The London and Country Brewer Part 1

The London and Country Brewer.

by Anonymous.

THE PREFACE.

The many Inhabitants of Cities and Towns, as well as Travellers, that have for a long time suffered great Prejudices from unwholsome and unpleasant Beers and Ales, by the badness of Malts, underboiling the Worts, mixing injurious Ingredients, the unskilfulness of the Brewer, and the great Expense that Families have been at in buying them clogg'd with a heavy Excise, has moved me to undertake the writing of this Treatise on Brewing, Wherein I have endeavour'd to set in sight the many advantages of Body and Purse that may arise from a due Knowledge and Management in Brewing Malt Liquors, which are of the greatest Importance, as they are in a considerable degree our Nourishment and the common Diluters of our Food; so that on their goodness depends very much the Health and Longevity of the Body.

This bad Economy in Brewing has brought on such a Disrepute, and made our Malt Liquors in general so odious, that many have been constrain'd, either to be at an Expence for better Drinks than their Pockets could afford, or take up with a Toast and Water to avoid the too justly apprehended ill Consequences of Drinking such Ales and Beers.

Wherefore I have given an Account of Brewing Beers and Ales after several Methods; and also several curious Receipts for feeding, fining and preserving Malt Liquors, that are most of them wholsomer than the Malt itself, and so cheap that none can object against the Charge, which I thought was the ready way to supplant the use of those unwholsome Ingredients that have been made too free with by some ill principled People meerly for their own Profit, tho' at the Expence of the Drinker's Health.

_I hope I have adjusted that long wanted Method of giving a due Standard both to the Hop and Wort, which never was yet (as I know of) rightly ascertain'd in Print before, tho' the want of it I am perswaded has been partly the occasion of the scarcity of good Drinks, as is at this time very evident in most Places in the Nation. I have here also divulg'd the Nostrum of the Artist Brewer that he has so long valued himself upon, in making a right Judgment when the Worts are boiled to a true Crisis; a matter of considerable Consequence, because all strong Worts may be boiled too much or too little to the great Loss of the Owner, and without this Knowledge a Brewer must go on by Guess; which is a hazard that every one ought to be free from that can; and therefore I have endeavor'd to explode the old Hour-gla.s.s way of Brewing, by reason of the several Uncertainties that attend such Methods and the hazard of spoiling both Malt and Drink; for in short where a Brewing is perform'd by Ladings over of scalding Water, there is no occasion for the Watch or Hour-gla.s.s to boil the Wort by, which is best known by the Eye, as I have both in this and my second Book made appear.

I have here observed that necessary Caution, which is perfectly requisite in the Choice of good and the Management of bad Waters; a Matter of high Importance, as the Use of this Vehicle is unavoidable in Brewing, and therefore requires a strict Inspection into its Nature; and this I have been the more particular in, because I am sensible of the great Quant.i.ties of unwholsome Waters used not only by Necessity, but by a mistaken Choice.

So also I have confuted the old received Opinion lately published by an Eminent Hand, that long Mas.h.i.+ngs are the best Methods in Brewing; an Error of dangerous Consequence to all those who brew by Ladings over of the hot Water on the Malt.

The great Difficulty and what has. .h.i.therto proved an Impediment and Discouragement to many from Brewing their own Drinks, I think, I have in some measure removed, and made it plainly appear how a Quant.i.ty of Malt Liquor may be Brewed in a little Room and in the hottest Weather, without the least Damage by Foxing or other Taint.

The Benefit of Brewing entire Guile small Beer from fresh Malt, and the ill Effects of that made from Goods after strong Beer or Ale; I have here exposed, for the sake of the Health and Pleasure of those that may easily prove their advantage by drinking of the former and refusing the latter.

By the time the following Treatise is read over and thoroughly considered, I doubt not but an ordinary Capacity will be in some degree a better Judge of good and bad Malt Liquors as a Drinker, and have such a Knowledge in Brewing that formerly he was a stranger to; and therefore I am in great Hopes these my Efforts will be one Princ.i.p.al Cause of the reforming our Malt Liquors in most Places; and that more private Families than ever will come into the delightful and profitable Practice of Brewing their own Drinks, and thereby not only save almost half in half of Expence, but enjoy such as has pa.s.sed thro' its regular Digestions, and is truly pleasant, fine, strong and healthful.

