a daily office, or book of divine service, in the Roman church. It is composed of matins, lauds, first, third, sixth, and ninth vespers, and the compline, or post communio. The breviary of Rome is general, and may be used in all places; but on the model of this various others have been built, appropriated to each diocese, and each order of religious.

The breviary of the Greeks is the same in almost all churches and monasteries that follow the Greek rites; the Greeks divide the psalter into twenty parts. In general, the Greek breviary consists of two parts; the one containing the office for the evening, the other that of the morning, divided into matins, lauds, first, third, sixth, and ninth vespers, and the compline; that is, of seven different hours, on account of that saying of David, *Septies in die laudem dixi tibi*.

The institution of the breviary is not very ancient; there have been inserted in it the lives of the saints, full of ridiculous and ill-attempted stories, which gave occasion to several reformations of it, by several councils, particularly those of Trent and Cologne; by several popes, particularly Pius V., Clement VIII., and Urban VIII.; and also by several cardinals and bishops, each lopping off some extravagances, and bringing it nearer to the simplicity of the primitive offices. Originally, every body was obliged to recite the breviary every day; but by degrees the obligation was reduced to the clergy only, who are enjoined, under penalty of mortal sin and ecclesiastical censures, to recite it at home, when they cannot attend in public. In the XIVth century, there was a particular reserve granted in favour of bishops, who were allowed, on extraordinary occasions, to pass three days without rehearsing the breviary.

This office was originally called *curfus*, and afterwards the *breviarium*; which latter name imports, that the old office was abridged, or rather, that this collection is a kind of abridgment of all the prayers.

The breviaries now in use are innumerable; the difference between them consists principally in the number and order of the psalms, hymns, pater-nosters, ave-Maries, creeds, magnificats, cantemus's, benedictus's, canticamus's, nunc dimittis's, miserere's, hallelujah's, gloria patri's, &c.

**Breviary**, in Roman antiquity, a book first introduced by Augustus, containing an account of the application of the public money.

**Breviator**, an officer under the eastern empire, whose business it was to write and translate briefs.

At Rome these are still called breviators, or abbreviators, who dictate and draw up the pope's briefs.

**Brevibus a rotulis liberandis**, a writ or command to a sheriff to deliver to his successor the county, with the appurtenances, and the rolls, writs, and other things to his office belonging.

**Brevier**, among printers, a small kind of type or letter between bourgeois and minion.

**Brevium custos**, See Custos.

**Brevordt**, a town of Guelderland, in the United Netherlands, situated about twenty-five miles southeast of Zutphen, in 6° 35' E. long. and 52° N. lat.

**Brewer**, a person who professes the art of brewing.

There are companies of brewers in most capital cities; that of London was incorporated in 1427, by Hen. VI., and that of Paris is still older.

**Brewer's-Haven**, a good harbour at the north end of the island of Chiloe, on the coast of Chili, in South America; W. long. 82°, and S. lat. 42°.

**Brew House**, a place for brewing. See Brewing.

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**Brewing**

Brewing is the operation of preparing ale or beer from malt. Before we treat of this operation, it will be necessary to explain the nature of malt, and the method of making it.

**OF MALT.**

That species of fermentation which is called the vinous fermentation, is only producible by the juices of vegetable substances. The sugar or saccharine matter is the cause of this fermentation. If sugar be added to water in the proportion of 1 to 3, a proper vinous fermentation is excited. When this saccharine matter is extracted from vegetables, they immediately lose their fermentative power. Most plants either naturally contain this saccharine matter, or are capable of acquiring it by a certain method of treatment. This process of converting vegetable substances into sugar is known by the name of *malting*.

Though most vegetable substances be convertible into malt, barley is found by experience to be the most proper for undergoing this operation.

As the converting of grains into malt, is only a part of the progress towards their germination, it may be performed by committing them for some time to the earth. But the ordinary method is to steep the barley for some time in water, and then to expose it in heaps on the floor of a barn till it begins to heat; after which, it must be spread out in thin layers, to prevent putrefaction. It ought to continue in this situation till the plume or bud is just about to escape from the seed, and then it is considered as perfectly malted; that is, the seeds are converted into a sweet, moist substance. This change of taste, or malting, keeps exact pace with the progress of the plume; hence one half of the seed is frequently malted, while the other undergoes no change. If the plume be allowed to shoot fully out, the seeds immediately lose their saccharine taste, and are changed into insipid hollow... hollow bags. When feeds are thus sufficiently malted, they must be dried in malt-kilns, the fuel of which should smoke as little as possible.—The husks must now be broken open by malt-mills, and then infused or milled in warm water, in order to extract the saccharine substance; the heat applied should be very slow and gradual. Thus the malt is dissolved, and lies till the liquor be sufficiently tinctured. When the malt is too long diffused, so that an acetous fermentation begins to take place, it is called blinking, or fixing, by brewers.

This tincture obtained from the infusion of ground malt, is commonly known by the name of wort.

We shall now give an account of this process in the language and manner of the actual brewer, which will probably be more acceptable than treating it in a philosophical manner.

Of making Malt.

