The London and Country Brewer

A >> Anonymous >> The London and Country Brewer

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There is another damage I have known accrue to the Buyer of Malt by
Mellilet, a most stinking Weed that grows amongst some Barley, and is so
mischievously predominant, as to taint it to a sad degree because its
black Seed like that of an Onion, being lesser than the Barley, cannot be
entirely separated, which obliges it to be malted with the Barley, and
makes the Drink so heady that it is apt to fuddle the unwary by drinking a
small quantity. This Weed is so natural to some Ground that the Farmer
despairs of ever extirpating it, and is to be avoided as much as possible,
because it very much hurts the Drink that is made from Malt mixed with it,
by its nauseous Scent and Taste, as may be perceived by the Ointment made
with it that bears its Name: I knew a Victualler that bought a parcel of
Malt that this weed was amongst, and it spoiled all the Brewings and Sale
of the Drink, for it's apt to cause Fevers, Colicks and other Distempers
in the Body.

Darnel is a rampant Weed and grows much amongst some Barley, especially in
the bad Husbandman's Ground, and most where it is sown with the
Seed-barley: It does the least harm amongst Malt, because it adds a
strength to it, and quickly intoxicates, if there is much in it; but where
there is but little, the Malster regards it not, for the sake of its
inebriating quality.

There are other Weeds or Seeds that annoy the Barley; but as the Screen,
Sieve and throwing will take most of them out, there does not require here
a Detail of their Particulars. Oats malted as Barley is, will make a weak,
soft, mellow and pleasant Drink, but Wheat when done so, will produce a
strong heady nourishing well-tasted and fine Liquor, which is now more
practised then ever.

CHAP. III.

_To know good from bad_ Malts.

This is a Matter of great Importance to all Brewers, both publick and
private, for 'tis common for the Seller to cry all is good, but the
Buyer's Case is different; wherefore it is prudential to endeavour to be
Master of this Knowledge, but I have heard a great Malster that lived
towards _Ware_, say, he knew a grand Brewer, that wetted near two hundred
Quarters a Week, was not a judge of good and bad Malts, without which 'tis
impossible to draw a true length of Ale or Beer. To do this I know but of
few Ways, _First_, By the Bite; Is to break the Malt Corn across between
the Teeth, in the middle of it or at both Ends, and if it tasteth mellow
and sweet, has a round body, breaks soft, is full of flower all its
length, smells well and has a thin skin, then it is good; _Secondly_, By
Water; Is to take a Glass near full, and put in some Malt; and if it
swims, it is right, but if any sinks to the bottom, then it is not true
Malt, but steely and retains somewhat of its Barley nature; yet I must own
this is not an infallible Rule, because if a Corn of Malt is crack'd,
split or broke, it will then take the water and sink, but there may an
allowance be given for such incidents, and still room enough to make a
judgment. _Thirdly_, Malt that is truly made will not be hard and steely,
but of so mellow a Nature, that if forced against a dry Board, will mark
and cast a white Colour almost like Chalk. _Fourthly_, Malt that is not
rightly made will be part of it of a hard Barley nature, and weigh heavier
than that which is true Malt.

CHAP. IV.

_Of the Nature and Use of Pale, Amber and Brown_ Malts.

The pale Malt is the slowest and slackest dryed of any, and where it has
had a leisure fire, a sufficient time allowed it on the Kiln, and a due
care taken of it; the flower of the grain will remain in its full
quantity, and thereby produce a greater length of wort, than the brown
high dryed Malt, for which reason it is sold for one or two shillings
_per_ Quarter more than that: This pale Malt is also the most nutritious
sort to the body of all others, as being in this state the most simple and
nearest to its Original Barley-corn, that will retain an Alcalous and
Balsamick quality much longer than the brown sort; the tender drying of
this Malt bringing its body into so soft a texture of Parts, that most of
the great Brewers, brew it with Spring and Well-waters, whose hard and
binding Properties they think agrees best with this loose-bodied Malt,
either in Ales or Beer's and which will also dispense with hotter waters
in brewing of it, than the brown Malt can. The amber-colour'd Malt is that
which is dryed in a medium degree, between the pale and the brown, and is
very much in use, as being free of either extream. Its colour is pleasant,
its taste agreeable and its nature wholsome, which makes it be prefer'd
by many as the best of Malts; this by some is brewed either with hard or
soft waters, or a mixture of both.

The brown Malt is the soonest and highest dryed of any, even till it is so
hard, that it's difficult to bite some of its Corns asunder, and is often
so crusted or burnt, that the farinous part loses a great deal of its
essential Salts and vital Property, which frequently deceives its ignorant
Brewer, that hopes to draw as much Drink from a quarter of this, as he
does from pale or amber sorts: This Malt by some is thought to occasion
the Gravel and Stone, besides what is commonly called the Heart-burn; and
is by its steely nature less nourishing than the pale or amber Malts,
being very much impregnated with the fiery fumiferous Particles of the
Kiln, and therefore its Drink sooner becomes sharp and acid than that made
from the pale or amber sorts, if they are all fairly brewed: For this
reason the _London_ Brewers mostly use the _Thames_ or _New River_ waters
to brew this Malt with, for the sake of its soft nature, whereby it agrees
with the harsh qualities of it better than any of the well or other hard
Sorts, and makes a luscious Ale for a little while, and a But-beer that
will keep very well five or six Months, but after that time it generally
grows stale, notwithstanding there be ten or twelve Bushels allowed to the
Hogshead, and it be hopp'd accordingly.

