The American Practical Brewer and Tanner

J >> Joseph Coppinger >> The American Practical Brewer and Tanner

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At the first opening of the spring, when the frosts are over, and
vegetation begins, sets, or small pieces of the roots of hops, must be
obtained from hops that are esteemed the best.[5] Cut off from the main
stalk or root, six inches in length, branches or suckers, most healthy,
and of the last year's growth, if possible to be procured; if not, they
should be wrapped in a cloth, kept in a moist place, excluded from the
air. A hole should then be made large and deep, and filled with rich
mellow earth. The sprouts should be set in this earth with the bud
upwards, and the ground pressed close about them. If the buds have
begun to open, the uppermost must be left just out of the ground,
otherwise cover it with the earth an inch. Two or three sets to a pole
is sufficient, and three poles to a hill will be found most productive;
place one of the poles towards the north, the other two at equal
distances, about two feet apart. The sets are to be placed in the same
manner as the poles, that they may the easier climb. The length of the
poles may be from fourteen to eighteen feet, according as the soil is
rich or poor. The poles should be placed so as to incline to each
other, meet at their tops, and there be tied. This is contrary to the
European method, but will be found best in America. In this way they
will strengthen and support each other, and form so great a defence
against the violent gusts of wind, to which our climate is frequently
subject in the months of July and August, as to prevent their being
blown down. They will, likewise, form a three-sided pyramid, which will
have the greatest possible advantage from the sun. It is suggested by
experience, that hops which grow near the ground are the best. Too long
poles, therefore, are not good, and care should be taken that the vines
do not run beyond the poles, twisting off their tops will prevent it.
The best kinds of wood for poles are alder, ash, birch, elm, chestnut,
and cedar, their durability is directly the reverse of the order in
which they stand; charring, or burning the end put into the ground,
will preserve them. Hops should not be poled till the spring of the
second year, and then not till they have been dressed. All that is
necessary for the first year, is to keep the hops free from weeds, and
the ground light and mellow by hoeing and ploughing often, if the yard
be large enough to admit of it. The vines, when run to the length of
four or five feet, should be twisted together, to prevent their bearing
the first year, for that would injure them. In the months of March or
April, of the second year, the hills must be opened, and all the
sprouts or suckers cut off, within one inch of the old root, but that
must be left entire with the roots that run down;[6] then cover the
hills with fine earth and manure. The hops must be kept free from weeds
and the ground mellow by hoeing often through the season, and hills of
earth gradually raised around the vines during the summer. The vines
must be assisted in running on the poles with woolen yarn, suffering
them to run with the sun. By the last of August, or the first of
September, the hops will be ripe, and fit to gather. This may be easily
known by their colour changing, and having a fragrant smell; their seed
grows brown and hard. As soon as ripe, they must be gathered without
delay, for a storm or frost will injure them materially. The most
expeditious method of picking hops, is to cut the vines three feet from
the ground, pull up the poles and lay them on crotches, horizontally,
at a height that may be conveniently reached, put under them a bin of
equal length, and four may stand on each side to pick at the same time.
Fair weather should always be chosen to gather hops and they should
never be gathered when dew or moisture is on them, as it subjects them
to mould. They should be dried as soon as possible after they are
gathered; if not immediately, they must be spread on a floor to prevent
their changing colour. The best mode of drying them is with a fire of
charcoal and kiln, covered with hair cloth in the manner of a
malt-kiln.[7] The fire should be steady and equal, and the hops gently
stirred from time to time. Great attention is necessary in this part of
the business, that the hops be uniformly and sufficiently dried; if too
much dried they will look brown, and, of course, be materially injured
in their quality, and proportionably reduced in their price. If too
little dried, they will lose their natural colour and flavour. They
should be on the hair cloth about six inches thick after it had been
moderately warmed, then a steady fire kept up till the hops are nearly
dry, lest the moisture or sweat the fire has raised should fall back
and change their colour. After the hops have been in this situation
seven, eight, or nine hours, and have got through sweating, and when
struck with a stick will leap up; then throw them into a heap, mix them
well, and spread them again, and let them remain till they are all
equally dry. While they are in a sweat, it will be best not to move
them for fear of burning, slacken the fire, when the hops are to be
turned, and increase it afterwards. Hops are sufficiently dried, when
their inner stalks break short, and their leaves become crisp, and fall
off easily. They will crackle a little when their seed is bursting, and