The barley must be put into a leaden or tiled cistern, that holds five, ten, or more quarters, and covered with water four or six inches above the barley, to allow for its swell. Here it must lie five or six tides, as the maltster calls it, reckoning twelve hours to the tide, according as the barley is in body or in drienefs. The way to know when it is enough, is to take a corn; end-ways, between the fingers, and gently crush it; and if it be 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 be infused too much, the sweetness of the malt will be greatly taken off, and yield the least spirit, and will cause deadnefs 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 well drained from it, 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 lie thirty hours; then it must be worked night and day in one or two heaps, as the weather is cold or hot, and turned every four, fix, 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 chilled; 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 lie and be worked on the floor in several parallels, two or three feet thick, ten or more feet broad, and fourteen or more in length, to chip or spire, but not too much nor too fast; and when it is come enough, it is to be turned twelve or fifteen 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 thickened again, and carefully kept often turned and worked, 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 tried, in keeping the floor clear, and turning the malt often, that it neither moulds nor acre-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 acre-spire, husk, and tail: Now, when it is at this degree, and fit for the kiln, it is often put into a heap, and let lie 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 fix 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 unwholesome. When this operation is over, it then must be put on the kiln, to dry four, fix, 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 lie on the hair-cloth; but now six is often allowed it; fourteen or sixteen feet square will dry about two quarters, if the malt lies 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 are often sufficient. When the malt is dried, it must not cool on the kiln, but be directly thrown off, not into a heap, but spread 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 tile-frame, that are both full of little holes; the brafs-wired, and iron-wired frame; and the hair-cloth. The iron and tiled ones 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 scorched 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 scorings, are also apt to bitter the malt, by burning its skin, and therefore these kilns are not so much used now as formerly. The wire-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 better dried. But by many the hair-cloth is reckoned the best.

Malts are dried 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 smoke 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 called coak, the right sort being large pit-coal charred or burnt in some measure to a cinder, till all the sulphur is consumed and evaporated, which is called choak; and this, when it is truly made, is the best of all other fuels. But if there be but one cinder as big as an egg, not thoroughly cured, the smoke of this one is capable of doing damage, which happens too often by the negligence or avarice of the choak-maker: There is another sort, by some wrongly called choak, and rightly named culm or Welch-coal, from Swanzy in Pembrokeshire, being of a hard stony substance, in small bits, resembling a thinning coal, and will burn without smoke, and by its sulphureous effluvia cast a most excellent whitening on all the outward parts of the grainy body: In Devonshire their marble or grey fire-stone is burnt into lime with the strong fire that this culm makes, and both this and the chalked pit-coal afford a moderate and certain fire to all malt that is dried by it. Straw is the next sweetest fuel; but wood and fern are the worst.

Some put a peck or more of peas, and malt them with five quarters of barley, to mellow the drink: Beans are used for the same purpose; but they do not come so soon, nor mix so conveniently with the malt, as the pea.

Barley is not fit to make malt of till 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 assurance of good malt. This untimely making of malt often occasions bad ales and beers; for such malt retaining some 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, but 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 as well as the hop.

Mellilet, a most thieving weed that grows among barley, if not thoroughly cleaned from it before malting, makes the drink so heady, that it is apt to intoxicate the unwary by drinking a small quantity: Besides, it gives a nauseous flavour to the liquor.

To know good from bad Malts.

First, break the malt-corn across between the teeth, in the middle, or at both ends, and if it tastes mellow and sweet, has a round body, breaks soft, is full of flour all its length, smells well, and has a thin skin, then it is good. Secondly, take a glass near full of water, and put in some malt; if it swells, 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; this, however, is not an infallible rule, because, if a corn of malt is cracked, split, or broke, it will then take the water and sink; but an allowance may 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 a mellow nature, that, if forced against a dry board, it 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.

Of the Nature and Use of Pale, Amber, and Brown Malts.

The pale malt is the flowest and slackest dried 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 flour of the grain will remain in its full quantity, and thereby produce a greater length of wort than the brown high-dried malt. It may be brewed either with spring or common well water.

The amber-coloured malt is that which is dried in a medium degree, between the pale and the brown, and is very much in use, as being free of either extreme. Its colour is pleasant, its taste agreeable, and its nature wholesome, which makes it be preferred 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 dried of any, even till it is so hard, that it is difficult to bite some of its corns asunder. This malt, by some, is thought to occasion the gravel or stone, and is by its steely nature less nourishing than the pale or amber malts, being very much impregnated with the fiery 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, or porter, 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 hoghead, and it be hopped accordingly.

Pale and amber malts dried with coak or culm, obtain a more clean, bright, pale colour, than if dried with any other fuel, because there is not smoak to darken and fuly their skins or husks, and give them an ill relish, which those malts have, more or less, that are dried with straw, wood, or fern, &c. The coak or Welch coal also makes more true and compleat malt than any other fuel, because its fire gives both a gentle and certain heat, whereby the corns are in all their parts gradually dried; 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 wholesome nature and sweet fine taste.

Next to the coak-dried malt, the straw dried is the sweetest and best tasted: This, it must be acknowledged, is sometimes well malted, where the barley, wheat, straw, conveniences, 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 dried with straw, wood, and fern, &c. Of grinding Malts.

