_Of Boiling Malt Liquors_.
Altho' I have said an Hour and a half is requisite for boiling _October_
Beer, and an Hour for Ales and small Beer; yet it is to be observed, that
an exact time is not altogether a certain Rule in this Case with some
Brewers; for when loose Hops are boiled in the wort so long till they all
sink, their Seeds will arise and fall down again; the wort also will be
curdled, and broke into small Particles if examin'd in a Hand-bowl, but
afterwards into larger, as big as great Pins heads, and will appear clean
and fine at the Top. This is so much a Rule with some, that they regard
not Time but this Sign to shew when the Wort is boiled enough; and this
will happen sooner or later according to the Nature of the Barley and its
being well Malted; for if it comes off Chalks or Gravels, it generally has
the good Property of breaking or curdling soon; but if of tough Clays,
then it is longer, which by some Persons is not a little valued, because
it saves time in boiling, and consequently the Consumption of the Wort.
It is also to be observed, that pale Malt Worts will not break so soon in
the Copper, as the brown Sorts, but when either of their Worts boil, it
should be to the purpose, for then they will break sooner and waste less
than if they are kept Simmering, and will likewise work more kindly in the
Tun, drink smoother, and keep longer.
Now all Malt Worts may be spoiled by too little or too much boiling; if
too little, then the Drink will always taste raw, mawkish, and be
unwholsome in the Stomach, where, instead of helping to dilute and digest
our Food, it will cause Obstructions, Colicks, Head-achs, and other
misfortunes; besides, all such underboil'd Drinks are certainly exposed to
staleness and sowerness, much sooner than those that have had their full
time in the Copper. And if they are boiled too long, they will then
thicken (for one may boil a Wort to a Salve) and not come out of the
Copper fine and in a right Condition, which will cause it never to be
right clear in the Barrel; an _Item_ sufficient to shew the mistake of all
those that think to excel in Malt Liquors, by boiling them two or three
Hours, to the great Confusion of the Wort, and doing more harm than good
to the Drink.
But to be more particular in those two Extreams, it is my Opinion, as I
have said before, that no Ale Worts boiled less than an Hour can be good,
because in an Hour's time they cannot acquire a thickness of Body any ways
detrimental to them, and in less than an Hour the ramous viscid parts of
the Ale cannot be sufficiently broke and divided, so as to prevent it
running into Cohesions, Ropyness and Sowerness, because in Ales there are
not Hops enough allowed to do this, which good boiling must in a great
measure supply, or else such Drink I am sure can never be agreeable to the
Body of Man; for then its cohesive Parts being not thoroughly broke and
comminuted by time and boiling, remains in a hard texture of Parts, which
consequently obliges the Stomach to work more than ordinary to digest and
secrete such parboiled Liquor, that time and fire should have cured
before: Is not this apparent in half boil'd Meats, or under-bak'd Bread,
that often causes the Stomach a great fatigue to digest, especially in
those of a sedentary Life; and if that suffers, 'tis certain the whole
Body must share in it: How ignorant then are those People, who, in tipling
of such Liquor, can praise it for excellent good Ale, as I have been an
eye-witness of, and only because its taste is sweetish, (which is the
nature of such raw Drinks) as believing it to be the pure Effects of the
genuine Malt, not perceiving the Landlord's Avarice and Cunning to save
the Consumption of his Wort by shortness of boiling, tho' to the great
Prejudice of the Drinker's Health; and because a Liquid does not afford
such a plain ocular Demonstration, as Meat and Bread does, these deluded
People are taken into an Approbation of indeed an _Ignis fatuus_, or what
is not.
To come then to the _Crisis_ of the Matter, both Time and the Curdling or
Breaking of the Wort should be consulted; for if a Person was to boil the
Wort an Hour, and then take it out of the Copper, before it was rightly
broke, it would be wrong management, and the Drink would not be fine nor
wholsome; and if it should boil an Hour and a half, or two Hours, without
regarding when its Particles are in a right order, then it may be too
thick, so that due Care must be had to the two extreams to obtain it its
due order; therefore in _October_ and keeping Beers, an Hour and a
quarter's good boiling is commonly sufficient to have a thorough cured
Drink, for generally in that time it will break and boil enough, and
because in this there is a double Security by length of boiling, and a
quantity of Hops shifted; but in the new way there is only a single one,
and that is by a double or treble allowance of fresh Hops boiled only half
an Hour in the Wort, and for this Practice a Reason is assigned, that the
Hops being endowed with discutient apertive Qualities, will by them and
their great quantity supply the Defect of underboiling the Wort; and that
a further Conveniency is here enjoyed by having only the fine wholsome
strong flowery spirituous Parts of the Hop in the Drink, exclusive of the
phlegmatick nasty earthy Parts which would be extracted if the Hops were
to be boiled above half an Hour; and therefore there are many now, that
are so attach'd to this new Method, that they won't brew Ale or _October_
Beer any other way, vouching it to be a true Tenet, that if Hops are
boiled above thirty Minutes, the wort will have some or more of their
worser Quality. The allowance of Hops for Ale or Beer, cannot be exactly
adjusted without coming to Particulars, because the Proportion should be
according to the nature and quality of the Malt, the Season of the Year it
is brew'd in, and the length of time it is to be kept.
For strong brown Ale brew'd in any of the Winter Months, and boiled an
Hour, one Pound is but barely sufficient for a Hogshead, if it be Tapp'd
in three Weeks or a Month.
If for pale Ale brewed at that time and for that Age, one Pound and a
quarter of Hops; but if these Ales are brewed in any of the Summer Months,
there should be more Hops allowed.
For _October_ or _March_ brown Beer, a Hogshead made from Eleven Bushels
of Malt, boiled an Hour and a quarter to be kept Nine Months, three Pounds
and a half ought to be boiled in such Drink at the least.
For _October_ or _March_, pale Beer made from fourteen Bushels, boiled an
Hour and a quarter, and kept Twelve Months, six Pound ought to be allowed
to a Hogshead of such Drink, and more if the Hops are shifted in two Bags,
and less time given the Wort to boil.
Now those that are of Opinion, that their Beer and Ales are greatly
improved by boiling the Hops only half an Hour in the Wort, I joyn in
Sentiment with them, as being very sure by repeated Experience it is so;
but I must here take leave to dissent from those that think that half an
Hour's boiling the Wort is full enough for making right sound and well
relished Malt Drinks; however of this I have amply and more particularly
wrote in my Second Book of Brewing in Chapter IV, where I have plainly
publish'd the true Sign or Criterion to know when the Wort is boiled just
enough, and which I intend to publish in a little time.