The London and Country Brewer

CHAP. VI. Of Grinding Malts.

As trifling as this Article in Brewing may seem at first it very worthily deserves the notice of all concern'd therein, for on this depends much the good of our Drink, because if it is ground too small the flower of the Malt will be the easier and more freely mix with the water, and then will cause the wort to run thick, and therefore the Malt must be only just broke in the Mill, to make it emit its Spirit gradually, and incorporate its flower with the water in such a manner that first a stout Beer, then an Ale, and afterwards a small Beer may be had at one and the same Brewing, and the wort run off fine and clear to the last. Many are likewise so sagacious as to grind their brown Malt a Fortnight before they use it, and keep it in a dry Place from the influence of too moist an Air, that it may become mellower by losing in a great measure the fury of its harsh fiery Particles, and its steely nature, which this sort of Malt acquires on the Kiln; however this as well as many other hard Bodies may be reduced by Time and Air into a more soluble, mellow and soft Condition, and then it will imbibe the water and give a natural kind tincture more freely, by which a greater quantity and stronger Drink may be made, than if it was used directly from the Mill, and be much smoother and better tasted. But the pale Malt will be fit for use at a Week's end, because the leisureness of their drying endows them with a softness from the time they are taken off the Kiln to the time they are brewed, and supplies in them what Time and Air must do in the brown sorts. This method of grinding Malt so long before-hand can't be so conveniently practised by some of the great Brewers, because several of them Brew two or three times a Week, but now most of them out of good Husbandry grind their Malts into the Tun by the help of a long descending wooden Spout, and here they save the Charge of emptying or uncasing it out of the Bin (which formerly they used to do before this new way was discovered) and also the waste of a great deal of the Malt-flower that was lost when carryed in Baskets, whereas now the Cover of the Tun presents all that Damage In my common Brewhouse at London I ground my Malt between two large Stones by the Horse-mill that with one Horse would grind {blank space} quarters an Hour, But in the Country I use a steel Hand-mill, that Cost at first forty Shillings; which will by the help of only one Man grind six or eight Bushels in an Hour, and will last a Family many Years without hardning or cutting: There are some old-fashion'd stone Hand-mills in being, that some are Votaries for and prefer to the Iron ones, because they alledge that these break the Corn's body, when the Iron ones only cut it in two, which occasions the Malt so broke by the Stones, to give the water a more easy, free and regular Power to extract its Virtue, than the Cut-malt can that is more confin'd within its Hull. Notwithstanding the Iron ones are now mostly in Use for their great Dispatch and long Duration. In the Country it is frequently done by some to throw a Sack of Malt on a Stone or Brick-floor as soon as it is ground, and there let it lye, giving it one turn, for a Day or two, that the Stones or Bricks may draw out the fiery Quality it received from the Kiln, and give the Drink a soft mild Taste.

CHAP. VII. Of Brewing in general.

