9. One or more large funnels or tunners.
10. Two or more clean pails.
11. A hand-pump of a size proportionate to the brewing.
12. A mill, for crushing the malt. Brewers, for sale, are restricted by law to the use of mills with plain metal rollers.
These articles will vary in value from £10, upwards to many hundreds, or even thousands, according to the extent of the brewing; but the whole of them necessary for a private family may be bought for less than the former amount, as the mill, pump, &c., may then be dispensed with, and the rest may be of the simplest and least expensive character possible. By proper care they will last for 30 or 40 years, and still continue in a useful state.
Preliminary proceedings:—
The malt is chosen according to the intended character of the brewing—pale, amber, roasted, or any mixture of them, as the occasion may require. It is bruised or crushed in a mill (malt-mill) before employing it in brewing, that it may be the more readily acted on by the water. It should not be ground too small, as it would then make the wort thick, and cause it to run with difficulty from the mash-tun. The crushed malt may advantageously lie for a few days in a cool situation, by which it will attract a considerable quantity of moisture from the air, and be the more easily exhausted by the water used in mashing. Pale malt may be used coarser than amber or brown malt. A bushel of good malt should measure 11⁄4 bushel when ground; and a quarter should yield between 91⁄2 and 10 bushels, the quantity slightly varying according to the degree of bruising it has undergone. On the large scale, malt is ground in crushing mills furnished with plain iron rollers; on the small scale, by wooden rollers or mills worked by hand. For private brewing, the malt is generally bought ready crushed or ground, for convenience sake.
The hops, after being taken from the ‘pockets’ or ‘bag,’ are crumbled with the hands ready to be thrown into the copper. For general purposes those grown in Kent, and of the present season, are preferred. For the finer sorts of ale, East Kent hops are commonly used; and when it is intended to keep the liquor for a long time, those known by the names of Country’s, Alton’s, or Farnham hops, are employed.
The quantity of hops required by a given measure of malt varies from 2 lbs. to 22 lbs. per quarter, according to the strength or gravity of the wort, the character of the beer intended to be brewed, and the climate which the beer may have to sustain. Export beer requires, as a rule, an exceptionally large amount of hops to enable it to bear without injury the heat of the country to which it is shipped. The following are the usual proportions:—
| Table beer | 2 | lbs. | 1 | qr. |
| Mild ale or porter | 4 | ” | 1 | ” |
| Brown stout | 5 | ” | 1 | ” |
| Scotch ale (best) | 5 | ” | 1 | ” |
| Strong ale (ordinary) | 51⁄2 | ” | 1 | ” |
| Strong ale (keeping) | 8 | ” | 1 | ” |
| Bitter ale | 10 to 14 | ” | 1 | ” |
| East India ale (export) | 12 to 22 | ” | 1 | ” |