A more certain foundation has been laid down in the first part of this treatise, and the principles there established will, I trust, in all cases, answer our ends, provided we make use of proper means to settle their application. The most elegible means to effect this, must be to follow, as near as possible, such plan, which the rational brewer would, in every particular circumstance, sketch to himself, before he proceeded to business. His first attention ought to be directed not only to the actual heat of the weather, but also to that which may be expected in the season of the year he is in. The grinding of his malt must be his next object, and as the difference of the drinks greatly depends upon that of the extracts, he cannot but chuse to have distinct ideas of what may be expected from the amount of the heat of them. Hops, which are added as a preservative to the extracts form too important a part to be employed without a sufficient knowledge of their power. The strength of malt liquors depending principally on their quantity or lengths, it is necessary to ascertain the heights in the copper, to answer what, on this account, is intended. The difference in boiling, for different drinks or seasons; the loss of water by evaporation; the proper division of the whole quantity of this element employed, and, in proportion to such division, that of the heat to be given in each part of the process; the means to ascertain these degrees, by determining what quantity of cold water is to be added to that, which is at the point of ebullition, come afterwards under his consideration. The manner and time of mashing, the many expected incidents which must produce some small variations between the actual and the calculated heat of his extracts, it will be incumbent upon him to make a proper estimation and allowance for. To dispose of the worts in such forms and at such depths, as may render the influence of the ambient air the easiest and most efficacious, and then, by the addition of yeast, to provide the drink with that internal and most powerful agent it had lost in boiling, are the next requisites. Fermentation, which follows, and which the brewer retards or forwards according to his intentions, completes the whole process; after these necessary precautions, to compare his operations with those of the most approved practitioners in his art, and to find himself able to account for those signs and established customs, which before were loosely described, authoritatively dictated, and never sufficiently determined or explained, must be to him an additional satisfaction. As precipitation is requisite in certain cases, the common methods for effecting it should be known, and likewise the means practised among coopers to correct the real or imagined errors of the brewer, in order to render the drink agreeable to the palate of the consumers, will naturally lead him to consider what true taste is, and by employing the means, by which it may safely be obtained and improved, he will have done all in his power, to answer his customers expectation, and to secure his success.
This arrangement, which appears the most simple, is that, which the reader will find observed in the following sections. The proper illustrations of tables and examples have not been omitted, and from the complete plans for brewing, under two forms of the most dissimilar kind, it will be found the rules are adapted to all circumstances, and applicable to every purpose.
I must here add somewhat in justification, for publishing what may be said to be the mysteries of an art, often too cautiously precluded from the sight and attention of the public; but every art and science whatever have equally been laid open, and from such communication received greater improvements, and become more useful to mankind in general, and the professors of them in particular. If attention is given to the rules and practice here laid down, it will be found that the brewer, from the large quantities he manufactures, from repeated experience, from the conveniency of his utensils, and more than all, from the interest he has to be well acquainted with his business, is most likely to be successful, in preference to any one else, and therefore can have no reason to be displeased on being presented with a theory and practice, which, far from being the sole right of the brewery, the discovery of the principles were certainly the property of the author and of his friends, whose names would do his work honor if mentioned. From the application of these principles, being convinced of their exactness and facility in practice, he offers his labor to a trade he esteems, with no other view than the hope he entertains of being of some service to it and to the public.
If, notwithstanding repeated endeavours, some things, in this treatise, should appear out of their places; others, in more than one; if redundancies, chiefly occasioned by the natural temptation of accounting for particular appearances, have not always been avoided; if inaccuracies should now and then have escaped me, let it be remembered (by the good-natured it certainly will) that, in new and intricate subjects, digressions and repetitions are in some measure allowable, that an over-fulness is preferable to an affected and often obscure brevity, and that the improvement of the art, rather than the talent of writing, must be the brewer’s merit, and was my only aim.
SECTION I.
OF THE HEAT OF THE AIR,
AS IT RELATES TO THE PRACTICAL PART OF BREWING.
In and about the city of London, the most intense cold that has been observed is 14 degrees, and the greatest heat has made the thermometer rise, in the shade, to 89. Within these limits are comprehended all the fermentable degrees, and consequently those necessary for carrying on the process of brewing. If the lowest degree proper for fermentation be 40, and the highest 80, the medium of these two would, at first sight, appear to be the fittest for this purpose; but the internal motion, necessary to carry on fermentation, excites a heat superior to the original state of the must by 10 degrees. Hence, if 60 degrees be the highest eligible heat a fermenting must should arise to, 50 should be the highest for a wort to be let down at, to begin this act; which heat can only be obtained, when that of the air is equal thereto, so that it denotes the highest natural heat for beers and ales to be properly fermented. With regard to the other extreme, or the lowest heat, however cold the air may be, as the worts, which form both beers and ales, gain, by boiling, a degree greatly superior to any allowed of in fermentation, it is constantly in the artist’s power to adapt his worts to a proper state. The brewing season, then, may justly be esteemed all that part of the year in which the medium heat of the day is at or below 50 degrees: this, in our climate, is from the beginning of October to the middle of May, or 32 weeks; the most elegible period of time for brewing all kinds of beers.
But, as many incidents often make it necessary to extend these limits, the only time for venturing to comply therewith is, when the medium heat of the season is at 55 degrees; by which, six weeks more may be obtained. But, under these circumstances, the quantity of beer brewed should be less, that the worts may cool more readily, by being thinner spread; and, to gain more time, the brewing is best carried on with two worts only: taking these precautions, and beginning early in the morning, the first wort, by laying long enough in the coolers, will, towards evening, be brought to a heat of 55 degrees. The night, in this season of the year, being generally colder by 10 or 12 degrees than the medium heat of the whole 24 hours, the second worts may be reduced to a cold of 43 degrees: the mean of 55 and 43, being 49 degrees, would be the real heat of the worts in the ton; and with 10 degrees more, (the heat gained by fermentation,) still it would not reach 60 degrees, the highest fermentable heat, beers intended to preserve themselves long should arrive to; but so near would it be to this, and so little is the uniformity of the heat of the air to be relied on, that necessity alone can justify the practice of brewing such drinks, when the heat of the air is so high as 55, consequently, where it exceeds this, it should never be attempted.