_Of fermenting and working of Beers and Ales, and the pernicious Practice
of Beating in the Yeast detected_.
This Subject in my Opinion has, long wanted a Satyrical Pen to shew the
ill Effects of this unwholsome Method, which I suppose has been much
discouraged and hindered hitherto, from the general use it has been under
many Years, especially by the _Northern_ Brewers, who tho' much famed for
their Knowledge in this Art, and have induced many others by their Example
in the _Southern_ and other Parts to pursue their Method; yet I shall
endeavour to prove them culpable of Male-practice, that beat in the Yeast,
as some of them have done a Week together; and that Custom ought not to
Authorize an ill Practice. _First_, I shall observe that Yeast is a very
strong acid, that abounds with subtil spirituous Qualities, whose
Particles being wrapped up in those that are viscid, are by a mixture with
them in the Wort, brought into an intestine Motion, occasion'd by
Particles of different Gravities; for as the spirituous Parts of the Wort
will be continually striving to get up to the Surface, the glutinous
adhesive ones of the Yeast will be as constant in retarding their assent,
and so prevent their Escape; by which the spirituous Particles are set
loose and free from their viscid Confinements, as may appear by the Froth
on the Top, and to this end a moderate warmth hastens the Operation, as it
assists in opening the viscidities in which some spirituous Parts may be
entangled, and unbends the Spring of the included Air: The viscid Parts
which are raised to the Top, not only on account of their own lightness,
but by the continual efforts and occursions of the Spirits to get
uppermost, shew when the ferment is at the highest, and prevent the finer
Spirits making their escape; but if this intestine Operation is permitted
to continue too long, a great deal will get away, and the remaining grow
flat and vapid, as Dr. _Quincy_ well observes. Now tho' a small quantity
of Yeast is necessary to break the Band of Corruption in the Wort, yet it
is in itself of a poisonous Nature, as many other Acids are; for if a
Plaister of thick Yeast be applied to the Wrist as some have done for an
Ague, it will there raise little Pustules or Blisters in some degree like
that Venomous! (As I have just reason in a particular Sense to call it)
Ingredient _Cantharide_, which is one of the Shop Poisons. Here then I
shall observe, that I have known several beat the Yeast into the Wort for
a Week or more together to improve it, or in plainer terms to load the
Wort with its weighty and strong spirituous Particles; and that for two
Reasons, _First_, Because it will make the Liquor so heady, that five
Bushels of Malt may be equal in strength to six, and that by the
stupifying Narcotick Qualities of the Yeast; which mercenary subtilty and
imposition has so prevailed to my Knowledge with the Vulgar and Ignorant,
that it has caused many of them to return the next Day to the same
Alehouse, as believing they had stronger and better Drink than others: But
alas, how are such deceived that know no other than that it is the pure
Product of the Malt, when at the same time they are driving Nails into
their Coffins, by impregnating their Blood with the corrupt Qualities of
this poisonous acid, as many of its Drinkers have proved, by suffering
violent Head-achs, loss of Appetite, and other Inconveniencies the Day
following, and sometimes longer, after a Debauch of such Liquor; who would
not perhaps for a great reward swallow a Spoonful of thick Yeast by
itself, and yet without any concern may receive for ought they know
several, dissolved in the Vehicle of Ale, and then the corrosive
Corpuscles of the Yeast being mix'd with the Ale, cannot fail (when
forsaken in the Canals of the Body of their Vehicle) to do the same
mischief as they would if taken by themselves undiluted, only with this
difference, that they may in this Form be carried sometimes further in the
animal Frame, and so discover their malignity in some of the inmost
recesses thereof, which also is the very Case of malignant Waters, as a
most learned Doctor observes.