Pale and amber Malts dryed with Coak or Culm, obtains a more clean bright
pale Colour than if dryed with any other Fuel, because there is not smoak
to darken and sully their Skins or Husks, and give them an ill relish,
that those Malts little or more have, which are dryed with Straw, Wood, or
Fern, &c. The Coak or _Welch_ Coal also makes more true and compleat Malt,
as I have before hinted, than any other Fuel, because its fire gives both
a gentle and certain Heat, whereby the Corns are in all their Parts
gradually dryed, and therefore of late these Malts have gained such a
Reputation that great quantities have been consumed in most Parts of the
Nation for their wholsome Natures and sweet fine Taste: These make such
fine Ales and But-beers, as has tempted several of our Malsters in my
Neighbour-hood to burn Coak or Culm at a great expence of Carriage thirty
Miles from _London_.

Next to the Coak-dryed Malt, the Straw-dryed is the sweetest and best
tasted: This I must own is sometimes well Malted where the Barley, Wheat,
Straw, Conveniencies and the Maker's Skill are good; but as the fire of
the Straw is not so regular as the Coak, the Malt is attended with more
uncertainty in its making, because it is difficult to keep it to a
moderate and equal Heat, and also exposes the Malt in some degree to the
taste of the smoak.

Brown Malts are dryed with Straw, Wood and Fern, &c. the Straw-dryed is
not the best, but the Wood sort has a most unnatural Taste, that few can
bear with, but the necessitous, and those that are accustomed to its
strong smoaky tang; yet is it much used in some of the Western Parts of
_England_, and many thousand Quarters of this Malt has been formerly used
in _London_ for brewing the Butt-keeping-beers with, and that because it
sold for two Shillings _per_ Quarter cheaper than the Straw-dryed Malt,
nor was this Quality of the Wood-dryed Malt much regarded by some of its
Brewers, for that its ill Taste is lost in nine or twelve Months, by the
Age of the Beer, and the strength of the great Quantity of Hops that were
used in its Preservation.

The Fern-dryed Malt is also attended with a rank disagreeable Taste from
the smoak of this Vegetable, with which many Quarters of Malt are dryed,
as appears by the great Quantities annually cut by Malsters on our
Commons, for the two prevalent Reasons of cheapness and plenty.

At _Bridport_ in _Dorsetshire_, I knew an Inn-keeper use half Pale and
half Brown Malt for Brewing his Butt-beers, that, proved to my Palate the
best I ever drank on the Road, which I think may be accounted for, in that
the Pale being the slackest, and the Brown the hardest dryed, must produce
a mellow good Drink by the help of a requisite Age, that will reduce those
extreams to a proper Quality.

CHAP. V.

_Of the Nature of several Waters and their use in Brewing. And first of
Well-waters_.

Water next to Malt is what by course comes here under Consideration as a
Matter of great Importance in Brewing of wholsome fine Malt-liquors, and
is of such Consequence that it concerns every one to know the nature of
the water he Brews with, because it is the Vehicle by which the nutritious
and pleasant Particles of the Malt and Hop are conveyed into our Bodies,
and there becomes a diluter of our Food: Now the more simple and freer
every water is from foreign Particles, the better it will answer those
Ends and Purposes; for, as Dr_.Mead_ observes, some waters are so loaded
with stony Corpuscles, that even the Pipes thro' which they are carried,
in time are incrusted and stopt up by them, and is of that petrifying
nature as to breed the Stone in the Bladder, which many of the _Parisians_
have been instances of, by using this sort of water out of the River
_Seine_. And of this Nature is another at _Rowel_ in _Northamptonshire_,
which in no great distance of time so clogs the Wheel of an overshot Mill
there, that they are forced with, convenient Instruments to cut way for
its Motion; and what makes it still more evident, is the sight of those
incrusted Sides of the Tea-kettles, that the hard Well-waters are the
occasion of, by being often boiled in them: And it is further related by
the same Doctor, that a Gentlewoman afflicted with frequent returns of
violent Colick Pains was cured by the Advice of _Van Helmont_, only by
leaving off drinking Beer brewed with Well-water; It's true, such a fluid
has a greater force and aptness to extract the tincture out of Malt, than
is to be had in the more innocent and soft Liquor of Rivers: But for this
very reason it ought not, unless upon meer necessity, to be made use of;
this Quality being owing to the mineral Particles and alluminous Salts
with which it is impregnated. For these waters thus saturated, will by
their various gravities in circulation, deposit themselves in one part of
the animal Body or other, which has made some prove the goodness of Water
by the lightness of its body in the Water Scales, now sold in several of
the _London_ Shops, in order to avoid the Scorbutick, Colicky,
Hypochondriack, and other ill Effects of the Clayey and other gross
Particles of stagnating Well-waters, and the calculous Concretions of
others; and therefore such waters ought to be mistrusted more than any,
where they are not pure clear and soft or that don't arise from good
Chalks or stony Rocks, that are generally allowed to afford the best of
all the Well sorts.

