Then and not before draw out a Gallon of it, put to it two Ounces of Ising-glass cut small and well beaten to melt, stirring it often and whip it with a Wisk till the Ising-glass be melted, then strain it and put it into your Vessel, stirring it well together, stop the Bung slightly, for this will cause a new and small fermentation, when that is over stop it close, leaving only a Vent-hole a little stopp'd, let it stand, and in ten Days or a little more, it will be transparently fine, and you may drink of it out of the Vessel till two parts in three be drawn, then Bottle the rest, which will in a little time come to drink very well. If your Drink in September be well condition'd for taste, but not fine, and you desire to drink it presently, rack it before you put your Ising-glass to it, and then it will fine the better and drink the cleaner.
To make Drink fine quickly, I have been told that by separating the Liquor from the Feces, when the Wort is let out of the Tun into the Underback, which may be done in this manner, when you let your Wort into your Underback out of your Tun, catch the Wort in some Tub so long, and so often as you find it run foul, put that so catched on the Malt again, and do so till the Wort run clear into the Underback. This is to me a very good way (where it may be done) for 'tis the Feces which causes the fierce and violent fermentation, and to hinder that in some measure is the way to have fine Drink: Note that the finer you make your Wort, the sooner your Drink will be fine, for I have heard that some Curious in Brewing have caused Flannels to be so placed, that all the Wort may run thro' one or more of them into the Tun before working, by which means the Drink was made very fine and well tasted.
Observations on the foregoing Account.
This Excellent Philosophical Account of Brewing October Beer, has hitherto remained in private Hands as a very great Secret, and was given to a Friend of mine by the Author himself, to whom the World is much obliged, altho' it comes by me; In justice therefore to this ingenious Person, I would here mention his Name, had I leave for so doing; but at present this Intimation must suffice. However, I shall here take notice, that his Caution against using tailed or dusty Malt, which is too commonly sold, is truly worthy of Observation; for these are so far from producing more Ale or Beer, that they absorb and drink part of it up.
In Grinding Malts he notifies well to prevent a foul Drink.
The quantity he allows is something above thirteen Bushels to the Hogshead which is very sufficient; but this as every body pleases.
The Choice of Liquors or Waters for Brewing, he says, is of considerable advantage; and so must every body else that knows their Natures and loves Health, and pleasant Drink: For this purpose, in my Opinion, the Air and Soil is to be regarded where the Brewing is performed; since the Air affects all things it can come at, whether Animal, Vegetable or Mineral, as may be proved from many Instances: In the Marshes of Kent and Essex, the Air there is generally so infectious by means of those low vaesy boggy Grounds, that seldom a Person escapes an Ague one time or other, whether Natives or Aliens, and is often fatally known to some of the Londoners and others who merrily and nimbly travel down to the Isles of Grain and Sheppy for a valuable Harvest, but in a Month's time they generally return thro' the Village of Soorne with another Mien. There is also a little Moor in Hertfordshire, thro' which a Water runs that frequently gives the Passant Horses that drink of it, the Colick or Gripes, by means of the aluminous sharp Particles of its Earth; Its Air is also so bad, as has obliged several to remove from its Situation for their Healths: The Dominion of the Air is likewise so powerful over Vegetables, that what will grow in one Place won't in another, as is plain from the Beech and Black Cherry Tree, that refuse the Vale of Ailesbury tho' on some Hills there, yet will thrive in the Chiltern or Hilly Country: So the Limes and other Trees about London are all generally black-barked, while those in the Country are most of them of a Silver white. Water is also so far under the Influence of the Air and Soil, as makes many excellent for Brewing when others are as bad. In Rivers, that run thro' boggy Places, the Sullage or Washings of such Soils are generally unwholsome as the nature of such Ground is; and so the Water becomes infected by that and the Effluvia or Vapour that accompanies such Water: So Ponds are surely good or bad, as they are under too much Cover or supply'd by nasty Drains, or as they stand situated or exposed to good and bad Airs. Thus the Well-waters by consequence share in the good or bad Effects of such Soils that they run thorough, and the very Surface of the Earth by which such Waters are strained, is surely endowed with the quality of the Air in which it lies; which brings me to my intended purpose, to prove that Water drawn out of a Chalky, or Fire-stone Well, which is situated under a dry sweet loamy Soil, in a fine pure Air, and that is perfectly soft, must excel most if not all other Well-waters for the purpose in Brewing. The Worts also that are rooted in such an Air, in course partakes of its nitrous Benefits, as being much exposed thereto in the high Backs or Coolers that contain them. In my own Grounds I have Chalks under Clays and Loams; but as the latter is better than the former, so the Water proves more soft and wholsome under one than the other. Hence then may be observed the contrary Quality of those harsh curdling Well-waters that many drink of in their Malt Liquors, without considering their ill Effects, which are justly condemn'd by this able Author as unfit to be made use of in Brewing October Beer.
The boiling a few Hops in the first Water is good, but they must be strained thro' a Sieve before the Water is put into the Malt; and to check its Heat with cold Liquor, or to let it stand to cool some time, is a right Method, lest it scalds and locks up the Pores of the Malt, which would then yield a thick Wort to the end of the Brewing and never be good Drink.
His putting Hops into the Underback, is an excellent Contrivance to prevent foxing, as I have already hinted.
The quick boiling of the Wort is of no less Service, and that the smaller Wort should be boiled longer than the strong is good Judgment, because the stronger the Wort, the sooner the Spirits flie away and the waste of more Consequence; besides if the first Wort was to be boiled too long, it would obtain so thick a Body, as to prevent in great measure its fining hereafter after so soon in the Barrel; while the smaller sort will evaporate its more watry Parts, and thereby be brought into a thicker Confidence, which is perfectly necessary in thin Worts; and in this Article lies so much the Skill of the Brewer, that some will make a longer Length than ordinary from the Goods for Small Beer, to shorten it afterwards in the Copper by Length of boiling, and this way of consuming it is the more natural, because the remaining part will be better Cured.