DIRECTIONS FOR BREWING

With Needham & Co.'s Patent Portable Family Brewing Machine.

As the attainment of good Malt Liquor greatly depends upon the quality of the materials from which it is produced, it may be useful to give a few general instructions for distinguishing the quality of malt and hops, of which it should be only composed; but considerable practice being requisite to form a ready judgment, it will generally be more safe to buy them of some reputable dealer.

Malt.—To judge of the quality of malt, you must chew it, and if sweet, tender, and mealy, with a brisk full flavour, it is good; in coloured malt particular care should be taken that it is neither smoky nor burnt.[5]

Hops should be of a bright colour, free from green leaves, of a quick pungent smell, and glutinous quality, which will be discoverable by their adhering together, and by rubbing them in the hands. New hops are preferable to old, after Christmas.

To Brew Ale with Table Beer after, from the same malt and hops.—The malt should be pale, sweet, and tender, ground coarse, and the hops of a pale bright colour and glutinous quality.

If the ale is for present use, ³⁄₄ of a pound of hops to each bushel of malt will be sufficient, but for store ale use one pound per bushel.

The machine being placed ready for use as described in the plate, figure G,[6] put into it as much cold water as will cover the perforated bottom of the extracting cylinder, and light the fire; then put as much coarse ground malt into the perforated cylinder, (see the plate, figure D,) as will three parts fill it, taking care that none goes into the centre, (which centre should be covered, (but only) while putting the malt in, and when mashing the malt,) nor any between the cylinder and boiler.—The malt being put in, pour through the centre as much more cold water as will just cover the malt, then make the fire good, and in one hour after stir the malt well up with a strong mashing stick, for about ten minutes, so that every particle of malt may be divided from the other: let the heat increase to 180 degrees, which you must ascertain by holding the thermometer a minute in the centre part of the machine, and when at 180 degrees of heat, stir the malt again, and after this second stirring, try the heat, and if then at 180 degrees, damp the fire well with some wet ashes to prevent the heat of the mash from increasing, and in 3 hours and a half from the time of lighting the fire, draw off the wort very gently that it may run fine, and put it into one of the coolers, and put all the hops (rubbing them through your hands to break the lumps) on the top of the wort to keep it hot till the time for returning it into the machine for boiling; having drawn off this ale wort, put into the machine through the centre as much more cold water as will cover the grains, brisken the fire, and in half an hour stir up the malt for about ten minutes, and make it 180 degrees of heat as quick as you can, then damp the fire to prevent its getting hotter, and in one hour and a half from the time of putting in the water, draw off this table beer wort gently, that it may run fine, and put it into the other cooler, and cover it over to keep it hot until the time for returning it into the machine for boiling; having drawn off this table beer wort, if you wish to make a third wort, put in as much more cold water into the machine as you think proper, and make it 170 degrees of heat as quick as you can, and draw it off in about an hour after, and put it to the last drawing off, or wort: then take the grains out of the cylinder with a hand shovel as clean as you can, and after, take out the cylinder,[7] and with a birch broom and a little water rince out the boiler clean, and put back the perforated cylinder into the boiler, and then put the first drawing off or ale wort, with all the hops, into the machine cylinder where you have taken the grains from, and cover the machine, but be sure the centre cover is off; make it boil as quick as you can, and let it boil well one hour, then damp the fire and draw it off into a cooler or coolers, which should be placed in the air where it will cool quick. Having drawn off this ale wort, return the second drawing off, or table beer wort, with the third, into the machine to the hops left from the ale wort, stir up the fire and make it boil as quick as you can, and let it boil well one hour, then put out the fire and draw off the wort, and put it into a cooler placed in the air to cool quick; when the worts in the coolers are cooled down to 70 degrees of heat by the thermometer, put the proportion of a gill of fresh thick yeast to every 9 gallons of wort in the coolers, first thinning the yeast with a little of the wort before you put it in that it may the better mix; and when the ale wort is cooled down to 60 degrees of heat, draw it off from the coolers with the yeast and sediment, and put it into the machine boiler (the machine boiler having been previously cleared from the hops and cylinder,) which forms a convenient vessel placed on its stand for the ale to ferment in, which must be kept fermenting in it with the cover off until the head has the appearance of a thick brown yeast on the surface, an inch or two deep, which will take 3 or 4 days;[8] when the head has this appearance, draw off the beer free from the yeast and bottoms into a clean cask, which must be filled full,[9] and when done working, put in a handful of dry hops, bung it down tight, and stow it in a cool cellar. This ale will be fit to tap in 3 or 4 weeks.

The second wort for table beer should be put from the coolers with yeast and sediment into an upright cask, with the cover off or top head out, at not exceeding 60 degrees of heat, and as soon as you perceive a brown yeast on the surface, draw it off free from the yeast and bottoms into a clean cask, which must be kept filled full, and when done working, put in a handful of dry hops, bung it down tight, and stow it in a cool cellar. This table beer will be fit to tap in a week, or as soon as fine.

To make Table Ale.—Mix the first and second worts together, and ferment, and treat it the same as the ale.

To Brew Porter or Brown Beer, with Table Beer after, from the same Malt and Hops.—Use pale and brown malt in equal quantities, ground coarse; and strong brown coloured hops of a glutinous quality. If the beer is for present draught, ³⁄₄ pound of hops to each bushel of malt will be sufficient, but if intended for store beer, use one pound to each bushel of malt.