Spring-waters are in general liable to partake of those minerals thro'
which they pass, and are salubrious or mischievous accordingly. At
_Uppingham_ in _Rutland_, their water is said to come off an
Allum-rock, and so tints their Beer with its saline Quality, that it is
easily tasted at the first Draught. And at _Dean_ in _Northamptonshire_, I
have seen the very Stones colour the rusty Iron by the constant running of
a Spring-water; but that which will Lather with Soap, or such soft water
that percolates through Chalk, or a Grey Fire-stone, is generally
accounted best, for Chalks in this respect excell all other Earths, in
that it administers nothing unwholsome to the perfluent waters, but
undoubtedly absorps by its drying spungy Quality any ill minerals that may
accompany the water that runs thro' them. For which reason they throw in,
great Quantities of Chalk into their Wells at _Ailsbury_ to soften their
water, which coming off a black Sand-stone, is so hard and sharp that it
will often turn their Beer sour in a Week's time, so that in its Original
State it's neither fit to Wash nor Brew with, but so long as the Alcalous
soft Particles of the Chalk holds good, they put it to both uses.

River-waters are less liable to be loaded with metallick, petrifying,
saline and other insanous Particles of the Earth, than the Well or Spring
sorts are, especially at some distance from the Spring-head, because the
Rain water mixes with and softens it, and are also much cured by the Sun's
heat and the Air's power, for which reason I have known several so strict,
that they won't let their Horses drink near the first rise of some of
them; this I have seen the sad Effects of, and which has obliged me to
avoid two that run cross a Road in _Bucks_ and _Hertfordshire_: But in
their runnings they often collect gross Particles from ouzy muddy
mixtures, particularly near Town, that make the Beer subject to new
fermentations, and grow foul upon alteration of weather as the _Thames_
water generlly does; yet is this for its softness much better than the
hard sort, however both these waters are used by some Brewers as I shall
hereafter observe; but where a River-water can be had clear in a dry time,
when no great Rain has lately fell out of Rivulets or Rivers that have a
Gravelly, Chalky, Sandy or Stone-bottom free from the Disturbance of
Cattle, &c. and in good Air, as that of _Barkhamstead St. Peters_ in
_Hertfordshire_ is; it may then justly claim the name of a most excellent
water for Brewing, and will make a stronger Drink with the same quantity
of Malt than any of the Well-waters; insomuch that that of the _Thames_
has been proved to make as strong Beer with seven Bushels of Malt, as
Well-water with eight; and so are all River-waters in a proportionable
degree, and where they can be obtain'd clean and pure, Drink may be drawn
fine in a few Days after Tunning.

Rain-water is very soft, of a most simple and pure nature, and the best
Diluter of any, especially if received free from Dirt, and the Salt of
Mortar that often mixes with it as it runs off tyled Roofs; this is very
agreeable for brewing of Ales that are not to be kept a great while, but
for Beers that are to remain some time in the Casks, it is not so, well,
as being apt to putrify the soonest of any.

Pond-waters; this includes all standing waters chiefly from Rain, and are
good or bad as they happen; for where there is a clean bottom, and the
water lies undisturbed from the tread of Cattle, or too many Fish, in an
open sound Air, in a large quantity, and where the Sun has free access; it
then comes near, if not quite as good as Rain or River-waters, as is that
of _Blew-pot_ Pond on the high Green at _Gaddesden_ in _Hertfordshire_ and
many others, which are often prefer'd for Brewing, even beyond many of the
soft Well-waters about them. But where it is in a small quantity, or full
of Fish (especially the sling Tench) or is so disturbed by Cattle as to
force up Mud and Filth; it is then the most foul and disagreeable of all
others: So is it likewise in long dry Seasons when our Pond-waters are so
low as obliges us to strain it thro' Sieves before we can use it, to take
out the small red Worms and other Corruptions, that our stagnant waters
are generally then too full of. The latest and best Doctors have so far
scrutinized into the prime Cause of our _British_ malady the Scurvy, as to
affirm its first rise is from our unwholesome stagnating waters, and
especially those that come off a clayey surface, as there are about
_Londonderry_ and _Amsterdam_, for that where the waters are worst, there
this Distemper is most common, so that in their Writings they have put it
out of all doubt, that most of our complicated symptoms that are rank'd
under this general Name, if they don't take their beginning from such
water, do own it to be their chief Cause.

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.

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