then they should be removed from the kiln. Hops that are dried in the
sun lose their rich flavour, and, if under cover, they are apt to
ferment and change with the weather, and lose their strength; moderate
fire preserves the colour and flavour of the hops, by evaporating the
water, and retaining the oil of the hop. After the hops are taken from
the kiln, they should be laid in a heap, to acquire a little moisture
to fit them for bagging. It would be well to exclude them from air by
covering them with blankets. Three or four days will be sufficient for
them to be in that state. When the hops are so moist that they may be
pressed together without breaking, they are fit for bagging. Bags made
of coarse linen cloth, eleven feet in length, and seven in
circumference, which hold about two hundred pounds weight, are most
commonly used in Europe: but any size that best suits may be made use
of. To bag hops, a hole is made through the floor of a loft, large
enough for a man to pass through with ease. The bag must be fastened to
a hoop, larger than the hole, that the floor may serve to support the
bag; for the convenience of handling the bags, some hops should be tied
up in each corner of the bag, to serve as handles. The hops should be
gradually thrown into the bag, and trod down continually, till the bag
is filled. The mouth of the bag must then be sown up, and the hops are
then fit for market. The closer and harder hops are packed, the longer
and better they will keep; but they should be kept dry. In most parts
of Great Britain where hops are cultivated, they estimate the charge of
cultivating one acre of hops at forty-two dollars, for manuring and
tilling, exclusive of poles and rent of land; poles they estimate at
sixteen dollars per annum, but in this country they would not amount to
half that sum; one acre is computed to require three thousand poles,
which will last from eight to twelve years, according to the quality of
the wood used. The English growers of hops think they have a very
indifferent crop if the produce of one acre does not amount to one
hundred and thirty-three dollars, but, much more frequently, it amounts
to two hundred dollars, and sometimes so high as four hundred dollars
per acre. In this country, experiments have been equally flattering. A
gentleman in Massachusetts, in the summer of 1791, raised hops, from
one acre of ground that sold for three hundred dollars; it is allowed,
that land in this state is equally favourable to the growth of hops.
Upon a low estimate, we may fairly compute the nett profit of one acre
of hops to be eighty dollars, over and above poles, manure, and labour;
and in a good year a great deal more might be expected. There is one
circumstance further we think has weight, and ought to be mentioned: in
the English estimate the expense put down is what they can hire the
labour done for by those who make it their business to perform the
different parts of the cultivation. A great saving may, therefore, be
made by our farmers in the article of labour, for much of it may be
performed by women and children. Added to this, we have another
advantage of no small moment in this country: the hop harvest will come
between our two great harvests, the small grain and Indian corn,
without interfering with either but in England the case is otherwise:
the small grain and hop harvest come in together, and create a great
scarcity of hands, it being then the most busy season of the year. It
is found, by experience, that the soil and climate of the eastern
states are more favourable to the growth of hops than Great Britain;
they not being so subject to moist, foggy weather of long continuance,
which is most injurious to hops; and the southern and middle states are
still more favourable to the growth of hops than the eastern states, in
point of flavour and strength. The State of New-York unites some
advantages from either extreme of the union. The cultivators of land in
this state have every inducement, which policy or interest can offer,
to enter with spirit into the cultivation of hops; as we shall thereby
be able to supply our own demand, which is now every year increasing,
instead of sending to our neighbours for every bag we consume; a
circumstance the more unaccountable, as hops, are on all hands, allowed
to be one of the most profitable crops that can be raised; the culture
requires but little land, the labour may be performed at intervals, so
as not to interfere with other business of the farm, and be generally
performed by women and children. There is hardly a farmer in this state
but may, with ease, raise from one quarter of an acre, to as much as
three or four acres, the advantage of which would, in a few years, be
most sensibly felt both by the individual concerned, and the state at
large. In the city of New-York there are, at present, a number of large
and respectable breweries, and new ones, from time to time, may
reasonably be expected to be added to their number. All these
establishments are now supplied with hops from Massachusetts and
Connecticut; these considerations should certainly stimulate a few
spirited cultivators to lead the way, and raise hops; their laudable
example would soon be followed by others; so that in a few years we
should have prime hops of our own in abundance, for home consumption or
exportation. This subject will, I hope, appear sufficiently important
to recommend itself; to say more is therefore unnecessary.

