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ows the wort into the working tun.

Now to prevent the use of all these small utensils, a brew-house, though ever so small, will admit of two coolers being erected; for two coolers will take up nearly the same room in the brew-house as if only one were to be erected; for one cooler should be nearly underneath the other, so that the second cooler may receive the wort from the first. Care must be taken in fixing the coolers, so as to admit the working tun underneath the coolers, to receive the wort: but this need not be consulted where there is a conveniency to convey the worts and work them in the cellar.

The size of the coolers must so correspond with the quantity of malt brewed, that in warm weather the worts do not exceed two inches in depth in the coolers; for in summer brewing the heat cannot too soon escape from the worts; and this is the evil--not having a conveniency to separate the worts in a thin state, the brewer has not been able to get the heat out,--he has let the wort down into the working tun in a warm state, which has often brought on the fox, in a short time became sour, and rendered unfit for drinking.

The reader will observe that brewing in warm weather ought to be avoided as much as possible; for the coolers or tubs in warm weather being in a very dry state, and the worts being a long time cooling, that, at least, one gallon in forty will exhaust itself.

I shall point out one more improvement for cooling the worts more expeditiously: In many brew-houses there is no conveniency, when the worts come out of the copper, for the steam to escape out of the brew-house, but will continue for a time in a thick cloudy state, to the great detriment of the worts:--to remedy this, I would recommend flap shutters to be erected in as many parts of the brew-house as convenient, and the building will admit; the flap shutters will permit the steam to escape and very rapidly cool the worts. These shutters are as convenient in the winter, or when the weather is moderately cool, for they are so contrived that you may set them to what centre you please.

From these improvements the brewing will be more expeditiously performed, as the worts will, of course, from this conveniency, much sooner make way for the small beer, and totally prevent its being left in the copper all night, which is too often practised, to the injury of those who drink it, as it will not be fine, but remain in a thick wey colour, which is owing to its being in the copper too long, and not being kept in a boiling state; for if a copper has been in use twenty years it will at times shew symtoms of the verdigrease, which is a sufficient voucher that the wort cannot be too short a time in the copper, except when boiling.

Coolers will last many years without repairing; when, on the contrary, cooling tubs, &c. are frequently out of repair, and are as lumber, being of little or no use, except when used in brewing.

From the before mentioned improvements you will always finish your brewing before a late hour at night, which will enable you to pay the more attention to the worts in the tuns, &c.

Care should be taken to keep the brewing utensils as clean and as sweet as those used in a dairy; for without cleanliness it is impossible to have your beer in a good and wholesome state.

The copper should be cleaned after each brewing, as it will keep it bright; when it is used but seldom, and in wet or damp weather, the verdigrease will appear, but care should be taken to examine and clean it, previous to the warier's being put in for brewing.

It often happens, where the mash tun is not used for a working tun, the grains are left in the mash tun till the next morning, they will then be in a sour state; therefore the tun should be scalded before the next brewing. If in very warm weather, some quick lime, that is, lime not slacked, will be necessary, by adding some water to dissolve it to the same consistence as used for a white-wash; then with a mop or brush wet the tun with the lime like unto white-washing; after the lime has been on about a day it may be washed off.

Much care should be taken to keep the coolers and working tuns in a clean state, by frequently scalding; it will be necessary in warm weather to lime the coolers and working tuns;--this is an excellent remedy where the coolers and tuns are tinged with the fox, as also a preventative against that fulsome complaint. Experience will inform you that the use of lime is excellent in cleaning the utensils.

When you soak the coolers, &c. previous to brewing, add some lime to the water, as it will search and purge the joints of the coolers and tubs, by cleaning them from disagreeable smells.

Particular attention should be paid to the cooling of the worts, by having coolers as before mentioned. You may let your worts down into the tun as quick or as slow as you please and as the season may require; in very cold weather it should go down into the tun from the cooler by a good stream, as the worts require to go down into the tun in a warm state, particularly when there is but a small quantity brewed. In summer brewing your worts will require to go down into the tun in a cold state; however it will be much the best for them to be cold than too warm, therefore you should set the cock or plug to discharge the worts from the coolers into the tun but slow and dribbling; for by going down slowly it will prevent a hasty fermentation, and consequently will have the good effect to prevent your tun of beer from being foxed; therefore it must be allowed to be convenient and necessary to have coolers erected, as the worts will go down into the tun in almost one regular degree of heat.

