The laying Worts thin is a most necessary Precaution; for this is one way to prevent their running into Cohesions and Foxing, the want of which Knowledge and Care has undoubtedly been the occasion of great Losses in Brewing; for when Worts are tainted in any considerable degree, they will be ropy in time and unfit for the human Body, as being unwholsome as well as unpleasant. So likewise is his Item of great Importance, when he advises to draw the Worts off fine out of the Backs or Coolers, and leave the Feces or Sediments behind, by reason, as he says, they are the cause of those two detested Qualities in Malt Liquors, staleness and foulness, two Properties that ought to imploy the greatest Care in Brewers to prevent; for 'tis certain these Sediments are a Composition of the very worst part of the Malt, Hops and Yeast, and, while they are in the Barrel, will so tincture and impregnate the Drink with their insanous and unpleasant nature, that its Drinkers will be sure to participate thereof more or less as they have lain together a longer or a shorter time. To have then a Malt Drink balsamick and mild, the Worts cannot be run off too fine from the Coolers, nor well fermented too slow, that there may be a Medium kept, in both the Salt and Sulphur that all fermented Malt Drinks abound with, and herein, as he says, lies a great part of the Art of Brewing.
He says truly well, that a little Yeast at first should be put to the Wort, that it may quietly work by degrees, and not be violently forc'd into a high Fermentation; for then by course the Salt and Sulphur will be too violently agitated into such an Excess and Disagreement of Parts, that will break their Unity into irregular Commotions, and cause the Drink to be soon stale and harsh. But if it should be too backward and work too moderate, then whipping the Yeast two or three times into it will be of some service to open the Body of the Beer, for as he observes, if Drink has not a due fermentation, it will not be fine, clean, nor light.
His advice to draw the Drink out of the Tun by a Cock at such a distance from the bottom is right; because that room will best keep the Feces from being disturb'd as the Drink is drawing off, and leaving them behind; but for putting them afterwards over the Malt for Small Beer, I don't hold it consonant with good Brewing, by reason in this Sediment there are many Particles of the Yeast, that consequently will cause a small Fermentation in the Liquor and Malt, and be a means to spoil rather than make good Small Beer.
What he says of filling up the Cask with a reserve of the same Drink, and not with that which has once worked out, is past dispute just and right.
And so is what he says of stopping up the Vessel close after the Fermentation is over; but that it is best to Brew all strong Beer in October, I must here take leave to dissent from the Tenet, because there is room for several Objections in relation to the sort of Malt and Cellar, which as I have before explained, shall say the less here.
As he observes Care should be taken in the Spring to unstop the Vent, lest the warm Weather cause such a Fermentation as may burst the Cask, and also in September, that it be first try'd by Pegging if the Drink is fine, well tasted and the Hop rotted; and then if his Way is liked best, bring the rest into a transparent Fineness; for Clearness in Malt Liquors, as I said before, and here repeat it again, is a most agreeable Quality that every Man ought to enjoy for his Health and Pleasure, and therefore he advises for dispatch in this Affair, and to have the Drink very fine, to rack it off before the Ising-glass is put in; but I can't be a Votary for this Practice, as believing the Drink must lose a great deal of its Spirits by such shifting; yet I must chime in with his Notion of putting the Wort so often over the Malt till it comes off fine as I have already taught, which is a Method that has been used many Years in the North of England, where they are so curious as to let the Wort lie some time in the Underback to draw it off from the Feces there; nor are they less careful to run it fine out of the Cooler into the Tun, and from that into the Cask; in all which three several Places the Wort and Drink may be had clear and fine, and then there will be no more Sediments than is just necessary to assist and seed the Beer, and preserving its Spirits in a due Temper. But if Persons have Time and Conveniency, and their Inclination leads them to, obtain their Drink in the utmost Fineness, it is an extraordinary good way to use Hippocrates Sleeve or Flannel Bag, which I did in my great Brew-house at London for straining off the Feces that were left in the Backs. As to the Quantity of Malt for Brewing a Hogshead of October Beer, I am of Opinion thirteen Bushels are right, and so are ten, fifteen and twenty, according as People approve of; for near Litchfield, I know some have brewed a Hogshead of October Beer from sixteen Bushels of Barley Malt, one of Wheat, one of Beans, one of Pease and one of Oat Malt, besides hanging a Bag of Flower taken out of the last four Malts in the Hogshead for the Drink to feed on, nor can a certain Time Be limited and adjusted for the Tapping of any Drink (notwithstanding what has been affirmed to the contrary) because some Hops will not be rotted so soon as others, and some Drinks will not fine so soon as others; as is evident in the Pale Malt Drinks, that will seldom or never break so soon in the Copper as the Brown sort, nor will they be so soon ripe and fit to Tap as the high dryed Malt Drink will. Therefore what this Gentleman says of trying Drink by first Pegging it before it is Tapp'd, in my Opinion is more just and right than relying on a limited time for Broaching such Beer.