[5] Of the different kinds of hops, the long white is the most
esteemed; it yields the greatest quantity, and is the most
beautiful. The beauty of hops consists of their being of a pale
bright green color. Care should be taken to obtain all of one
sort; but if different sorts are used, they must be kept separate
in the field, for there is a material difference in their time of
ripening; and if mixed in the field, will occasion extra trouble
at the time of gathering them in.

[6] Hops must be dressed every year, as soon as the frost will
permit; on this being well done depends, in a great measure, the
success of the crop. It is thought by many to be the best method
to manure the hop yard in the fall, and cover the hills entirely
with the manure, asserting, with other advantages, that this
prevents the frost from injuring plants during the winter. Hops
had better be gathered before they are full ripe than remain till
they are over ripe, for then they will lose their seed by the
wind, or on being handled. The seed is the strongest part of the
hop, and when they get too ripe will lose their green colour,
which is very necessary to preserve as the most valuable part of
the [remainder of text is illegible]

[7] Kilns covered with the splinters of walnut, or ash, will
answer the purpose, and come cheaper than hair cloth.

_Barley Cultivation._

However unconnected this subject may appear with a treatise on brewing,
I cannot help thinking that, in this country, it is much more
intimately connected with it than one would, at a first view, incline
to suppose, and for the following reasons; first, Because the proper
cultivation of barley is not generally known, save in the eastern
states, and but very little raised in any of the others; secondly,
Without good barley it is impossible to make good malt, consequently,
good beer--and it must be acknowledged, that a great proportion of the
barley that is raised, even in the eastern states, is but very
imperfectly suited to the purposes of the brewery, being what is termed
winter barley, and generally a poor, thin, lank grain, by no means
qualified to make good malt. This is so well known in England, that it
is very rarely met with in the barley markets, and seldom, or ever,
purchased by a brewer. The summer, or spring barley, always getting the
preference, being the largest bodied grain, and, of course, the best
suited to the purposes of making prime malt, the want of which, is
frequently severely felt by the brewers of this country, from the
impossibility they often find themselves in of procuring good barley,
being obliged to use such as they can get, which, for the most part, is
very ill suited to their purpose. It will be, then, their interest to
give every encouragement to the farmer to raise spring barley in
preference to the winter, to procure the best seed, of that
description, that he can find, to clean it well, to steep it in well or
spring water for twelve hours, stirring it frequently from the bottom
of the tub or vessel all around; and previous to each stirring, all the
floating grains, seed weeds, &c., should be carefully skimmed off: thus
nothing will remain for seed but sound and perfect grain. The first
water should be drawn off at the end of six hours, and immediately
replaced by fresh; this again drawn off at the end of six hours more;
it should be sown, broad cast, the following day, being first
previously mixed with a sufficient quantity of wood ashes to dry it as
much as will be necessary for the purpose of sowing. Thus managed, if
the ground be in proper tilth, and fitly prepared, this grain will make
its appearance the fifth or sixth day after sowing; whereas, if the
seed be sown dry, it will probably be three weeks or more before it
comes up, particularly if the season be dry. I cannot more forcibly
recommend this practice than by giving a brief sketch of an experiment
made in England, and taken from the Bath and West of England Society's
reports. A farmer selected four acres of the same field, treated and
prepared it for seeding exactly in the same way, he then divided it
into two equal parts; he sowed one part with dry seed, in the common
way, the other with steeped seed, as here recommended, and the
consequence was, that the latter produced a double crop, although the
seed in both cases was the same, save the difference of treatment. The
superior quality and condition of the crop seemed to keep pace with the
increased quantity. The beginning or middle of March, if the weather be
dry, is the best time to sow spring or summer barley. This mode of
preparing seed wheat, is highly recommended as an assured preservative
against the smut, fly, &c., insuring a sound good crop of grain. Barley
should be always cut in dry weather, yet not suffered to be too ripe
before cutting; stacking it in the field for a few weeks before
removing it to the barn, helps and prepares it for malting, by sweating
and drying it. Barley, immediately brought to the malt house from the
field, rarely makes good malt, as a great proportion of it becomes
staggy, and will not grow. Those who can corroborate the truth of these
remarks, and sufficiently appreciate them, will readily justify and
excuse this seeming departure from the original plan of this little
work.

_Table Beer._

There is no production of the brewery more important to society than
good table beer, whether it be considered as a diluent to animal food,
or a diet drink in fever cases, even of the most malignant kind, where,
to my knowledge, it has been preferred to all others, and that with the
greatest success, sanctioned by the advice of some of the most eminent
physicians. This justifies my recommending it, and giving several
processes for making this useful liquor.