I Question not but this Book will meet with some Scepticks, who being neither prejudiced against the Introduction of new Improvements, or that their Interests will be hereby eclipsed in time; To such I say I do not write, because I have little hopes to reform a wrong Practice in them by Reason and Argument. But those who are above Prejudice may easily judge of the great Benefits that will accrue by the following Methods, I have here plainly made known, and of those in my Second Book that I have almost finished and hope to publish in a little time, wherein I shall set forth how to Brew without boiling Water or Wort, and several other Ways that will be of considerable Service to the World_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAP. I.

Of the Nature of the Barley-Corn, and of the proper Soils and Manures for the Improvement thereof.

This Grain is well known to excel all others for making of Malts that produce those fine British Liquors, Beer and Ale, which no other Nation can equalize; But as this Excellency cannot be obtain'd unless the several Ingredients are in a perfect State and Order, and these also attended with a right judgment; I shall here endeavour to treat on their several particulars, and first of Soils.

This Grain I annually sow in my Fields on diversities of Soils, and thereby have brought to my knowledge several differences arising therefrom. On our Red Clays this Grain generally comes off reddish at both ends, and sometimes all over, with a thick skin and tuff nature, somewhat like the Soil it grows in, and therefore not so valuable as that of contrary qualities, nor are the black blewish Marly Clays of the Vale much better, but Loams are, and Gravels better than them, as all the Chalks are better then Gravels; on these two last Soils the Barley acquires a whitish Body, a thin skin, a short plump kernel, and a (unreadable) flower, which occasions those, fine pale and amber Malts made at Dunstable, Tring and Dagnal from the Barley that comes off the white and gravelly Grounds about those Places; for it is certain there is as much difference in Barley as in Wheat or other Grain, from the sort it comes off, as appears by the excellent Wheats that grow in the marly vale Earths, Peas in Sands, and Barley in Gravels and Chalks, &c. For our Mother Earth, as it is destinated to the service of Man in the production of Vegetables, is composed of various sorts of Soils for different Seeds to grow therein. And since Providence has been pleased to allow Man this great privilege for the imployment of his skill and labour to improve the same to his advantage; it certainly behoves us to acquaint ourselves with its several natures, and how to adapt an agreeable Grain and Manure to their natural Soil, as being the very foundation of enjoying good and bad Malts. This is obvious by parallel Deductions from Turneps sown on rank clayey loamy Grounds, dressed with noxious Dungs that render them bitter, tuff, and nauseous, while those that grow on Gravels, Sands and Chalky Loams under the a.s.sistance of the Fold, or Soot, Lime, Ashes, Hornshavings, &c. are sweet (unreadable) and pleasant. 'Tis the same also with salads, Asparagus, Cabbages, Garden-beans and all other culinary Ware, that come off those rich Grounds glutted with the great quant.i.ties of London and other rank Dungs which are not near so pure, sweet and wholsome, as those produced from Virgin mould and other healthy Earths and Manures.

There is likewise another reason that has brought a disreputation on some of the Chiltern-barley, and that is, the too often sowing of one and the same piece of Ground, whereby its spirituous, nitrous and sulphureous qualities are exhausted and worn out, by the constant attraction of its best juices for the nutriment of the Grain: To supply which, great quant.i.ties of Dungs are often incorporated with such Earths, whereby they become impregnated with four, adulterated, unwholsome qualities, that so affect the Barley that grows therein, as to render it incapable of making such pure and sweet Malts, as that which is sown in the open Champaign-fields, whose Earths are constantly rested every third Year called the Fallow-season, in order to discharge their crude, phlegmatick and sour property, by the several turnings that the Plough gives them part of a Winter and one whole Summer, which exposes the rough, clotty loose parts of the Ground, and by degrees brings them into a condition of making a lodgment of those saline benefits that arise from the Earths, and afterwards fall down, and redound so much to the benefit of all Vegetables that grow therein, as being the essence and spring of Life to all things that have root, and tho' they are first exhaled by the Sun in vapour from the Earth as the spirit or breath thereof, yet is it return'd again in Snows, Hails, Dews, etc. more than in Rains, by which the surface of the Globe is saturated; from whence it reascends in the juices of Vegetables, and enters into all those productions as food, and nourishment, which the Creation supplies.