This article well deserves the notice of all brewers, for on it the goodness of our drink greatly depends; because, if it is ground too small, the flour of the malt will be the easier and more freely mixed with the water, and will cause the wort to run thick; therefore the malt must be only just broke in the mill, to make it emit its spirit gradually, and incorporate its flour 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 gregarious as to grind their brown malt a fortnight before they use it, and keep it in a dry place, that it may become mellower, by losing in a great measure the fury of its harsh fiery particles, and its fleely 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 pale malts will be fit for use at a week's end, because the leavening 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 beforehand cannot 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 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, and also the waste of a great deal of the malt-flour, that is lost when carried in baskets. A steel hand-mill, will, by the help of only one man, grind six or eight bushels in an hour, and will last a family many years without hardening or cutting. There are some old fashioned stone hand-mills in being, that some prefer to the iron ones, because they allege 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 confined within its hull. Notwithstanding, the iron ones are now mostly in use, for their great dispatch and long duration. In the country they frequently throw a sack of malt on a stone or brick floor as soon as it is ground, and let it lie, 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.

Of the Nature of several Waters, and their Use in Brewing.

Water is a matter of great importance in brewing wholesome fine malt-liquors. Now, the more simple and freer every water is from foreign particles, it is the better.

Spring-waters are in general liable to partake of those minerals through which they pass. At Uppingham in Rutland, their water is said to come off an alum rock; and so tinges their beer with its saline quality, that it is easily tasted at the first draught. But that which will lather with soap, or soft water, that percolates through chalk, or a grey fire-stone, is generally accounted best; for chalk in this respect excels all other earths, because it communicates nothing unwholesome to the waters, but absorbs any minerals that may accompany the water that runs through them: For which reason they throw in great quantities of chalk into their wells at Ailebury to soften their water, which, coming off a black sandstone, 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 is neither fit to wash nor brew with, but so long as the alkaline particles of the chalk hold good, they put it to both uses.

River-water is less liable to be loaded with metallic, petrifying, or saline particles, than the well or spring sorts, especially at some distance from the spring head, because the rain-water mixes with and softens it. But in running, it often collects gross particles, from ouzy muddy mixtures, particularly near town, which make the beer subject to new fermentations, and grow foul upon any alteration of the weather, as the Thames-water generally does; yet this, for its softness, is much better than the hard lot; however, both these waters are used by some brewers. But where river-water can be had clean in a dry time; when no great rain has lately fell out of rivulets, or rivers that have a gravelly, chalky, sandy, or stony bottom, free from the disturbance of cattle, &c., and in good air, 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 obtained 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 mortar that often mix with it as it runs off tiled roofs; this is very agreeable for brewing of ales that are not to be kept long, but for beers that are to remain some time in the casks, it is not so good, being apt to putrefy the soonest of any.

Pond waters. This includes all standing waters, chiefly from rain, and are good or bad according to circumstances; 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 is then nearly as good as rain or river-waters. But where it is in a small quantity, or full of fish (especially the sling-trench) 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 too low as to oblige us to strain it through sieves before we can use it, to take out the small red worms and other corruptions that stagnant waters are subject to.

The London Method of Brewing.

Stout Butt beer or Porter.

This is the strongest porter that is brewed from brown malt, and often sold for forty shillings the barrel, or six pounds the butt out of the wholesale cellars: The liquor (for it is six-pence forfeit in the London brew-house if the word water is named) in the copper designed for the first mash, has a two-bushel basket, or more, of the most hulky malt thrown over it, to cover its top, and afterwards 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 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, looked into, and felt with the finger or back of the hand, and if the liquor be clear, and of such heat as can be but just endured, it is then enough, and the stoker must damp his fire as soon as possible, by throwing in a good parcel of fresh coals, and shutting his iron vent-doors; immediately on this, they let as much cold liquor or water run into the copper as will make it all of a heat, somewhat more than blood-warm; this they pump over, or let it pass by a cock into an upright wooden square spout or trunk, and it directly rises through the holes of a false bottom into the malt, which is worked by several men with oars for about half an hour, and is called the first and stiff mash: While this is doing, there is more liquor heating in the copper, that must not be let into the mash-run till it is very sharp, almost ready to boil; with this they mash again, then cover it with several baskets of malt, and let it stand an hour before it runs into the under-back, which, when boiled an hour and a half with a good quantity of hops, makes this stout. The next is mashed with a cooler liquor, then a sharper, and the next blood-warm or quite cold; by which alternate degrees of heat, a quantity of small beer is made after the stout.

To make Porter, or Butt-beer, to have a fine Tang.

This, of late, has been improved two ways: First, by mixing two bushels of pale malt with six of brown, which will preserve butt-beer in a mellow condition, and cause it to have a pleasant sweet flavour: And, secondly, further to improve and render it more palatable, they boil it two hours and a half, and work it two days as cold as possible in the tun; at last, they stir it, and put a good handful of common salt into the quantity of a butt: Then, when the yeast has had one rising more, they tun it.

Strong Brown Ale, called Stitch.

Most of this is the first running of the malt, but yet of a longer length than is drawn from the stout; it has but few hops boiled in it, and is sold for eight pence per gallon at the brew-house out of the tun, and is generally made to amend the common brown ale with, on particular occasions.

Common Brown Ale and Starting-beer.

They take the liquors from the brown ale as for the stout, but draw a greater quantity from the malt than for stout or stitch; and after the stiff and second mash, they cap the goods with fresh malt, to keep in the spirit, and boil it an hour; after this, small beer is made of the same goods. Thus also the common brown starting butt-beer or porter is brewed, only boiled with more hops an hour and a half, and worked cooler and longer than the brown ale, and a shorter length drawn from the malt. But it is customary after the brown ale, or when a quantity of small beer is wanted, or is to be brewed better than ordinary, to put so much fresh malt on the goods as will answer that purpose.