_Small Beer for Shipping._

12 Bushels of Pale Malt.
12 Bushels of Amber Malt.
--
24
--
14 lb. of Hops.

Cleansed 24 Barrels.

Let your malt be fine ground; first liquor 172; mash one hour, stand
one hour, run down smartly; beat of second mash 180; mash one hour,
stand two hours, boil two hours; making your length sufficiently long
to give one barrel of beer to each bushel of malt. Pitch your tun at 70
degrees, giving one gallon of solid yest; cleanse within twenty-four
hours. The fresher this beer is sent out the better: being very thin in
body and low priced, it cannot be expected to last long.

_Keeping Table Beer._

PROCESS.

Commenced brewing at six in the morning, heat of the air 60
degrees, per Fahrenheit's Thermometer.

48 Bushels of Pale Malt.
16 Bushels of Amber Malt.
--
64
--
72 lb. of Hops.

Cleansed 45 Barrels of Table Beer.

10 lb. liquorice ball, which was previously melted down in boiling
water, by frequent stirring, to a liquid, and then put in with the hops
when added to the worts. Ran the necessary quantity of boiling water
into the mash tun for the first mash, and when cooled down to 168,
commenced mashing, which continued three quarters of an hour, stood one
hour, ran down briskly; mashed a second time at 180, for half an hour;
stood half an hour; mixed both worts, boiled one hour and a half as
hard as possible, throwing into the copper, before boiling, half a
pound of ground ginger, with half a pound of ground mustard; pitched
these worts at 70 degrees, giving 3 gallons of solid yest; remained in
the tun 36 hours, and was headed over, before cleansing, with four
pounds of flour and one pound of salt mixed together. This kind of beer
will have attenuated sufficiently in from 30 to 36 hours.

_Small Beer of the best kind, how brewed, which, in a good cellar,
will keep as long as can be reasonably wanted._

MATERIALS.

15 bushels of Pale Malt.
7 lb. Hops.

Cleansed 10 1/2 Barrels Beer, heat of the air 50 by Fahrenheit's
Thermometer.

Boiled the first copper; drew the fire; then ran ten inches of boiling
hot water into the keeve; added two inches of cold water, mixed both
well together, which made up at 168; then put in the malt gradually,
mashing all the time, for about half an hour; the mash being thin, did
not require a longer operation. Before mashing, rubbed the 7 pounds of
hops in a tub, sprinkling over them, when rubbed, about one quarter of
a pound of white salt, then poured on boiling water in sufficient
quantity to saturate them well, after which they were close covered;
the keeve having stood two hours, the tap was set, and ran down twelve
inches. Did not boil the second copper, but raised its heat to 184,
mashed a second time, and stood one hour, ran down as before, and
completed the length in the underbank, cleared the copper, had it
rinced out, got up the worts, put in the hops, extract and all, made up
the fire, and boiled one hour and a half as hard as possible,
previously adding to them four pounds of brown sugar that had been
dissolved in a bucket with hot water, also half a pound of ground
mustard; this beer remained on the coolers about eight hours, pitched
it next morning at 72 degrees, adding only one gallon of solid yest,
ran slowly into the tun which made up at 61 degrees; came on gradually,
remained in the tun 31 hours, and raised to 66, affording but two
degrees of attenuation. Notwithstanding this beer worked well in the
casks, yet moderately, was frequently filled at close intervals, and
was glass fine the fifth day. The sugar was added to assist the colour
as well as the strength, the mustard to give flavour.

_Another Method._

To brew small beer somewhat stronger, take 30 bushels of pale malt,
(have it ground fine,) 10 pound of hops, steep them as in the preceding
process. Turn out of your copper 16 barrels of beer, give your first
liquor at 165, your second at 175, mash, run down, stand, and boil as
before. But before you commence brewing, take five pounds of brown
sugar, put it into a metal pot with some water, set it on the fire,
keep it constantly stirring till it begins to smell strong, then take
it off the fire, and add to it, gradually, three gallons of water, at
the temperature of blood heat, stirring the water and the sugar well
together, till the whole be perfectly blended; this prepared liquor
should be added to the worts in the copper before boiling. The
fermentation, &c., to be conducted as before, save only the pitching,
yest, to be increased by half a gallon, which half gallon is not to be
added to the worts until twelve hours after the first gallon.
Attenuation should proceed until the heat rises four degrees above the
pitching heat, which should be the same as in the preceding process. In
both instances, the tuns should be covered during the period of
fermentation, but taken off for the purpose of rousing before
cleansing; these covers should be put on again, in order to prevent the
dispersion or waste of the gasses, which is always a loss of
spirituosity.

