2267. Brewing.

The best time of the year for brewing is the autumn. The spring is also suitable, but less so. It is a great object to secure a moderate temperature for the cooling of the worts, and to insure gradual fermentation. To those who wish to enter upon the practice, without any previous knowledge, we would advise their calling in the aid of some one practically acquainted with the process for the first operation. By so doing they will save a great deal of trouble, disappointment, and expense. In all places, town or country, there are persons who have worked in brewing establishments, or in gentlemen's families where they have superintended the operations of the brew-house, and the aid of such persons would be valuable. With such a.s.sistance, the following receipts will be of importance, since many who are able to go through the manipulations of brewing are unaware of the proper proportions to employ:

2268. Ale.

Take three bushels of malt, three pounds of hops, fifty-two gallons of water, for two workings. Or,--malt, two bushels and a half; sugar, three pounds; hops, three pounds; coriander seeds, one ounce; capsic.u.m, a drachm. Thirty-six gallons. This gives a pleasant ale, with a good body.

2269. Amber Ale.

Three bushels of amber malt, three quarters of a bushel of pale amber malt, two pounds of hops, a tablespoonful of salt. Three mashes, forty to fifty gallons. Skim, and fine with isingla.s.s.

2270. Burton Ale.

One quarter of pale malt, eight pounds and a half pale hops; mash three times. Work the first mash at 170, second at 176, third at 150. Boil the first wort by itself; when boiling add three pounds of honey, a pound and a half of coriander seeds, one ounce of salt. Mix the worts when boiled, cool to 61, set to work with a pint and a half of yeast. As soon as the liquor gets yeasty, skim the head half off; rouse the rest with another pint and a half of yeast, three quarters of an ounce of bay salt, and a quarter of a pound of malt or bean flour. This makes a hogshead.

2271. Edinburgh Ale.

Mash two barrels per quarter, at 183; mash for three quarters of an hour; let it stand one hour, and allow half an hour to run off. Or, mash one barrel per quarter, at 190; mash three quarters of an hour, let it stand three quarters of an hour, and tap.

2272. Porter.

Brown amber and pale malt, in equal quant.i.ties; turn them into the mash-tub. Turn on the first liquor at 165; mash one hour, then coat the whole with dry malt. In one hour set the tap. Mix ten pounds of brown hops to a quarter of malt, half old, half new; boil the first wort briskly with the hops for three quarters of an hour, after putting into the copper one pound and a half of sugar, and one pound and a half of extract of liquorice to the barrel, turn it into coolers, rousing the wort the while. Turn on the second liquor at 174, set tap again in an hour. The second wort having run off, turn on again at 145; mash an hour, and stand an hour; boil the second wort with the same hops for one hour. Turn into the coolers, and let into the tub at 64, mixing the yeast as it comes down. Cleanse the second day at 80, previously adding a mixture of flour and salt, and rousing well.

[WHEN IN MOTION, TO PUSH ON IS EASY.]

2273. Making Wines.

Wines from Rhubarb, Unripe Grapes, Currants, Gooseberries, &c.--The whole art of wine-making consists in the proper management of the fermenting process; the same quant.i.ty of fruit, whether it be rhubarb, currants, gooseberries, unripe grapes, leaves, tops, and tendrils, water, and sugar, will produce two different kinds of wine, by varying the process of fermentation only--that is, a dry wine like sherry, or a brisk beverage like champagne; but neither rhubarb, currants, nor gooseberries will produce a wine with the true champagne flavour; it is to be obtained only from the fruit of the grape, ripe or unripe, its leaves, tops, and tendrils. The following receipt will do for rhubarb, or any of the above-mentioned fruits.

2274. English Champagne.

Take fifty pounds of rhubarb and thirty-seven pounds of fine moist sugar. Provide a tub that will hold from fifteen to twenty gallons, taking care that it has a hole for a tap near the bottom. In this tub bruise the rhubarb; when done, add four gallons of water; let the whole be well stirred together; cover the tub with a cloth or blanket, and let the materials stand for twenty-four hours; then draw off the liquor through the tap; add one or two more gallons of water to the pulp, let it be well stirred, and then allowed to remain an hour or two to settle, then draw off; mix the two liquors together, and in it dissolve the sugar.

Let the tub be made clean, and return the liquor to it, cover it with a blanket, and place it in a room the temperature of which is not below 60 Fahr.; here it is to remain for twenty-four, forty-eight, or more hours, until there is an appearance of fermentation having begun, when it should be drawn off into the ten-gallon cask, as fine as possible, which cask must be filled up to the bung-hole with water, if there is not liquor enough; let it lean to one side a little, that it may discharge itself; if there is any liquor left in the tub not quite fine, pa.s.s it through flannel, and fill up with that instead of water.