Pale and Amber Ales and Beer.

As the brown malts are brewed with river, these are brewed with well or spring-liquors. The liquors are by some taken sharper for pale than brown malts, and, after the stiff scalding liquor is put over, some lower the rett by degrees, to the last, which is quite cold, for their small beer; and for butt-beers, there is no other difference than the addition of more hops, and boiling, and the method of working.

Entire Guile Small Beer.

On the first liquor they throw some hulky malt, to show the break of it, and when it is very sharp, they let in some cold liquor, and run it into the tun milk-warm; this is mashed with thirty or forty pulls of the oar, and let stand till the second liquor is ready, which must be almost scalding hot to the back of the hand; then run it by the cock into the tun, mash it up, and let it stand an hour before it is spent off into the under-back: These two pieces of liquor will make one copper of the first wort, without putting any fresh malt on the goods; the next liquor to be blood-warm, the next sharp, and the next cool or cold; for the general way in great brew-houses is, to let a cool liquor precede a sharp one, because it gradually opens the pores of the malt and goods, and prepares the way for the hotter liquor that is to follow.

The several Lengths or Quantities of Drinks that have been made from Malt, and their several Prices, as they have been sold at a common Brew-house.

For a stout-beer, is commonly drawn one barrel off a quarter of malt, and sold for thirty shillings per barrel from the tun. For stitch or strong brown ale, one barrel and a firkin, at one and twenty shillings and four pence per barrel from the tun. For common brown ale, one barrel and a half, or more, at sixteen shillings per barrel, that holds thirty-two English gallons from the tun. For entire small beer, five or six barrels off a quarter, at seven or eight shillings per barrel from the tun. For pale and amber ale, one barrel and a firkin, at one shilling per gallon, from the tun. A Method practised by a Victualler, for Brewing Ale or October Beer, from Nottingham.

His copper holds twenty-four gallons, and the mash-tub has room enough for four or more bushels of malt. The first full copper of boiling water he puts into the mash-tub, there to lie a quarter of an hour, till the steam is so far spent that he can see his face in it; or, as soon as the hot water is put in, throws a pail or two of cold water into it, which will bring it at once into a temper; then he lets three bushels of malt be run leisurely into it, and stirred or mashed all the while, but as little as can be, or no more than just to keep the malt from clotting or balling; when that is done, he puts one bushel of dry malt at the top, to keep in the vapour or spirit, and so lets it stand covered two hours, or till the next copper-full of water is boiling hot, which he ladles over the malt or goods three hand-bowls full at a time, that are to run off at the cock or tap by a very small stream before more is put on, which again must be returned into the mash-tub till it comes off exceeding fine; for, unless the wort is clear when it goes into the copper, there are little hopes it will be so in the barrel; which leisure way obliges him to be fifteen hours in brewing these four bushels of malt. Now between the ladings-over he puts cold water into the copper to be boiling hot, while the other is running off; by this means his copper is kept up near full, and the cock spending to the end of brewing his ale or small beer, of which only twenty-one gallons must be saved of the first wort that is referred in a tub, wherein four ounces of hops are put, and then it is to be set by. For the second wort we will suppose there are twenty gallons of water in the copper boiling hot, that must be all ladled over in the same manner as the former was, but no cold water need here be mixed; when half of this is run out into a tub, it must be directly put into the copper with half of the first wort, strained through the brewing-sieve as it lies on a small wooden loofe frame over the copper, to keep back those hops that were first put in to preserve it, which is to make the first copper twenty-one gallons; then, upon its beginning to boil, he puts in a pound of hops in one or two canvas or other coarse linen bags, somewhat larger than will just contain the hops, that an allowance may be given for their swell; this he boils away very briskly for half an hour, when he takes the hops out and continues boiling the wort by itself till it breaks into particles a little ragged, and then it is enough, and must be dispersed into the cooling-tubs very thin: Then put the remainder of the first and second wort together, and boil that the same time, in the same manner, and with the same quantity of fresh hops, as the first was. The rest of the third or small-beer wort will be about fifteen or twenty gallons more or less, which he mixes directly with some cold water to keep it free of excite, and puts it into the copper as the first liquor to begin a second brewing of ale, with another four bushels of malt as he did before, and so on for several days together if necessary; and at last there may be some small-beer made.

The Nature and Use of the Hop.

This vegetable was formerly thought to be an wholesome ingredient. Indeed, when the hop, in a dear time, is adulterated with water, in which aloes, &c., have been infused, in order to make the old hops recover their bitterness, and seem new, then they are to be looked on as unwholesome; but the pure new hop, when properly managed, has no hurtful qualities. But if the hops are boiled in strong or small worts beyond their fine and pure nature, the liquor suffers, and will be tainted with a noxious taste, both ungrateful and unwholesome to the stomach; and, if boiled to a very great excess, they will be apt to cause reachings. It is for these reasons that we advise the boiling two parcels of fresh hops in each copper of ale-wort; and, if there were three for keeping beer, it would be so much the better for the taste, health of body, and longer preservation of the beer in a sound smooth condition. For this purpose, some make a bag, like a pillowcase, and boil the hops in it half an hour; then take them out, and put in another bag of the like quantity of fresh hops, and boil them half an hour more; by which means there is an opportunity of boiling both wort and hops a due time, saving the trouble of straining them through a sieve, and securing the seeds of the hops at the same time from mixing with the drink; afterwards they boil the same bags in the small beer, till the substance of it is got out; but observe that the bags be made larger than what would just contain the hops, otherwise it will be difficult to boil out their substance. It is true, that there is a charge increased by the consumption of a greater quantity of hops than usual; but then how greatly will they answer the desired end of enjoying fine-palated wholesome drink, that, in a cheap time, will not amount to much, if bought at the best hand; and, if we consider their after-use and benefit in small beer, there is not any loss at all in their quantity: But, where it can be afforded, the very small beer would be much improved if fresh hops were also shifted in the boiling of this as well as the stronger worts. Hence may appear the hardships that many are under of being necessitated to drink of those brewers malt-liquors, who, out of avarice, boil their hops to the last, that they may not lose any of their quintessence.