_Secondly_, They alledge for beating the Yeast into Wort, that it gives it
a fine tang or relish, or as they call it at _London_, it makes the Ale
bite of the Yeast; but this flourish indeed is for no other reason than to
further its Sale, and tho' it may be agreeable to some Bigots, to me it
proves a discovery of the infection by its nauseous taste; however my
surprize is lessen'd, when I remember the _Plymouth_ People, who are quite
the reverse of them at _Dover_ and _Chatham_; for the first are so
attach'd to their white thick Ale, that many have undone themselves by
drinking it; nor is their humour much different as to the common Brewers
brown Ale, who when the Customer wants a Hogshead, they immediately put in
a Handful of Salt and another of Flower, and so bring it up, this is no
sooner on the Stilling but often Tapp'd, that it may carry a Froth on the
Top of the Pot, otherwise they despise it: The Salt commonly answered its
End of causing the Tiplers to become dryer by the great Quantities they
drank, that it farther excited by the biting pleasant stimulating quality
the Salt strikes the Palate with. The Flower also had its seducing share
by pleasing the Eye and Mouth with its mantling Froth, so that the Sailors
that are often here in great Numbers used to consume many Hogsheads of
this common Ale with much delight, as thinking it was intirely the pure
Product of the Malt.
Their white Ale is a clear Wort made from pale Malt, and fermented with
what they call ripening, which is a Composition, they say, of the Flower
of Malt, Yeast and Whites of Eggs, a _Nostrum_ made and sold only by two
or three in those Parts, but the Wort is brewed and the Ale vended by many
of the Publicans; which is drank while it is fermenting in Earthen Steens,
in such a thick manner as resembles butter'd Ale, and sold for Twopence
Halfpenny the full Quart. It is often prescribed by Physicians to be drank
by wet Nurses for the encrease of their Milk, and also as a prevalent
Medicine for the Colick and Gravel. But the _Dover_ and _Chatham_ People
won't drink their Butt-Beer, unless it is Aged, fine and strong.
_Of working and fermenting_ London _Stout Beer and Ale_.
In my Brewhouse at _London_, the Yeast at once was put into the Tun to
work the Stout Beer and Ale with, as not having the Conveniency of doing
otherwise, by reason the After-worts of small Beer comes into the same
Backs or Coolers where the strong Worts had just been, by this means, and
the shortness of time we have to ferment our strong Drinks, we cannot make
Reserves of cold Worts to mix with and check the too forward working of
those Liquors, for there we brewed three times a Week throughout the Year,
as most of the great ones do in _London_, and some others five times. The
strong Beer brewed for keeping is suffered to be Blood-warm in the Winter
when the Yeast is put into it, that it may gradually work two Nights and a
Day at least, for this won't admit of such a hasty Operation as the common
brown Ale will, because if it is work'd too warm and hasty, such Beer
won't keep near so long as that fermented cooler. The brown Ale has indeed
its Yeast put into it in the Evening very warm, because they carry it away
the very next Morning early to their Customers, who commonly draw it out
in less than a Week's time. The Pale or Amber Ales are often kept near it,
not quite a Week under a fermentation, for the better incorporating the
Yeast with Wort, by beating it in several times for the foregoing Reasons.
_Of working or fermenting Drinks brewed by Private Families_.
I mean such who Brew only for their own use, whether it be a private
Family or a Victualler. In this Case be it for Stout Beers, or for any of
the Ales; the way that is used in _Northamptonshire_, and by good Brewers
elsewhere; is, to put some Yeast into a small quantity of warm Wort in a
Hand-bowl, which for a little while swims on the Top, where it works out
and leisurely mixes with the Wort, that is first quite cold in Summer, and
almost so in Winter; for the cooler it is work'd the longer it will keep,
too much Heat agitating the spirituous Particles into too quick a motion,
whereby they spend themselves too fast, or fly away too soon, and then the
Drink will certainly work into a blister'd Head that is never natural; but
when it ferments by moderate degrees into a fine white curl'd Head, its
Operation is then truly genuine, and plainly shews the right management of
the Brewer. To one Hogshead of Beer, that is to be kept nine Months, I put
a Quart of thick Yeast, and ferment it as cool as it will admit of, two
Days together, in _October_ or _March_, and if I find it works too fast, I
check it at leisure by stirring in some raw Wort with a Hand-bowl: So
likewise in our Country Ales we take the very same method, because of
having them keep some time, and this is so nicely observed by several,
that I have seen them do the very same by their small Beer Wort; now by
these several Additions of raw Wort, there are as often new Commotions
raised in the Beer or Ale, which cannot but contribute to the rarefaction
and comminution of the whole; but whether it is by these joining
Principles of the Wort and Yeast, that the Drink is rendered smoother, or
that the spirituous Parts are more entangled and kept from making their
Escape, I can't determine; yet sure it is, that such small Liquors
generally sparkle and knit out of the Barrel as others out of a Bottle,
and is as pleasant Ale as ever I drank.
