The elements for brewing brown strong beers, with two degrees added to the first and last extracts, for what is lost at their parting from the malt, independent of its farther division into the respective mashes.
| Malt’s dryness. | Value of hops. | Medium heat of the extracts, malt’s dryness, and value of hops. | First heat. | Last heat. |
| 130 | 4 | 148 | 155 | 165 |
Brown beers, brewed with malt so low dried as 130 degrees, twenty years since, would have appeared very extraordinary, and most likely, at that time, when a heaviness and blackness in the drink formed its principal merit, would have been a sufficient reason to condemn the practice; but strength and elegance being now more attended to, have justified the brewer, in making porter, to employ malt of such degree of dryness, as he shall think will best answer these purposes.
As high liquors used to extract low dried malt will form a must capable to preserve itself equally a long time, as an adequate liquor used to high dried malt doth; and the first of these methods having greatly the advantage of the other in point of taste, as 130 degrees of dryness in malt is one, from its change of color, where part of its finer principles may be supposed to be evaporated. It may not be amiss to enquire if there be not reasons why malt, less affected by fire, should be used for manufacturing this commodity.
The medium of the malt’s dryness, and of the heat of the extracts, together with the value of the hops which are to make porter, is 148 degrees. This, because precipitation has been found convenient and necessary for this drink, yet, when at the proper age, it has undergone this last operation, it is supposed to shew itself in its best form; bright, well-tasted, and strong; that is, in such state as drink should be, which becomes spontaneously transparent, and is capable of preserving itself a long time, if from
| 148 | degrees. | |
| The value of the oils yielded by the hops (See page 180) is deducted, | 4 | degrees. |
| —— | ||
| Will remain, | 144 |
And by table (page 162) we find a must under the mean of 144 degrees should be formed with malt dried to 125 degrees, with this circumstance the elements of brewing porter will be as follows.