After the wort is cooled and put into the working-vat or tub, some throw fresh hops into it, and work them with the yeast, at the same time referring a few gallons of raw wort to wash the yeast through a sieve to keep back the hop. This is a good way where enough of hops have not been sufficiently boiled in the wort, or to preserve it in the coolers where it is laid thick.

When hops are dear, many use the seeds of wormwood instead of them: Others use the daucus or wild carrot seed that grows in our common fields, which many of the poor people gather and dry in their houses, for the purpose of selling them to the brewers: Others use horseradish, which indeed is a fine bitter, and grows on several of our commons.

Hops have a fine grateful bitter, which makes the drink easy of digestion; they also keep it from running into such cohesions as would make it ropy, vapid, and sour; and therefore are not only of great use in boiled, but in raw worts, to preserve them found till they can be put put into the copper, and afterwards in the tun, while the drink is working.

Here then it must be observed, that the earthy part of the hop is the cause of that rough, harsh, unpleasant taste which accompany both ales and beers that have the hops too long boiled in them, as to tincture their worts with their mischievous effects; for, notwithstanding the malt be ever so good, the hops, if boiled too long in them, will be so predominant as to cause a bad taste.

Of boiling Malt-liquors.

Although it has been formerly said, that an hour and a half is requisite for boiling of October beer, and an hour for ales and small beer; yet it is to be observed, that an exact time is not altogether a certain rule in this case, for, when loose hops are boiled in the wort so long till they all sink, their seeds will arise and fall down again: the wort also will be curdled, and broken into small particles if examined in a hand-bowl, but afterwards into larger, as big as great pins heads, and will appear clean and fine at the top. This is so much a rule with some, that they regard not time, but this sign, to show when the wort is boiled enough; and this will happen sooner or later, according to the nature of the barley, and its being well malted; for, if it comes off chalks or gravels, it generally has the good property of breaking or curdling soon; but, if off tough clays, then it is longer, which, by some persons, is not a little valued, because it saves time in boiling, and consequently the consumption of the wort.

It is also to be observed, that pale malt-worts will not break so soon in the copper as the brown sorts; but, when either of their worts boil, it should be to the purpose, for then they will break sooner, and waste less, than if they are kept simmering, and will likewise work more kindly in the tun, drink smoother, and keep longer.

Now all malt-worts may be spoiled by too little or too much boiling: If too little, then the drink will always taste raw, mawkish, and be unwholesome in the stomach, where, instead of helping to dilute and digest our food, it will cause obstructions, cholics, head-aches, and other diseases: Besides, all such under-boiled drinks are certainly exposed to staleness and sourness, much sooner than those that have had their full time in the copper. And if they are boiled too long, they will then thicken and not come out of the copper fine and in a right condition, which will cause it never to be right clear in the barrel.

But to be more particular, no ale-worts, boiled less than an hour, can be good; because, in an hour's time, they cannot acquire a thickness of body any ways detrimental to them; and, in less than an hour, the famous viscid parts of the ale cannot be sufficiently broke and divided, so as to prevent its running into cohesions, ropiness, and sourness; because in ales there are not hops enough allowed to do this, which good boiling must in a great measure supply; or else such drink can never be good; for then its cohesive parts being not thoroughly broke and comminated by time and boiling, remain hard, and in a good measure indigestible in the stomach: How ignorant then are those people, who, in tipping of such liquor, can praise it for excellent good ale, only because its taste is sweetish, (which is the nature of such raw drinks), believing it to be the pure effect of the genuine malt, and not perceiving the brewer's avarice and cunning, to save the consumption of his wort by shortness of boiling, tho' to the great prejudice of the drinker's health?

In boiling, both time and the curdling or breaking of the wort should be consulted; for if a person was to boil the wort an hour, and then take it out of the copper before it was rightly broke, it would be wrong management, and the drink would not be fine and wholesome; and if it should boil an hour and a half, or two hours, without regarding when its particles are in a right order, then it may be too thick; so that due care must be had to the two extremes, to obtain it in its due order; therefore, in October and keeping beers, an hour and a quarter's good boiling is commonly sufficient to have a thorough cured drink; for generally in that time it will break and boil enough; because in this there is a double security by length of boiling, and a quantity of hops shifted; but in the new way there is only a single one, and that is by a double or treble allowance of fresh hops boiled only half an hour in the wort; and for this practice a reason is assigned, that the hops, being endowed with different aperitive qualities, will, by them and their great quantity, supply the defect of underboiling the wort; and that a farther conveniency is here enjoyed by having only the fine, wholesome, strong, floury, spirituous parts of the hop in the drink, exclusive of the phlegmatic, earthy parts which would be extracted, if the hops were to be boiled above half an hour; and therefore there are many now that are attached to this new method, that they will not brew ale or beer any other way, thinking, that if hops are boiled above thirty minutes, the wort will exhibit some of their bad qualities.