As the fermentation proceeds and the liquor diminishes, it must be filled up daily, to encourage the fermentation, for ten or twelve days; it then becomes more moderate, when the bung should be put in, and a gimlet hole made at the side of it, fitted with a spile; this spile should be taken out every two or three days, according to the state of the fermentation, for eight or ten days, to allow some of the carbonic acid gas to escape. When this state is pa.s.sed, the cask may he kept full by pouring a little liquor in at the vent-hole once a week or ten days, for three or four weeks.

This operation is performed at long intervals, of a month or more, till the end of December, when on a fine frosty day it should be drawn off from the lees as fine as possible; and the turbid part pa.s.sed through flannel. Make the cask clean, return the liquor to it, with one drachm of isingla.s.s (pure) dissolved in a little water; stir the whole together, and put the bung in firmly.

Choose a clear dry day in March for bottling. The bottles should be champagne bottles--common wine bottles are not strong enough; secure the corks in a proper manner with wire, &c. The liquor is generally made up to two or three pints over the ten gallons, which is bottled for the purpose of filling the cask as it is wanted. The wine contains spirit enough without the addition of brandy, which spoils all wines; a proper fermentation producing spirit enough.

The way to obtain a dry wine from these materials is to keep the cask constantly filled up to the bung-hole, daily or every other day, as long as any fermentation is perceptible by applying the ear near to the hole; the bung may then be put in lightly for a time, before finally fixing it; it may be racked off on a fine day in December, and fined with isingla.s.s as above directed, and bottled in March.

[A WORD BEFORE IS WORTH TWO BEHIND.]

2275. Parsnip Wine.

Take fifteen pounds of sliced parsnips, and boil until quite soft in five gallons of water; squeeze the liquor well out of them, run it through a sieve, and add three pounds of coa.r.s.e lump sugar to every gallon of liquor. Boil the whole for three quarters of an hour. When it is nearly cold, add a little yeast on toast. Let it remain in a tub for ten days, stirring it from the bottom every day; then put it into a cask, in which it should remain for a year. As it works over, fill it up every day.

2276. Turnip Wine.

Take a large number of turnips, pare and slice them; then place in a cider-press, and obtain all the juice you can. To every gallon of juice add three pounds of lump sugar, and half a pint of brandy, Pour the liquor into a cask, and when it las done working, bung it close for three months, and draw off into another cask. When it is fine, bottle, and cork well.

2277. Blackberry Wine.

Gather the fruit when ripe, on a dry day. Put into a vessel, with the head out, and a tap fitted near the bottom; pour on boiling water to cover it. Mash the berries with your hands, and let them stand covered till the pulp rises to the top and forms a crust, in three or four days. Then draw off the fluid into another vessel, and to every gallon add one pound of sugar; mix well, and put it into a cask, to work for a week or ten days, and throw off any remaining lees, keeping the cask well filled, particularly at the commencement. When the working has ceased, bung it down; after six to twelve months it may be bottled.

2278. Black or White Elderberry Wine.

Gather the berries ripe and dry, pick them, bruise them with your hands, and strain them. Set the liquor by in glazed earthen vessels for twelve hours, to settle; put to every pint of juice a pint and a half of water, and to every gallon of this liquor three pounds of good moist sugar; set in a kettle over the fire, and when it is ready to boil, clarify it with the white of four or five eggs; let it boil one hour, and when it is almost cold work it with strong ale yeast, and tun it, filling up the vessel from time to time with the same liquor, saved on purpose, as it sinks by working. In a month's time, if the vessel holds about eight gallons, it will be fine and fit to bottle, and after bottling, will be fit to drink in twelve months.

2279. Arrack (Imitation).

Dissolve two scruples of flowers of benjamin in a quart of good rum, and it will impart to the spirit the fragrance of arrack.

2280. Devonshire Junket.

Put warm milk into a bowl, turn it with a little rennet, then add some scalded cream, sugar, and cinnamon on the top, without breaking the curd.

2281. A Nightcap For Travellers.

Take your pocket handkerchief, and laying it out the full square, double down _one-third_ over the other part. Then raise the whole and turn it over, so that the third folded down shall now be underneath.

Take hold of one of the folded corners, and draw its point towards the centre; then do the same with the other, as in making a c.o.c.ked-hat, or a boat, of paper. Then take hold of the two remaining corners, and twisting the hem of the handkerchief, continue to roll it until it meets the double corners brought to the centre, and catches them up a little. Lift the whole, and you will see the form of a cap, which, when applied to the head, will cover the head and ears, and, being tied under the chin, will not come off. Very little practice will enable you to regulate the size of the folds so as to fit the head.

2282. Scotch Punch, or Whisky Toddy.

Pour about a winegla.s.sful of _boiling_ water into a half-pint tumbler, and sweeten according to taste. Stir well up, then put in a winegla.s.sful of whisky, and add a winegla.s.sful and a half more boiling water. _Be sure the water _is boiling_. Never put lemon into toddy.

The two in combination, in almost every instance, produce acidity in the stomach. If possible, store your whisky _in the wood_, not in bottles as keeping it in the cask mellows it, and dissipates the coa.r.s.er particles.