a fine white head. This
will be accomplished in about three hours, and then both quantities may
be put together into the working tub, with the addition of as much wort
as is sufficiently cooled. If the weather be mild and open, it cannot be
worked too cold. If the brewing be performed in frosty weather, the
brewhouse must be kept warm; but hot wort must never be added to keep
the liquor to a blood heat. Attention also must be paid to the quality
of the yeast, or it may spoil all the beer. If it has been taken from
foxed beer, or such as has been heated by ill management in the working,
it will be likely to communicate the same bad quality. If the yeast be
flat, and that which is fresh and lively cannot be procured, put to it a
pint of warm sweetwort of the first letting off, when it is about half
the degree of milk-warm. Shake the vessel that contains it, and it will
soon gather strength, and be fit for use.--Tunning is the last and most
simple operation in the business of brewing. The casks being well
prepared, perfectly sweet and dry, and placed on the stand ready to
receive the liquor, first skim off the top yeast, then fill the casks
quite full, bung them down, and leave an aperture for the yeast to work
through. If the casks stand on one end, the better way is to make a hole
with a tap-borer near the summit of the stave, at the same distance from
the top as the lower tap-hole is from the bottom. This prevents the
slovenliness of working the beer over the head of the barrel; and the
opening being much smaller than the bung-hole, the beer by being
confined will sooner set itself into a convulsive motion, and work
itself fine, provided proper attention be paid to filling up the casks
five or six times a day.----Another method of brewing, rather more
simple but not more excellent than the above, may be adopted by those
whose conveniences are more limited. For table beer, allow three bushels
of malt to thirty-nine gallons of water, and a pound and a half of
hops. Pour a third part of the hot water upon the malt, cover it up warm
half an hour, then stir up the mash, and let it stand two hours and a
half more. Set it to drain off gently; when dry, add half the remaining
water, mash, and let it stand half an hour. Run that into another tub,
and pour the rest of the water on the malt; stir it well, cover it up,
and let it infuse a full hour. Run that off and mix all together. Put
the hops into a little hot water to open the pores, then put the hops
and water into the tub, run the wort upon them, and boil them together
for an hour. Strain the liquor through a coarse sieve, and set it to
cool. If the whole be not cool enough that day to add to it the yeast, a
pail or two of wort may be prepared, and a quart of yeast added to it
over night. Before tunning, all the wort should be put together, and
thoroughly mixed. When it has done working, paste a piece of paper on
the bung-hole, and after three days it may be fastened close. In less
than a month the beer will be fit for use. See ALE, MALT, BEER.
BREWING UTENSILS. The most desirable object in the process of brewing is
the fixing of the copper, so as to make the fire come directly under the
bottom of it. Many coppers are injured, and rendered unserviceable, for
want of proper attention to this particular. The method adopted by the
most experienced bricklayers is to divide the heat of the fire by a
stop; and if the door and the draft be in a direct line, the stop must
be erected from the middle of each outline of the grating, and parallel
with the centre sides of the copper. The stop is nothing more than a
thin wall in the centre of the right and left sides of the copper,
ascending half way to the top of it; on the top of which must be left a
small cavity, four or five inches square, for a draft of that half part
of the fire which is next to the copper door, to pass through, and then
the building must close all round to the finishing at the top. By this
method of fixing the copper, the heat will communicate from the outward
part of the fire round the outward half of the copper through the
cavity; as also will the furthest part of the fire, which contracts a
conjunction of the whole, and causes the flame to slide gently and
equally all round the bottom of the copper. Considerable advantages
result from this position of the copper. If the draught under it were
suffered at once to ascend, without being thus divided, the hops would
be scorched in the boiling, and liable to stick to the sides, which
would considerably injure the flavour of the liquor, unless kept
continually stirring. It will also save the consumption of fuel, and
preserve the copper much longer than any other method, as there will be
no difficulty in boiling half a copper full at a time without doing it
any injury.--The next article of consideration in this case is the
Mash-tub. This should be proportioned to the size of the copper, and the
quantity of beer intended to be brewed. The grains should not be kept in
the tub any longer than the day after brewing, as in hot weather
especially the grains begin to turn sour as soon as they are cold; and
if there be any sour scent in the brewhouse at the time the liquor is
tunned, it will be apt to injure the flavour of the beer.--Tubs and
Coolers require to be kept perfectly sweet and clean, and should not be
used for any other purpose. In small houses, where many vessels are
cumbersome and inconvenient, it is too common to use the same tubs for
both washing and brewing; but this ought not to be done where it can be
avoided; and where it is unavoidable, the utmost care is necessary to
give them a double washing, scouring, and scalding. Coolers also
require considerable care, or by the slightest taint they will soon
contract a disagreeable flavour. This often proceeds from wet having
infused itself into the wood, it being apt to lodge in the crevices of
old vessels, and even infect them to such a degree, that it cannot be
removed, even after several washings and scaldings. One cause incidental
to this evil is, using the brewhouse for the purposes of washing, which
ought never to be permitted, where any other convenience can be had; for
nothing can be more injurious than the remains of dirty suds, left in
vessels intended for brewing only. Nor should water be suffered to stand
too long in the coolers, as it will soak into them, and soon turn
putrid, when the stench will enter the wood, and render them almost
incurable. More beer is spoiled for want of attention to these niceties
than can well be imagined, and the real cause is seldom known or
suspected; but in some families, after all the care that is taken in the
manufacture of the article, the beer is never palatable or
wholesome.--Barrels should be well cleaned with boiling water; and if
the bung-hole will admit, they should be scrubbed inside with a hard
brush. If they have acquired a musty scent, take out the heads, and let
them be well scrubbed with sand and fuller's earth. Then put in the head
again, and scald it well; throw in a piece of unslaked lime, and close
up the bung. When the cask has stood some time, rinse it well with cold
water, and it will then be fit for use. New casks likewise require
attention, for they are apt to give the liquor a bad taste, if they be
not well scalded and seasoned several days successively before they are
used; and old casks are apt to grow musty, if they stand any time out of
use. To prevent this, a cork should be put into every one of them as
soon as the cock or fosset is taken out; the vent and the bung-hole
must also be well closed. The best way to season new casks is to boil
two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, and pour it in hot;
then stop it up close, and let it stand two days. When the cask is
washed and dried, it will be fit for use.