The allowance of hops for ale or beer cannot be exactly adjusted without coming to particulars, because the proportion should be according to the nature and quality of the malt, the season of the year it is brewed in, and the length of time it is to be kept.

For strong brown ale brewed in any of the winter-months, and boiled an hour, one pound is but barely sufficient for a hogshead, if it be tapped in three weeks or a month.

If for pale ale brewed at that time, and for that age, one pound and a quarter of hops; but if these ales are brewed in any of the summer months, there should be more hops allowed.

For October or March brown beer, a hogshead made from eleven bushels of malt boiled an hour and a quarter, to be kept nine months, three pounds and a half ought to be boiled in such drink at the least.

For October or March pale beer, made from fourteen bushels, boiled an hour and a quarter, and kept twelve months, six pounds ought to be allowed to a hogshead of such drink, and more if the hops are shifted in two bags, and less time given the wort to boil. Of Foxing or Tainting Malt-Liquors.

Foxing is a misfortune, or rather a disease, in malt-drinks, occasioned by divers means, as the naughtiness of the utensils, putting the worts too thick together in the backs or coolers, brewing too often and soon one after another, and sometimes by bad malts and waters, and the liquors taken in wrong heats, being of such pernicious consequence to the great brewer in particular, that he sometimes cannot recover and bring his matters into a right order again in less than a week or two, and is so hateful to him in its very name, that it is a general law among them to make all servants that name the word Fox or Foxing in the brew-house to pay six-pence, which obliges them to call it Reynard; for, when once the drink is tainted, it may be smelt at some distance somewhat like a Fox: It chiefly happens in hot weather, and causes the beer and ale to tainted to acquire a fulsome sickish taste, that will, if it is received in a great degree, become ropy like treacle, and in some short time turn sour.

And here we shall mention the great value of the hop in preventing and curing the fox in malt-liquors. When the wort is run into the tub out of the mashing-vat, it is a very good way to throw some hops directly into it before it is put into the copper, and they will secure it against fowels and ropenels, that are the two effects of foxed worts or drinks, and are of such power in this respect, that raw worts may be kept some time, even in hot weather, before they are boiled, and which is necessary where there is a large quantity of malt used to a little copper; but it is certain that the stronger worts will keep longer with hops than the smaller sorts: So likewise, if a person has fewer tubs than are wanted, and he is apprehensive his worts will be foxed by too thick lying in the coolers or working tubs, then it will be a safe way to put some fresh hops into such tubs, and work them with the yeast, or, in case the drink is already foxed in the vat or tun, new hops should be put in and worked with it, and they will greatly fetch it again into a right order; but then such drink should be carefully taken clear off from its gross nasty lee, which being mostly tainted, would otherwise lie in the barrel, corrupt, and make it worse.

Some sift quick-lime into foxed drinks while they are working in the tun or vat, that its fire and salt may break the cohesions of the beer or ale, and burn away the stench that the corruption would always cause; but then such drink should by a peg at the bottom of the vat be drawn off as fine as possible, and the dregs left behind.

Of fermenting and working of Beers and Ales.

Though a small quantity of yeast be necessary to ferment and fine the wort; yet it is in itself of a poisonous nature, and if beat into the wort too often or in too large a quantity, by its stupifying and narcotic quality, it makes the liquor too heady, that five bushels of malt may be equal in strength to six. But liquor made in this manner is extremely unwholesome.

It is alleged indeed, that beating the yeast into wort gives it a fine relish; or it makes the ale bite of the yeast; but the true reason is, to further its sale, on account of its intoxicating quality. But some people are so fond of white thick ale, that they often kill themselves by drinking it; nor is their humour much different as to the common brewers brown ale, who, when the customer wants a hogshead, they put in immediately a handful of salt, and another of flour, and so bring it up; this is sooner over on the stilling than it is tapped, that it may carry a froth on the top of the pot, otherwise they despise it.

See Chemistry, Of fermentation.

Of working and fermenting London Stout Beer and Ale.

The yeast is at once put into the tun to work the stout-beer and ale with; by this means, and the shortness of time we have to ferment our strong drinks, we cannot make reserves of cold worts to mix with and check the too forward working of those liquors. The strong beer brewed for keeping is suffered to be blood-warm in the winter, when the yeast is put into it, that it may gradually work two nights and a day at least, for this will not admit of such a hasty operation as the common brown ale, because, if it is worked too warm and hasty, such beer will not keep near so long as that fermented cooler. The brown ale has, indeed, its yeast put into it in the evening very warm, because it is often carried away the very next morning. The pale or amber ales are often kept near it, not quite a week under fermentation, for the better incorporating the yeast with the wort.

Of forwarding and retarding the Fermentation of Malt-liquors.