On the contrary, when worts are cooled in tubs, pans, &c. they are emptied into the working tun in different degrees of heat, one after another; perhaps in some of these cooling tubs or pans the worts are two or three inches in depth; in others, six or seven inches; therefore the worts will be of different degrees of heat, and by having part of the worts let down into the tun much warmer than those already down, and which, perhaps, are in a fermentation, those worts will, of course, cause a fermentation too hastily,--will frequently cause the tun of beer to be foxed, and will always be in a heavy state, for the yeast will not separate itself from the beer; this renders the coolers more necessary and convenient.

Attention should be paid to the beer when in the tun. It is a custom with many brewers to put their yeast for that brewing into the tun at one time: I will prove that practice to be very erroneous; for by adding the quantity of yeast you intend to use at one time, may cause a fermentation too hastily, and then you have no remedy. You should feed your tun with yeast by adding a little at a time, as occasion may require, for by so doing you will always be master of your tun of beer, by having it in what state of fermentation you please; as the quality of malt and waters differ, it will require more or less yeast to ferment it, and by adding the yeast at different times you will be enabled to form such a judgment as never to over-yeast your tun. Every time you add more yeast you should stir your beer with a bowl or bucket.

It is a common practice, when casks are scalded or cleansed, to expose them to the sun and wind to dry, and there leave them till the time of cleansing, then they are placed in the cellar, &c. and the beer immediately cleansed into them; when the sun, in warm weather, has penetrated through the wood and become so warm that you cannot conveniently lay your hand upon them; this is often done unthinkingly, but the casks being thus heated by the sun causes the beer to work too hastily; after all the care and pains before taken, it here receives a material injury, by having, as may be said, undergone a second fermentation, and will reduce its strength by working too hastily out of the casks, and very probably may be the cause of its not being soft and pleasant; however, care should be taken to get your casks perfectly dry, previous to the cleansing into them; in hot weather place them in the cellar, &c. some time before you have occasion to cleanse your beer into them.

Attention should be paid in keeping your casks filled up after cleansing, to enable the yeast to discharge itself from the beer, for by so doing there will be the greater probability of your beer being fine; if the casks are not kept filled up when working, the yeast cannot discharge itself from the beer, which, in change of weather, will be purging and hissing in the casks, and will cause it to be harsh and unpleasant; this is the principal cause why we have so many muddy ales. Attending your beer when working, by filling up the casks, will be found to be of the greatest utility, as you will have no occasion to use any device to fine your beer, which will only attend to adulteration.

Small beer should be let down into the tun much warmer than ale; and as soon as it shews an inclination to work it should be cleansed; it will then work well in the casks, and will have a quick, lively taste. Small beer, not having a sufficient strength, cannot support a long fermentation in the tun: for if it is worked cold, and left too long in the tun, it will drink flat and unpleasant.

Care should be taken to keep the cellar clean, by scraping the yeast from the bung-holes of the casks; else in warm weather it will smell offensive, and insects will breed therein, which must be injurious to the beer, if the bung-holes are open.

The dropping of the cock, tap tubs, &c. will cause fulsome smells in the cellar, which frequently require to be washed down; for washing and cleaning your cellar often, will keep your beer in a cool state, and will be the means of preventing mild ale from becoming stale.

Put some hops into your ale and small beer casks a few days before you want to tap them for use; even those hops that have already been used in brewing will be found serviceable in fining your beer, and will not cause it to be too bitter, but will prevent your small beer from becoming sour. Notwithstanding their being used in brewing, they will be found by experience to be very serviceable for the purpose before mentioned. Another advantage will arise, they will serve the use of fresh hops, which, when dear, will be found to be a considerable saving.