BREWING MACHINE. Where a family usually consume ten gallons of beer, or
upwards, in a week, there is a Brewing Machine lately invented, which
will be found singularly convenient and advantageous, and comparatively
of little expense. The use of it in brewing curtails the labour,
shortens the time in which the operation may be performed, greatly
diminishes the quantity of fuel, and may be placed within very narrow
limits, in the house of any tradesman in the most crowded city. Eighteen
gallons of good beer may be brewed with this machine in the course of
six hours, or a larger quantity with a machine of proportionate
dimensions, in the same space of time. The process is so simple, that it
may be comprehended by any person of ordinary capacity, and once seeing
the operation performed will be sufficient. In the common mode of
brewing, the principal difficulty consists in ascertaining the degrees
of heat necessary to the production of good beer, without the use of a
thermometer; but in the use of this machine, this difficulty is
completely obviated.--The machine complete is represented by figure A;
and B, C, D, E, F, represent its several parts. B is the bottom, made of
strong sheet-iron, standing upon three legs. The hollow part of it
contains the fire, put in at a door, the latch of which appears in
front. The tube which projects upwards, is a stove pipe to carry off the
smoke; and the circular pan that is seen between the legs, is a
receptacle for the ashes or cinders that fall down through the grate
above. C is a sheet-iron vessel, tinned on the inside, the bottom of
which fits into the top of B; and the cock in C is to let off the wort,
as will be seen hereafter. D is the lid of this vessel. E is made of
sheet-iron, tinned inside and out, and full of holes to act as a
strainer. It is to hold the malt first, and the hops afterwards; it goes
into C, as may be seen in figure A. In the middle of E is a round space,
F, made of the same metal, and rising up from the bottom, having itself
no bottom. It has holes in it all the way up, like the outer surface of
E.--In preparing for brewing, the machine is put together as in A,
except placing on the lid. The first thing is to put the malt, coarsely
ground, into E, and no part into F, or into the circular space between C
and E; otherwise E cannot act as a strainer, when the liquor is drawn
off; and in this consists its principal use. Having put in the malt,
then add the water which of course flows into any part of the vessel C.
Stir the malt well with a stick, or with something that will separate it
completely, so that no adhesion may be formed by the flour of the malt.