In case beer or ale is backward in working, it is customary to cast some flour out of the dusting-box, or with the hand, over the top of the drink, which will become a sort of crust or cover to help to keep the cold out: Others put in one or two ounces of powdered ginger, which heats the wort and brings it forward: Others take a gallon stone-bottle and fill it with boiling water, which, being well corked, is put into the working tub, where it communicates a gradual heat for some time, and forwards the fermentation: Others reserve some raw wort, which they heat and mix with the rest; but then care must be taken, that the pot in which it is heated has no manner of grease about it, lest it should impede, instead of promoting the working; but, for retarding and keeping back any drink that is too much heated in working, the cold raw wort is the most proper of anything to check it; though some are known to put one or more pewter dishes into it for that purpose; or, it may be broke into several other tubs, where, by its shallow lying, its fury will be abated. Others again, to make drink work that is backward, will take the whites of two eggs, and beat them up with half a quartern of good brandy, and put it either into the working-vat, or into the cask, which will quickly bring it forward, if a warm cloth is put over the bung. Others tie up bran in a coarse thin cloth, and put it into the vat, where, by its spongy nature, it absorbs a quantity of the drink, and breeds a heat to forward its working. Some brewers take off all the top-yeast first, and then, by a peg near the bottom of the working-tub, draw off the beer or ale, so that the dregs are by this means left behind. This is very right, in ales that are to be drank soon; but in beers, that are to lie nine or twelve months in a butt or other cask, there certainly will be wanted some faces or sediments for the beer to feed on, else it must consequently grow hungry, sharp, and eager; and therefore, if its own top or bottom are not put into a cask with the beer, some other artificial composition, or lee, should supply its place, that is wholesome, and will better feed with such drink, than its own natural settlement; and therefore, there are here inserted several receipts for answering this end.

Of artificial Lees for Stout or Stale Beer to feed on.

This article is of very great importance in the curing of our malt-liquors. The general misfortune of the porter or keeping-beers drinking hard and harshly, is partly owing to the nasty foul faces that lie at the bottom of the cask, compounded of the sediments of malt, hops, and yeast. Wheat is, by many, put into such beer to feed and preserve it, as being reckoned a substantial alkali; however, it has been proved, that such wheat in about three years time has eaten into the very wood of the cask. Others hang a bag of wheat in the vessel, that it may not touch the bottom; but, in both cases, the wheat is discovered to absorb and collect the acid qualities of the beer, yeast, and hop. Hence it is, that such whole wheat is loaded with the qualities of the unwholesome settlements or grounds of the beer, and becomes of such a corroding nature, as to do mischief; and, for that reason, some hang a bag of the flour of malted oats, wheat, peas, or beans, in the vessels of beer, as being of a lighter and mellower body than the whole wheat or its flour, and more natural to the liquor: But whether it be raw wheat or malted, it is supposed, after this receptacle has emitted its alcalous properties to the beer, and taken in all it can of the acid qualities thereof, that such beer will in time prey upon that again, and so communicate its pernicious qualities to the liquor.

Composition for feeding Porter or Keeping-Beers.

Take a quart of French brandy, or as much of English, that is free from any burnt tang, or other ill taste, and is full proof; to this put as much wheat or bean-flour as will knead it into dough, put it in long pieces into the bung-hole, as soon as the beer has done working, or afterwards, and let it gently fall piece by piece to the bottom of the butt; this will maintain the drink in a mellow freshness, keep staleness off for some time, and cause it to be the stronger as it grows aged.

Another.

Take one pound of treacle, or honey, one pound of the powder of dried oyster-shells, or fat chalk, mix them well, and put it into a butt, as soon as it has done working, or some time after, and bung it well; this will both fine and preserve the beer in a soft, smooth condition for a great while.

Another.

Take a peck of egg-shells, and dry them in an oven, break and mix them with two pounds of fat chalk, and mix them with water wherein four pounds of coarse sugar have been boiled, and put it into the butt as aforesaid.

To fine and preserve Beers and Ales, by boiling an Ingredient in the Wort.

In each barrel-copper of wort, put in two quarts of whole wheat as soon as possible, that it may soak before it boils; then strain it through a sieve, and put the wort in cooling-tubs; thus there will be extracted a gluey consistence, which, being incorporated with the wort by boiling, gives it a more thick and ponderous body, and, when in the cask, soon makes a sediment or lee, as the wort is more or less loaded with the weighty particles of this fizzy body; but if the wheat were first parched, or baked in an oven, it would do better, as being rather too raw as it comes from the ear.

To stop the Fret in Malt-liquors.

Take a quart of black cherry-brandy, and pour it in at the bung-hole of the hogshead, and stop it close.

To recover deadish Beer.

When strong drink grows flat, by the loss of its spirits, take four or five gallons out of a hogshead, and boil it with five pounds of honey, skim it, and, when cold, put it to the rest, and stop it up close: This will make it pleasant, quick, and strong.

To make stale Beer drink new.

Take the herb horehound, stamp it and strain it, then put a spoonful of the juice (which is an extreme good pectoral) to a pitcher full of beer, let it stand covered about two hours, and drink it.

To fine Malt-liquors.

Take a pint of water, half an ounce of unflaked lime, mix them well together; let it stand three hours, and the lime will settle to the bottom, and the water be as clear as glass; pour the water from the sediment, and put it into your ale or beer; mix it with half an ounce of icing-glass, first cut small and boiled; and in five hours time, or less, the beer in the barrel will settle and be clear.

Receipt for making Balls for fining, feeding, preserving, relishing, and colouring Malt Drinks, Wines, and Cyders.

Brown Balls.