Here then may appear the excellency of steeping Seed-barley in a liquor lately invented, that impregnates and loads it with Nitre and other Salts that are the nearest of all others to the true and original Spirit or Salt of the Earth, and therefore in a great measure supplies the want thereof both in inclosure and open Field; for even in this last it is sometimes very scarce, and in but small quant.i.ties, especially after a hot dry Summer and mild Winter, when little or no Snows have fell to cover the Earth and keep this Spirit in; by which and great Frosts it is often much encreased and then shews itself in the warmth of well Waters, that are often seen to wreak in the cold Seasons. Now since all Vegetables more or less partake of those qualities that the Soil and Manures abound with in which they grow; I therefore infer that all Barley so imbibed, improves its productions by the ascension of those saline spirituous particles that are thus lodged in the Seed when put into the Ground, and are part of the nourishment the After-Crop enjoys; and for this reason I doubt not, but when time has got the ascendant of prejudice, the whole Nation will come into the practice of the invaluable Receipt published in two Books, ent.i.tuled, Chiltern and Vale Farming Explained, and, The Practical Farmer; both writ by William Ellis of Little Gaddesden near Hempstead in Hertfords.h.i.+re, not only for Barley, but other Grains.

But notwithstanding Barley may grow on a light Soil with a proper Manure; and improved by the liquor of this Receipt, yet this Grain may be damaged or spoiled by being mown too soon, which may afterwards be discovered by its shrivelled and lean body that never will make right good Malt; or if it is mown at a proper time, and if it be housed damp, or wettish, it will be apt to heat and mow-burn, and then it will never make so good Malt, because it will not spire, nor come so regularly on the floor as that which was inned dry.

Again, I have known one part of a Barley-crop almost green at Harvest, another part ripe, and another part between both, tho' it was all sown at once, occasion'd by the several situations of the Seed in the Ground, and the succeeding Droughts. The deepest came up strong and was ripe soonest, the next succeeded; but the uppermost, for want of Rain and Cover, some of it grew not at all, and the rest was green at Harvest. Now these irregularities are greatly prevented and cured by the application of the ingredients mentioned in the Receipt, which infuses such a moisture into the body of the Seed, as with the help of a little Rain and the many Dews, makes it spire, take root and grow, when others are ruined for want of the a.s.sistance of such steeping.

Barley like other Grain will also degenerate, and become rank, lean and small bodied, if the same Seed is sown too often in the Soil; 'tis therefore that the best Farmers not only change the Seed every time, but take due care to have it off a contrary Soil that they sow it in to; this makes several in my neighbourhood every Year buy their Barley-seed in the Vale of Ailsbury, that grew there on the black clayey marly Loams, to sow in Chalks, Gravels, &c. Others every second Year will go from hence to Fullham and buy the Forward or Rath-ripe Barley that grows there on Sandy-ground; both which Methods are great Improvements of this Corn, and whether it be for sowing or malting, the plump, weighty and white Barley- corn, is in all respects much kinder than the lean flinty Sorts.

CHAP. II

Of making Malts.