This is very apt to be the case in the common mode of brewing, when
water is poured hot upon the malt; but here the water is applied in a
cold state, so that there is little trouble in separating the malt
completely in the water. If the small machine be used, which is adapted
to a bushel of malt, and the beer is to be fully equal in strength to
London porter, then eighteen gallons to the bushel may be considered as
the general estimate; and for this purpose the first mash is to receive
twelve gallons of cold soft water, which will produce nine gallons of
wort. Having stirred the malt very carefully, light the fire under it,
and get the liquor quickly to 170 or 180 degrees of heat. This may be
ascertained by lifting off the lid, and dipping the thermometer from
time to time into the centre F, and keeping it there a minute to give
the quicksilver time to rise. While the mash is coming to this heat,
stir the malt well three or four times. When the liquor has acquired its
proper heat, put out the fire, and cover the whole of the machine with
sacks, or something that will exclude the external air. In this state
the mash remains for two hours: the cock is then turned, and nine
gallons of wort will be drained off. Put the wort into a tub of some
sort, and keep it warm. Then put into the machine twelve gallons more of
water, rekindle the fire, and bring the heat to 170 degrees as soon as
possible; when this is done, extinguish the fire, and let the mash now
stand an hour. Draw off the second wort; and if only one sort of beer is
wanted, add it to the first quantity. Now take out the grains, lift out
E, clean it well, and also the inside of C. Replace E, put the hops into
it, and the whole of the wort into the machine. Cover it with the lid,
light the fire a third time, and bring the liquor to a boil as soon as
possible. Let it boil a full hour with the lid off, and boil briskly all
the time. The use of the centre F will now appear; for the machine being
nearly full to the brim, the bubbling takes place in the centre F only,
where there are no hops. There is a great boiling over in this centre,
but the liquor sent up falls into E, and so there is no boiling over of
C. When the full hour of brisk boiling has expired, put out the fire,
draw off the liquor, leaving the hops of course in E. The liquor is now
to go into shallow coolers; and when the heat is reduced to 70 degrees,
take out about a gallon of the liquor, and mix it with half a pint of
good yeast. Distribute it equally among the different parcels of wort,
afterwards mix the whole together, and leave the liquor till it comes
down to about sixty degrees of heat. The next removal is into the
tun-tub, in which capacity C, without the addition of E, will serve very
well. While the liquor is cooling, remove the spent hops from E, the
stove pipe from B, the ash-receiver from the bottom. The machine
remaining now as a tun-tub, draw off the liquor as soon as it is down to
60 degrees; or take it out of the coolers, pour it into the tun-tub, and
put on the lid. If the weather be very cold, or the tun-tub be in a cold
place, cover it with something to keep it warm. Here the fermentation
takes place, sometimes sooner and sometimes later; but it generally
shows itself by a head beginning to rise in about eight or ten hours;
and at the end of eight and forty hours the head assumes a brownish
appearance, and is covered with yeast instead of froth. The beer is then
to be tunned into well-seasoned casks, sweet and sound, or all the
expense and labour will be lost. The cask being fixed on the stand in
the cellar, and the beer ready, skim off the yeast, and keep it in a
deep earthen vessel. Draw off the beer into a pail, and with the help of
a wooden funnel fill the cask quite full. The beer will now begin to
ferment again, and must be allowed to discharge itself from the
bung-hole. When the working has ceased, the cask is again filled up with
the surplus beer; and a handful of fresh hops being added, the bung is
finally closed down. If the whole process has been properly attended to,
such a cask of beer will be clear in a week; and as soon as clear it may
be tapped. Small beer may be tapped in less time. On a larger scale, or
with casks of a smaller size, two sorts may be made, ale and small beer,
taking the first wort for the former, and the second for the
latter.--The advantages attending the Patent Machine are very obvious;
for though the process appears to be minute, it is easily conducted, and
but little time is required for the purpose. In the common method of
brewing, the water must be carried from the copper to the mash-tub,
while the machine serves for both purposes at once. With the common
utensils the process is necessarily much slower, and the fuel consumed
is nearly ten times as much; but the great convenience of all is the
little room required and the place of brewing. In the common way there
is wanted a copper fixed in brick-work, and for a family of any
considerable size a brewhouse is indispensable. On the contrary, the
machine is set up opposite any fire place, and the pipe enters the
chimney, or is put into the fire place. There is no boiling over, no
slopping about; and the operation may be performed upon a boarded floor,
as well as upon a brick or stone floor. If there be no fire place in the
room, the pipe can be projected through an opening in the window, or
through the outside of any sort of building, not liable to suffer from
the heat of the pipe. Even a garden walk, a court, or open field will
answer the purpose, provided there be no rain, and the mash-tub be kept
sufficiently warm. When the brewing is finished, the machine should be
well scalded, rubbed dry, and kept in a dry place. The two coolers, G G,
placed on different casks, have no necessary connection with the
machine. They are made of wood or cast-iron, of a size to fit one within
another to save room. The Patent Machine is sold by Messrs. Needham and
Co. 202, Piccadilly, London. The price of one for brewing a bushel of
malt is L8, for two bushels L13, for three L18, for four L24, for five
L30, and for six L33. If the article be thought expensive, a few
neighbouring families might unite in the purchase, and the money would
very soon be more than saved in the economy of brewing.
BRIDE CAKE. Mix together a pound of dried flour, two drams of powdered
mace, and a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf sugar. Add a quarter of
a pint of cream, and half a pound of melted butter; a quarter of a pint
of yeast, five eggs, with half of the whites beaten up with the yolks,
and a gill of rose water. Having warmed the butter and cream, mix them
together, and set the whole to rise before the fire. Pick and clean half
a pound of currants, put them in warm and well dried.
BRIGHT BARS of polished stoves, may be restored to their proper lustre,
by rubbing them well with some of the following mixture on a piece of
broad-cloth. Boil slowly one pound of soft soap in two quarts of water,
till reduced to one. Of this jelly take three or four spoonfuls, and mix
it to a consistence with the addition of emery. When the black is
removed, wipe them clean, and polish with glass, not sand-paper.