The process of brewing is the same as described for brewing ale with table beer after, except the heat of each mash must not be so high by 10 degrees, on account of the brown malt; the first wort fermented by itself will be stout porter, and fit to tap in 3 or 4 weeks; the second wort will be the table beer, and fit to tap in a week, or as soon as fine; but if you mix the first and second worts together, the same as for table ale, it will be good common porter.

To Brew Table Beer only.—Let your malt be of one sort, of a full yellow colour (not brown malt) ground coarse, and strong brown coloured hops, of a glutinous quality. If for present draught ¹⁄₂ a pound of hops to each bushel of malt will be sufficient, but if for keeping two or 3 months, use one pound of hops per bushel.

The process of brewing is the same as described for brewing porter and table beer, with the addition of another wort, that is, filling the machine a third time with water before you take out the grains, and treating the third mash the same as the second.

The first drawing off or wort, with part of the second wort, to be boiled (first) one hour with all the hops, and the remainder of the second wort with the third, to be boiled next one hour to the same hops; these two boilings, when cooled down to 60 degrees of heat, (having put your yeast to it in the coolers at 70 degrees) must be put together to ferment in the machine boiler, and as soon as it has the appearance of a brown yeast on the surface, draw it off into the casks, which must be kept filled full, and when done working, put into each cask a handful of dry hops, bung it down tight, and put it into a cool cellar. Tap it in a week, or as soon as fine.

General Remarks.—The season for brewing sound keeping beer, is from October to May.

All Beer should be stored in cool cellars or vaults, and kept as much as possible from the common atmosphere; and in drawing beer from a cask, if necessary to raise the vent-peg, it should be carefully tightened as soon as the beer is drawn.

When beer is intended to be kept many months, the bungs of the casks, and if bell casks are used, the whole of the head should be covered with sand or clay, which should be kept moist.

To preserve the Machine.—When the brewing is over, wash the machine and coolers with cold or hot water, then dry them, and put them away in a dry place. When wanted to be used, they should be washed with boiling water.

To keep Casks sweet.—It is recommended when a cask of beer is drawn off, to take out the head and scrub out the cask; then thoroughly dry and put it away in a dry place with the head out.

If it should be inconvenient to take out the head, and the cask is wanted to be filled again quickly, it may be washed quite clean with warm water, and afterwards with lime water; or the grounds being left in the cask, and every vent stopped, (bung, tap, and vent holes,) it may be kept in that state for a short time.

Casks of a bell shape are preferable for private brewing, and the patentees make them upon a principle by which the inside can be scrubbed out clean without removing the head, and at the same price as common casks of that shape.

The following comparative statement of the cost of Brewing Beer with Needham's apparatus, and of Beer when purchased, is given by the proprietor.—The references are to London prices, but an opinion may still be formed of the great economy of Domestic Brewing.

Daily Consumption of	Yearly Consumption	Brewers' Prices.	Yearly expense
ale in a family, 3 pints	is 137 gallons	At 2s. 6d. per gal.	L.17	2	6
Do. of table beer, 3 pints	Is 137 gallons	At 8d.	4	11	4
			21	13	10

To Brew the above quantity of good Ale and Table Beer, 15¹⁄₄ Bushels of Malt are required, the cost of which, at 10s. per Bushel, will be	L.7	12	6
11¹⁄₂ lbs. best Hops, for ditto, at 5s.	2	17	6	——10	10	0
Yearly saving in the above quantity				11	3	10

The above calculation sufficiently proves that the Patent Brewing Machine will, to the smallest Family who purchase Brewer's Beer, pay for itself in One Year, and those who have been accustomed to Brew by the old Method, will find the beer much stronger and better by using this Machine, and very considerably less likely to be spoiled in Brewing, with a great saving in Fuel, Labour, and Time.

As it may be inconvenient, or too expensive, for many private families to purchase a brewing machine, the following Directions are subjoined, which will enable them, by the aid of the vessels used in a family, to brew a barrel of beer; and by attention, and a few experiments, they will produce an excellent beverage.

Prepare a tub for making the extract, by fitting a false bottom with numerous holes, and raised about half an inch from the real bottom, in which fix a cock for drawing off the extract. Have four bushels of malt coarsely ground, and heat your water to about 170 or 175 degrees [10] of heat, of Fahrenheit's thermometer. Then pour in the tub about thirty-eight gallons of the water, and gently stir in the malt, until it is all mixed. Cover it, and let it stand about an hour and a half; draw off the extract into a vessel, and throw in about one and a quarter pounds of hops for liquor for present use, or about two or two and a half pounds for keeping liquors; cover the vessel to keep in the heat, and pour over the malt about 26 gallons of water, of about the same heat as the first, stirring it until it is well mixed with the malt; let it stand one hour, then draw off the extract, add it to the first extract, and put them on to boil in an open kettle: this will be your strong beer. Then pour over the malt about twenty gallons of water, for small beer, at about 160 or 170 degrees of heat. This last will not require stirring, and the extract may remain covered until the kettle is ready for it. Keep the strong beer boiling smartly for about one hour and a quarter, or one hour and a half, for present use, or two hours for keeping: then pour it through a sieve or strainer, and set it to cool. Return the hops into the kettle with your third extract, or small beer, which set to boiling as soon as practicable, and continue it for about an hour and a half; then pour it through the strainer, and set it to cool. When cool, ferment according to the directions accompanying the brewing machine. The quantity of water used may be varied at the discretion of the person brewing. By diminishing the water, he may increase the strength of the liquor, or by increasing it, diminish the strength. Thus with the hops he may vary the quantity to suit his palate in the degree of bitter flavour that may be most agreeable.—For fomenting, a cask with one head taken out, will answer the same purpose as the machine boiler.