Others again for Butt or Stout Beer will, when they find it works up
towards a thick Yeast, mix it once and beat it in again with the
Hand-bowl or Jett; and when it has work'd up a second time in such a
manner, they put it into the Vessel with the Yeast on the Top and the
Sediments at Bottom, taking particular Care to have some more in a Tub
near the Cask to fill it up as it works over, and when it has done
working, leave it with a thick Head of Yeast on to preserve it.
But for Ale that is not to be kept very long, they Hop it accordingly, and
beat the Yeast in every four or five Hours for two Days successively in
the warm weather, and four in the Winter till the Yeast begins to work
heavy and sticks to the hollow part of the Bowl, if turned down on the
same, then they take all the Yeast off at Top and leave all the Dregs
behind, putting only up the clear Drink, and when it is a little work'd in
the Barrel, it will be fine in a few Days and ready for drinking. But
this, last way of beating in the Yeast too long, I think I have
sufficiently detected, and hope, as it is how declining, it will never
revive again, and for which reason I have in my second Book encouraged all
light fermentations, as the most natural for the Malt Liquor and the human
Body.
_Of forwarding and retarding the fermentation of malt Liquors_.
In case Beer or Ale is backward in working, it is often practised to cast
some Flower out of the Dusting Box, or with the Hand over the Top of the
Drink, which will become a sort of Crust or Cover to help to keep the Cold
out: Others will put in one or two Ounces of powder'd Ginger, which will
so heat the Wort as to bring it forward: Others will take a Gallon Stone
Bottle and fill it with boiling water, which being well Cork'd, is put
into the working Tub, where it will communicate a gradual Heat for some
time and forward the fermentation: Others will reserve some raw Wort,
which they heat and mix with the rest, but then due Care must be taken
that the Pot in which it is heated has no manner of Grease about it lest
it impedes, instead of promoting the working, and for this reason some
nice Brewers will not suffer a Candle too near the Wort, lest it drop into
it. But for retarding and keeping back any Drink that is too much heated
in working, the cold raw Wort, as I have said before, is the most proper
of any thing to check it with, tho' I have known some to put one or more
Pewter Dishes into it for that purpose, or it may be broke into several
other Tubs, where by its shallow lying it will be taken off its Fury.
Others again, to make Drink work that is backward, will take the whites of
two Eggs and beat them up with half a Quartern of good Brandy, and put it
either into the working Vat, or into the Cask, and it will quickly bring
it forward if a warm Cloth is put over the Bung. Others will tye up Bran
in a coarse thin Cloth and put it into the Vat, where by its spungy and
flowery Nature and close Bulk it will absorp a quantity of the Drink, and
breed a heat to forward its working. I know an Inn-keeper of a great Town
in _Bucks_ that is so curious as to take off all the top Yeast first, and
then by a Peg near the bottom of his working Tub, he draws off the Beer or
Ale, so that the Dreggs are by this means left behind. This I must own is
very right in Ales that are to be drank soon, but in Beers that are to lye
nine or twelve Months in a Butt or other Cask, there certainly will be
wanted some Feces or Sediment for the Beer to feed on, else it must
consequently grow hungry, sharp and eager; and therefore if its own top
and bottom are not put into a Cask with the Beer, some other Artificial
Composition or Lee should supply its Place, that is wholsomer, and will
better feed with such Drink than its own natural Settlement, and therefore
I have here inserted several curious Receipts for answering this great
End.