_A good sound keeping Table Beer may be Brewed from wheaten Bran and
Shorts, and, in many situations, when Malt cannot be procured, would be
found an excellent substitute. This process is well worth the attention
of housekeepers._

PROCESS AS FOLLOWS:

40 Bushels of Shorts.
20 Bushels of Bran.

16 lb. of Hops will give 25 Barrels of Small Beer.

Boil your first copper, run into your mash tun as much boiling water
as, when reduced with cold, will bring it to the temperature of 1.0,
then commence your mashing operation, putting in two bushels of shorts,
and one bushel of bran at a time; when these are well mixed with the
water, put in more, mash again, and so continue to do till all is in;
it will take from half an hour to three quarters to mash this quantity
properly; let your mash stand two hours, run down as in the preceding
processes, and give your second liquor 165; mash a second time, stand
one hour, boil your first wort one hour very hard with half your hops,
which should have been steeped, rubbed, and salted, as before directed;
boil your second wort one hour and a half in the same way, putting on
the remainder of your hops, with one pound of ground mustard, and five
pounds of brown sugar, reduced, by boiling, to a colouring matter, as
already directed in the previous process; make up your two boilings in
your tun at the heat of 65, giving three gallons of solid yest; let
your attenuation proceed ten degrees, or to 75, then cleanse, and
continue to fill your casks in the usual way. It has been found that
beer brewed from these materials has stood the summer heats much better
than beer brewed from malt alone; this may be accounted for by the
extract of malt possessing a much larger proportion of saccharine
matter than that obtainable from bran and shorts. In families, this
beer may be brewed in the proportion of one or two barrels at a time;
and in the country, where brewer's yest may not be procurable, leaven,
diluted with blood-warm water, may be substituted for brewer's yest,
and will answer, but not so well; neither will attenuation go so high,
as fermentation with leaven, when applied to liquids, is generally
languid and slow.

_Single Ale and Table Beer._

100 Bushels of Malt.
60 lb. of Hops.

Heat of the air 50 degrees.

Cleansed or tunned 30 Barrels of Single Ale; with 16 Barrels of
Table Beer after.

First, or mashing liquor, 168, run your whole quantity of boiling
liquor into your mash tun, and when it cools down to the above point of
168, begin to run in your malt gradually from your malt bin; this
quantity will require four or five hands to mash it well, which will
generally take three quarters of an hour; when sufficiently mashed,
cover your tun, let it stand two hours; run down this first mash
smartly by two cocks within the hour; let your hops be rubbed, steeped,
and salted, as before directed; added to these worts, as they began to
boil, three gallons of the essentia bina or liquid colouring, with one
pound and a half of ground mustard, and one pound of liquorice root
finely powdered, boiled the whole two hours as hard as possible, there
being a second copper for this operation, there was liquor prepared for
the small beer and run on the keeve at the heat of 185; mashed well a
second time, and stood two hours; by this time the first wort was let
run into the hop back, and so on the cooler. After which, ran down the
small beer, got it into the small copper, adding about six hand buckets
of the hops that had been boiled on the single ale; these answered to
preserve the beer, with one pound of ground mustard to assist flavour,
and two gallons of the essentia bina to give colour; boiled the small
beer one hour smartly. The strong worts were let into the tun in three
portions, there being three coolers; the first division, at 65, had two
gallons and a half of yest given to it; the second, at 66, the same
quantity of yest; the third, at 65, was let down without yest, when all
were in the tun made up at 64; in thirteen hours the tun had a handsome
appearance of work; came on regularly, and attenuated to 76, having
gained 12 degrees within sixty hours, then cleansed and filled the
casks every three hours for the first eight fillings. Thus managed,
this single ale was fit to send out the fifth day after brewing. When
this ale is racking off the butts, to be sent out, would recommend
putting two ounces of ground rice into each barrel which will create
briskness, and much improve the beer. Ran the small beer into the hop
back of the strong beer, and so on the coolers, thereby giving it a
chance to lick up all the strong ale it met with in its progress to the
tun, which it entered at 65 with three gallons of yest, and was
cleansed within thirty-six hours. The quantity of beer here mentioned
would be much improved by the addition of six or seven pounds of brown
sugar or molasses; but if good table beer is wanted, it can be only
obtained from whole grists of malt, and is well worth the difference of
expense to those who can afford it, and appreciate quality.

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