Another advantage will be found when a length of ale is brewed, and no small beer made, the hops will then be found of greater utility, as they will contain the same quality as the ale they were brewed with; consequently the ale and small beer they are put into will receive a greater advantage therefrom.

This may not seem consistent, as mild ales and small beer seldom have any hops put into the casks; but when a cask of beer is a considerable time at tap, it will certainly want something to feed on; this is one cause why small beer generally turns sour when it is nearly out; now by using the before mentioned hops it will be found to be a considerable remedy to prevent both mild ales and small beer from being hard and unpleasant.

The reader will observe, these hops having performed their duty, they are of no expense, only the trouble of putting them into the casks. The small beer must derive a considerable advantage from those hops when a guile of ale was only brewed from them. Take care to put them into the casks as soon as they are cold, for by being too long exposed to the air they will lose their virtue.

I should not have said so much concerning small beer, but the price of malt is so considerably advanced, to what it was formerly, that small beer is become an expensive article, where there is a numerous family.

If you observe the before mentioned directions you will not have your small beer so unpleasant, particularly when your cask is nearly out.

The most wholesome small beer is made from an intire guile of small, for then you have the whole of the spirit and sweetness of the malt; it will keep better and drink much fresher than if it were to be made from the goods after a length of ale.

If you rack your beer, fail not to put some hops into the casks, wetting them first with some of the same beer, or rather wet the hops with some wort when brewing. If you want to hasten your beer for drinking, put the hops into the casks when they are warm; if your beer is for a long standing, put the hops in your casks when they are cold, giving them a stir to separate them in the beer.

Take care not to be under the necessity of tapping your ale or small beer before it has actually done working, for by so doing you will prevent it from becoming fine: new beer may be classed with new bread; for the newer you draw your beer the more there will be consumed; new beer is not so satisfying as it is when come to a more mature age.

Beware, lest you forget to pay attention to your beer which is at tap; for, "as the eye of the master maketh his horse fat," so the head of a family, now and then giving a look into his cellar, may be the cause of beer drinking more agreeable to his palate, by taking care the vent-holes are kept closely stopped, and the cocks secure.

This is a fault with many publicans, not paying attention to their cellars; even many of those who brew their own beer are neglectful, notwithstanding their own interest and credit is concerned. Tis not uncommon for the vent-peg, and even the bung, to be left out of those casks which are actually on draught.

Publicans, who retail common brewer's beer, and neglect their cellars, have this excuse, if their customers find fault with the beer, by saying "tis such beer as my brewer sends me," so it may be; but let a publican be served with beer of the first quality, it entirely depends on the management of the retailer thereof, whether the beer shall be of a good or bad quality. This is proved by persons in the same town, each being served with beer from one and the same brew-house; there will be generally a disparity in the quality after it comes into the stock of the respective retailers thereof, which proves it to be the good or bad management in the cellar.

I shall here give a few observations on malt, which was my principal reason for introducing this work to the public, well knowing that many who profess the art of brewing have very little knowlege of the nature and quality of the malt and hops they brew with.

Malt is dried with coke, coal, wood, furze, and straw. The best and sweetest malt is dried with coke, or welch coal; because the coke, or coal, gives a regular and gradual heat. Malt dried with coke, or coal, will be of a bright, clean colour, because the fire is free from smoak. It is also to be observed that malt dried with coal, or coke, is generally well cured, that is, sound dried, because the coke or coal fire is fierce and strong.

If malt is dried with a wood fire it greatly depends on the wood being housed in a dry season; for if the wood is dry it will produce a clear fire, free from smoak, and the malt will be of a bright colour; but if the wood is wet and sugged, the fire will not be fierce, but will be smoaky, and will certainly cause the malt to be of a dull colour; and the beer brewed from such malt will consequently have a smoaky taste: therefore it depends on the attention of the maltster, in housing his wood in good order, for without that attention he cannot serve his customers with good, bright, well cured malt.

I have seen very fine malt dried with straw, it being less subject to smoak than malt dried with wood; but this mode of drying is very tedious, because a person must always attend the fire. In those countries where it is straw-dried, wood and coal is dear, therefore straw is used as a substitute for coal, &c. However, if care be taken, malt may be well cured with a straw or wood fire, but not to equal welch coal, or coke, because the fire may always be kept up so as to produce a regular heat.