As I have described the Ground that returns the best Barley, I now come to treat of making it into Malt; to do which, the Barley is put into a leaden or tyled Cistern that holds five, ten or more Quarters, that is covered with water four or six Inches above the Barley to allow for its Swell; here it lyes five or six Tides as the Malster calls it, reckoning twelve Hours to the Tide, according as the Barley is in body or in dryness; for that which comes off Clays, or has been wash'd and damag'd by Rains, requires less time than the dryer Grain that was inned well and grew on Gravels or Chalks; the smooth plump Corn imbibing the water more kindly, when the lean and steely Barley will not so naturally; but to know when it is enough, is to take a Corn end-ways between the Fingers and gently crush it, and if it is in all parts mellow, and the husk opens or starts a little from the body of the Corn, then it is enough: The nicety of this is a material Point; for if it is infus'd too much, the sweetness of the Malt will be greatly taken off, and yield the less Spirit, and so will cause deadness and sourness in Ale or Beer in a short time, for the goodness of the Malt contributes much to the preservation of all Ales and Beers. Then the water must be drain'd from it very well, and it will come equal and better on the floor, which may be done in twelve or sixteen Hours in temperate weather, but in cold, near thirty. From the Cistern it is put into a square Hutch or Couch, where it must lye thirty Hours for the Officer to take his Gage, who allows four Bushels in the Score for the Swell in this or the Cistern, then it must be work'd Night and Day in one or two Heaps as the weather is cold or hot, and turn'd every four, six or eight Hours, the outward part inwards and the bottom upwards, always keeping a clear floor that the Corn that lies next to it be not chill'd; and as soon as it begins to come or spire, then turn it every three, four or five Hours, as was done before according to the temper of the Air, which greatly governs this management, and as it comes or works more, so must the Heap be spreaded and thinned larger to cool it. Thus it may lye and be work'd on the floor in several parallels, two or three Foot thick, ten or more Foot broad, and fourteen or more in length to Chip and Spire; but not too much nor too soft; and when it is come enough, it is to be turned twelve or sixteen times in twenty-four Hours, if the Season is warm, as in March, April or May; and when it is fixed and the Root begins to be dead, then it must be thickned again and carefully kept often turned and work'd, that the growing of the Root may not revive, and this is better done with the Shoes off than on; and here the Workman's Art and Diligence in particular is tryed in keeping the floor clear and turning the Malt often, that it neither moulds nor Aker-spires, that is, that the Blade does not grow out at the opposite end of the Root; for if it does, the flower and strength of the Malt is gone, and nothing left behind but the Aker-spire, Husk and Tail: Now when it is at this degree and fit for the Kiln, it is often practised to put it into a Heap and let it lye twelve Hours before it is turned, to heat and mellow, which will much improve the Malt if it is done with moderation, and after that time it must be turned every six Hours during twenty four; but if it is overheated, it will become like Grease and be spoiled, or at least cause the Drink to be unwholsome; when this Operation is over, it then must be put on the Kiln to dry four, six or twelve Hours, according to the nature of the Malt, for the pale sort requires more leisure and less fire than the amber or brown sorts: Three Inches thick was formerly thought a sufficient depth for the Malt to lye on the Hair-cloth, but now six is often allowed it to a fault; fourteen or sixteen Foot square will dry about two Quarters if the Malt lyes four Inches thick, and here it should be turned every two, three or four Hours keeping the Hair-cloth clear: The time of preparing it from the Cistern to the Kiln is uncertain; according to the Season of the Year; in moderate weather three Weeks is often sufficient. If the Exciseman takes his Gage on the floor he allows ten in the Score, but he sometimes Gages in Cistern, Couch, Floor and Kiln, and where he can make most, there he fixes his Charge: When the Malt is dryed, it must not cool on the Kiln, but be directly thrown off, not into a Heap, but spreaded wide in an airy place, till it is thoroughly cool, then put it into a Heap or otherwise dispose of it.

There are several methods used in drying of Malts, as the Iron Plate-frame, the Tyle-frame, that are both full of little Holes: The Bra.s.s-wyred and Iron-wyred Frame, and the Hair-cloth; the Iron and Tyled one, were chiefly Invented for drying of brown Malts and saving of Fuel, for these when they come to be thorough hot will make the Corns crack and jump by the fierceness of their heat, so that they will be roasted or scorch'd in a little time, and after they are off the Kiln, to plump the body of the Corn and make it take the Eye, some will sprinkle water over it that it may meet with the better Market. But if such Malt is not used quickly, it will slacken and lose its Spirits to a great degree, and perhaps in half a Year or less may be taken by the Whools and spoiled: Such hasty dryings or scorchings are also apt to bitter the Malt by burning its skin, and therefore these Kilns are not so much used now as formerly: The Wyre-frames indeed are something better, yet they are apt to scorch the outward part of the Corn, that cannot be got off so soon as the Hair-cloth admits of, for these must be swept, when the other is only turned at once; however these last three ways are now in much request for drying pale and amber Malts, because their fire may be kept with more leisure, and the Malt more gradually and truer dyed, but by many the Hair-cloth is reckoned the best of all.