Alabaster, or marble calcined into a powder, two pounds. Oyster-shells, a little calcined and freed from their brown or dirt-coloured outside, one pound. Pure fat chalk, well dried, one pound. Horse-bean flour, first freed from the hulls, one pound. Red saunders, four ounces. Grains of paradise, half an ounce. Florentine orris-root, half an ounce. Coriander-seed, a quarter of an ounce. Cloves, in number six. Hops, half an ounce. The best staple incised icing-glass, two ounces. The first runnings of the molasses, or treacle, two pounds. Pale Balls,

Are made in the same manner, and with the like quantity of every thing, except a pound or two of fine sugar made into a syrup, instead of the molasses, and omitting the saunders.

N.B. The powders are to be pretty fine, and the balls dried very gradually without heat for the first three or four days upon brown paper laid over a large sieve bottom, and turned often. Afterwards they may be put into the sun, or at a proper distance from the fire, in order to dry them thoroughly; and the quantity of the hops may be augmented, or wholly omitted, at discretion, according as the liquor requires.

Put as much water to your glass as will just cover it, in order to open its body, letting it stand so twelve hours; then add the following infusion to it, and gradually dissolve the whole over a gentle fire. Then strain it off hot among some of the powder, adding the rest by a little at a time, with some of the treacle or syrup likewise alternately, till you beat the whole into a stiff mass, out of which form balls weighing four ounces each.

The infusion.—Pour a pint of boiling water upon the coriander-seed, and cloves bruised, and the hops well rubbed. Cover them close, and let it stand twelve hours, then strain for the use aforesaid.

The number of balls for each cask.—Powder one of the balls and put it into a pin or half a firkin; into a firkin, two; into a kilderkin, three; into a barrel, six; and so on in proportion as the cask is larger or lesser, stirring them well in; and, if the liquor has age enough, so that it will bear racking, it should be first served to, and then they will answer much better.

Of the Cellar or Repository for keeping Beers and Ales.

It is certain, that the weather has not only a power or influence in brewing, but also after the drink is in the barrel, hogshead, or butt, in cellars, or other places, which is often the cause of forwarding or retarding the fineness of malt-liquors; for if we brew in cold weather, and the drink is to stand in a cellar of clay, or where springs rise, or waters lie or pass through such a place, these will check the due course of the drink, chill, flat, deaden, and hinder it from becoming fine. So likewise, if beer or ale is brewed in hot weather, and put into chalky, gravelly, or sandy cellars, and especially if the windows open to the south, south-east, or south-west, then it is very likely it will not keep long, but be muddy and stale: Therefore, to keep beer in such a cellar, it should be brewed in October, that the drink may have time to cure itself before the hot weather comes on; but, in wet or damp cellars, it is best to brew in March, that the drink may have time to fine and settle before the winter weather is advanced. Now, cellars should have double or treble doors, that the outer one may be shut before the inner one is opened, to keep the air out. If a cellar be kept dry, and have double doors, it is reckoned warm in winter, and cool in summer. But the best of cellars are thought to be those in chalks, gravels, or sands; and particularly in chalks, which are of a drying quality more than any other, and consequently dissipate damps; which contributes much to the good keeping of the drink, for all damp cellars are prejudicial to the preservation of beers and ales, and sooner bring on the rotting of the casks and hoops than the dry ones. Besides, in such inclosed cellars and temperate air, the beers and ales ripen more kindly, are better digested and softened, and drink smoother: But, when the temperature of the air in the cellar is unequal, the drink soon grows stale. Though malt-liquor be truly brewed, yet it is often spoiled in a bad cellar, that occasions such alternate fermentations as to make it thick and sour, though it sometimes happens that after such changes it fines itself again. To prevent these commotions of the beer, some brew their pale malt in March, and their brown in October; because the pale malt, having not so many fiery particles in it as the brown, stands more in need of the summer's weather to ripen it, while the brown fort, being more hard and dry, is better able to defend itself against the winter-colds that will help to smooth its harsh particles; yet, when they happen to be too violent, horse-dung should be laid to the windows as a fortification against them.

Some are of opinion, that October is the best of all other months to brew any sort of malt in, by reason there are so many cold months directly following, that will digest the drink and make it much excel that brewed in March, because such beer will not want that care and watching, as that brewed in March absolutely requires, by often taking out and putting in the vent-peg on change of weather; and, if it is always left out, then it deadens and palls the drink; yet, if due care is not taken in this respect, a thunder or stormy night may mar all, by making the drink ferment and burst the cask; for which reason, as iron hoops are most in fashion at this time, they are certainly the greatest security to the safety of the drink thus exposed; and next to them is the chestnut-hoop; both which will endure a shorter or longer time, as the cellar is more or less dry, and according to the management attending them: The iron hoops generally begin to rust first at the edges, and therefore should be rubbed off, and be kept from wet as much as possible.

Of Cleaning and Sweetening of Casks.

In case your cask is a butt, then with cold water rinse out the lees clean, and have ready boiling or very hot water, which put in, and, with a long stake and a little birch fastened to its end, scrub the bottom as well as you can: At the same time let there be provided another shorter broom of about a foot and a half long, that with one hand may be so employed in the upper and other parts as to clean the cask well: So in a hogshead, or other smaller vessel, the one-handed short broom may be used with water, or with water, sand, or ashes, and be effectually cleaned; the outside of the cask about the bung-hole should be well washed, lest the yeast, as it works over, carry some of its filth with it.

But, to sweeten a barrel, kilderkin, firkin, or pin, in the great brewhouses, they put them over the copper-