Fuel being much dearer than formerly many maltsters are too sparing of their fire; and here arises the principal cause why we have so much bad beer; for if malt is not well cured, that is, sound dried, it will not produce good and wholesome beer.

Malt may appear to be of a fine amber colour, and this may be done by making a strong fire a few minutes before the kiln is shifted, therefore the colour is not at all times a rule for its being well dried. No malt should be used till it has been off the kiln a month, at least; at the end of that time, if the malt bites quick and crisp, you may conclude it is well dried.

It will be very necessary when you give orders for a brewing of malt, to request your maltster to send the malt well dried; this caution may induce him to pay more attention in the drying of his malt.

When a brewing of malt is ordered by private families, perhaps no order is given respecting any particular sort, that is to say, whether pale, amber, or brown, for these are the three sorts of malt; but many retail maltsters in the country have but one sort of malt, and, in fact, one sort is sufficient, provided care is taken to dry their malt sound, of a fine amber colour.

Now I again repeat that the principal reason of our having so much hard and sour beer, is owing to the malt being under dried; for malt is the fundamental article in brewing. If a guile of beer is made from under dried malt it will not be of a fine bright colour, and an extra boiling of the worts will not have the desired effect: then you are under the necessity of using finings and other nostrums, which are only temporary, for no other ingredients whatever can be so beneficial to beer as malt and hops, and if those two commodities are in a good and genuine state, you will not have occasion to seek for any other art or device whatever. Another considerable advantage will arise, for each bushel of sound dried malt will produce a gallon of wort more than slack or under dried malt; this is proved by brewing two sorts of malt, that is, malt perfectly dried will discharge the wort freely, and the grains will be dry and light; when, on the other hand, if a brewing of beer is made from under dried malt, the grains will be clammy and heavy, owing to the raw state of the malt, therefore a part of the wort cannot discharge itself, which is a sufficient voucher that the perfectly dried malt will produce a greater quantity of wort of an equal degree of strength.

I hinted before that malt should not be brewed till it has been off the kiln a month; but if malt is six or seven months old it will be the better, because it will become mellow, and your beer will be much softer and better than if used immediately from the kiln.

Between michaelmas and christmas the retail maltster's stock of old malt generally lays in a small compass, and will be slack; I should at this season recommend part old and part new, for the one will help the other.

Many professed brewers are particularly attached to the colour of the hops, that is, they are partial to those of a fine green colour; these are certainly to be prefered, if they were ripe when gathered:--to prove their goodness, rub them between your fingers, if they are in full condition they will stick to your fingers, will have a good strong scent, and the seeds will appear full and yellow.

Brown spots are frequently to be seen on hops; these are, in general, hops that came to a full ripeness before they were gathered. High winds and rain frequently happen about the middle or latter end of the hop season, which will disfigure them in their colour in a few hours, so that the colour is not at all times to direct you as to their goodness.

In the hop countries most hop-planters keep those hops which are most disfigured in their quality, separate and apart, when picking, from those of a brighter colour; those which are of an inferior colour are kept for their own use, and disposed of to their neighbours, it being their opinion that they answer the purpose in brewing nearly as well as those of a brighter colour, provided they are in full condition, that is, if they are full of seeds; for in the seeds is the virtue and strength of the hop.

The quantity of hops used in brewing is generally half a pound to a bushel of malt, and so in proportion to a greater quantity; if mild ale, for present drinking, a lesser quantity will do; but this must be left to the discretion of the brewer, or master of a family, as some are more partial to the taste of the hop than others.

Hops are found to be of such excellent utility in the bittering of beer, that common brewers and innkeepers are forbidden by law to use any other bitter ingredient whatever in brewing of beer and ale. I have taken the liberty to insert this as a caution to the unwary.

As to the quantity of beer each bushel of malt should produce, it must rest on the option or circumstances of the brewer, or the head of a family. A bushel of malt will produce ten gallons of good ale; but the greater the quantity of malt, brewed at one time, the better will be your beer.

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