Malts are dryed with several sorts of Fuel; as the Coak, Welch-coal, Straw, Wood and Fern, &c. But the Coak is reckoned by most to exceed all others for making Drink of the finest Flavour and pale Colour, because it sends no smoak forth to hurt the Malt with any offensive tang, that Wood, Fern and Straw are apt to do in a lesser or greater degree; but there is a difference even in what is call'd Coak, the right sort being large Pit- coal chark'd or burnt in some measure to a Cinder, till all the Sulphur is consumed and evaporated away, which is called Coak, and this when it is truly made is the best of all other Fuels; but if there is but one Cinder as big as an Egg, that is not thoroughly cured, the smoak of this one is capable of doing a little damage, and this happens too often by the negligence or avarice of the Coak-maker: There is another sort by some wrongly called Coak, and rightly named Culme or Welch-coal, from Swanzey in Pembrokes.h.i.+re, being of a hard stony substance in small bits resembling a s.h.i.+ning Coal, and will burn without smoak, and by its sulphureous effluvia cast a most excellent whiteness on all the outward parts of the grainy body: In Devons.h.i.+re I have seen their Marble or grey Fire-stone burnt into Lime with the strong fire that this Culme makes, and both this and the Chark'd Pit-coal affords a most sweet moderate and certain fire to all Malt that is dryed by it.

Straw is the next sweetest Fuel, but Wood and Fern worst of all.

Some I have known put a Peck or more of Peas, and malt them with five Quarters of Barley, and they'll greatly mellow the Drink, and so will Beans; but they won't come so soon, nor mix so conveniently with the Malt, as the Pea will.

I knew a Farmer, when he sends five Quarters of Barley to be Malted, puts in half a Peck or more of Oats amongst them, to prove he has justice done him by the Maker, who is hereby confin'd not to Change his Malt by reason others won't like such a mixture.

But there is an abuse sometimes committed by a necessitous Malster, who to come by Malt sooner than ordinary, makes use of Barley before it is thoroughly sweated in the Mow, and then it never makes right Malt, but will be steely and not yield a due quant.i.ty of wort, as I knew it once done by a Person that thrashed the Barley immediately from the Cart as it was brought out of the Field, but they that used its Malt suffered not a little, for it was impossible it should be good, because it did not thoroughly Chip or Spire on the floor, which caused this sort of Malt, when the water was put to it in the Mash-tub, to swell up and absorb the Liquor, but not return its due quant.i.ty again, as true Malt would, nor was the Drink of this Malt ever good in the Barrel, but remain'd a raw insipid beer, past the Art of Man to Cure, because this, like Cyder made from Apples directly off the Tree, that never sweated out their phlegmatick crude juice in the heap, cannot produce a natural Liquor from such unnatural management; for barley certainly is not fit to make Malt of until it is fully mellowed and sweated in the Mow, and the Season of the Year is ready for it, without both which there can be no a.s.surance of good Malt: Several instances of this untimely making Malt I have known to happen, that has been the occasion of great quant.i.ties of bad Ales and Beers, for such Malt, retaining none of its Barley nature, or that the Season of the Year is not cold enough to admit of its natural working on the Floor, is not capable of producing a true Malt, it will cause its Drink to stink in the cask instead of growing fit for use, as not having its genuine Malt-nature to cure and preserve it, which all good Malts contribute to as well as the Hop.

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 quant.i.ty. 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 nouris.h.i.+ng 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 Gla.s.s 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 quant.i.ty, and thereby produce a greater length of wort, than the brown high dryed Malt, for which reason it is sold for one or two s.h.i.+llings 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 nouris.h.i.+ng 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 quant.i.ties 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 b.u.t.t-keeping-beers with, and that because it sold for two s.h.i.+llings 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 Quant.i.ty 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 Quant.i.ties annually cut by Malsters on our Commons, for the two prevalent Reasons of cheapness and plenty.

At Bridport in Dorsets.h.i.+re, I knew an Inn-keeper use half Pale and half Brown Malt for Brewing his b.u.t.t-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 Northamptons.h.i.+re, 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 s...o...b..tick, 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.