Brewing, like several other Arts is prostituted to the opinionated Ignorance of many conceited Pretenders, who if they have but seen or been concern'd in but one Brewing, and that only one Bushel of Malt, assume the Name of a Brewer and dare venture on several afterwards, as believing it no other Task, than more Labour, to Brew a great deal as well as a little; from hence it partly is, that we meet with such hodge-podge Ales and Beers, as are not only disagreeable in Taste and Foulness, but indeed unwholsome to the Body of Man, for as it is often drank thick and voided thin, the Feces or gross part must in my Opinion remain behind in some degree. Now what the Effects of that may be, I must own I am not Physician enough to explain, but shrewdly suspect it may be the Cause of Stones, Colicks, Obstructions, and several other Chronical Distempers; for if we consider that the sediments of Malt-liquors are the refuse of a corrupted Grain, loaded with the igneous acid Particles of the Malt, and then again with the corrosive sharp Particles of the Yeast, it must consequently be very pernicious to the British human Body especially, which certainly suffers much from the animal Salts of the great Quantities of Flesh that we Eat more than People of any other Nation whatsoever; and therefore are more then ordinarily obligated not to add the scorbutick mucilaginous Qualities of such gross unwholsome Particles, that every one makes a lodgment of in their Bodies, as the Liquors they drink are more or less thick; for in plain Truth, no Malt-liquor can be good without it's fine. The late Curious Simon Harcourt Esq; of Penly, whom I have had the honour to drink some of his famous October with, thought the true Art of Brewing of such Importance, that it is said to Cost him near twenty Pounds to have an old Days-man taught it by a Welch Brewer, and sure it was this very Man exceeded all others in these Parts afterwards in the Brewing of that which he called his October Beer. So likewise in London they lay such stress on this Art, that many have thought it worth their while to give one or two hundred Guineas with an Apprentice: This Consideration also made an Ambassador give an extraordinary Encouragement to one of my Acquaintance to go over with him, that was a great Master of this Science. But notwithstanding all that can be said that relates to this Subject, there are so many Incidents attending Malt-liquors, that it has puzled several expert Men to account for their difference, though brewed by the same Brewer, with the same Malt, Hops and Water, and in the same Month and Town, and tapp'd at the same time: The Beer of one being fine, strong and well Tasted, while the others have not had any worth drinking, now this may be owing to the different Weather in the same Month, that might cause an Alteration in the working of the Liquors, or that the Cellar may not be so convenient, or that the Water was more disturbed by Winds or Rains, &c. But it has been observed that where a Gentleman has imployed one Brewer constantly, and uses the same sort of Ingredients, and the Beer kept in dry Vaults or Cellars that have two or three Doors; the Drink has been generally good. And where such Malt-liquors are kept in Butts, more time is required to ripen, meliorate and fine them, than those kept in Hogsheads, because the greater quantity must have the longer time; so also a greater quantity will preserve itself better than a lesser one, and on this account the Butt and Hogshead are the two best sized Casks of all others; but all under a Hogshead hold rather too small a quantity to keep their Bodies. The Butt is certainly a most noble Cask for this use, as being generally set upright, whereby it maintains a large Cover of Yeast, that greatly contributes to the keeping in the Spirits of the Beer, admits of a most convenient broaching in the middle and its lower part, and by its broad level Bottom, gives a better lodgment to the fining and preserving Ingredients, than any other Cask whatsoever that lyes in, the long Cross-form. Hence it partly is, that the common Butt-beer is at this time in greater Reputation than ever in London, and the Home-brew'd Drinks out of Credit; because the first is better cured in its Brewing, in its Quantity, in its Cask, and in its Age; when the latter has been loaded with the pernicious Particles of great Quantities of Yeast, of a short Age, and kept in small Casks, that confines its Owner, only to Winter Brewing and Sale, as not being capable of sustaining the Heat of the Weather, for that the acidity of the Yeast brings on a sudden hardness and staleness of the Ale, which to preserve in its mild Aley Taste, will not admit of any great Quantity of Hops; and this is partly the reason that the handful of Salt which the Plymouth Brewers put into their Hogshead, hinders their Ale from keeping, as I shall hereafter take notice of.

CHAP. VIII. The London Method of Brewing.

In a great Brewhouse that I was concern'd in, they wetted or used a considerable Quantity of Malt in one Week in Brewing Stout-beer, common Butt-beer, Ale and small Beer, for which purpose they have River and Well Waters, which they take in several degrees of Heat, as the Malt, Goods and Grain are in a condition to receive them, and according to the Practice there I shall relate the following Particulars, viz.

For Stout Butt Beer.

This is the strongest Butt-Beer that is Brewed from brown Malt, and often sold for forty Shillings the Barrel, or six Pound the Butt out of the wholesale Cellars: The Liquor (for it is Sixpence forfeit in the London Brewhouse if the word Water is named) in the Copper designed for the first Mash, has a two Bushel Basket, or more, of the most hully Malt throw'd over it, to cover its Top and forward its Boiling; this must be made very hot, almost ready to boil, yet not so as to blister, for then it will be in too high a Heat; but as an indication of this, the foul part of the Liquor will ascend, and the Malt swell up, and then it must be parted, look'd into and felt with the Finger or back of the Hand, and if the Liquor is clear and can but be just...