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18th Century Brewing

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THE LONDON and COUNTRY BREWER 1736

CHAP. XIII

Of fermenting and working of Beers and Ales, and the pernicious Practice of Beating in the Yeast detected.

This Subject in my Opinion has, long wanted a Satyrical Pen to shew the ill Effects of this unwholsome Method, which I suppose has been much discouraged and hindered hitherto, from the general use it has been under many Years, especially by the Northern Brewers, who tho' much famed for their Knowledge in this Art, and have induced many others by their Example in the Southern and other Parts to pursue their Method; yet I shall endeavour to prove them culpable of Male-practice, that beat in the Yeast, as some of them have done a Week together; and that Custom ought not to Authorize an ill Practice. First, I shall observe that Yeast is a very strong acid, that abounds with subtil spirituous Qualities, whose Particles being wrapped up in those that are viscid, are by a mixture with them in the Wort, brought into an intestine Motion, occasion'd by Particles of different Gravities; for as the spirituous Parts of the Wort will be continually striving to get up to the Surface, the glutinous adhesive ones of the Yeast will be as constant in retarding their assent, and so prevent their Escape; by which the spirituous Particles are set loose and free from their viscid Confinements, as may appear by the Froth on the Top, and to this end a moderate warmth hastens the Operation, as it assists in opening the viscidities in which some spirituous Parts may be entangled, and unbends the Spring of the included Air: The viscid Parts which are raised to the Top, not only on account of their own lightness, but by the continual efforts and occursions of the Spirits to get uppermost, shew when the ferment is at the highest, and prevent the finer Spirits making their escape; but if this intestine Operation is permitted to continue too long, a great deal will get away, and the remaining grow flat and vapid, as Dr. Quincy well observes. Now tho' a small quantity of Yeast is necessary to break the Band of Corruption in the Wort, yet it is in itself of a poisonous Nature, as many other Acids are; for if a Plaister of thick Yeast be applied to the Wrist as some have done for an Ague, it will there raise little Pustules or Blisters in some degree like that Venomous! (As I have just reason in a particular Sense to call it) Ingredient Cantharide, which is one of the Shop Poisons. Here then I shall observe, that I have known several beat the Yeast into the Wort for a Week or more together to improve it, or in plainer terms to load the Wort with its weighty and strong spirituous Particles; and that for two Reasons, First, Because it will make the Liquor so heady, that five Bushels of Malt may be equal in strength to six, and that by the stupifying Narcotick Qualities of the Yeast; which mercenary subtilty and imposition has so prevailed to my Knowledge with the Vulgar and Ignorant, that it has caused many of them to return the next Day to the same Alehouse, as believing they had stronger and better Drink than others: But alas, how are such deceived that know no other than that it is the pure Product of the Malt, when at the same time they are driving Nails into their Coffins, by impregnating their Blood with the corrupt Qualities of this poisonous acid, as many of its Drinkers have proved, by suffering violent Head-achs, loss of Appetite, and other Inconveniencies the Day following, and sometimes longer, after a Debauch of such Liquor; who would not perhaps for a great reward swallow a Spoonful of thick Yeast by itself, and yet without any concern may receive for ought they know several, dissolved in the Vehicle of Ale, and then the corrosive Corpuscles of the Yeast being mix'd with the Ale, cannot fail (when forsaken in the Canals of the Body of their Vehicle) to do the same mischief as they would if taken by themselves undiluted, only with this difference, that they may in this Form be carried sometimes further in the animal Frame, and so discover their malignity in some of the inmost recesses thereof, which also is the very Case of malignant Waters, as a most learned Doctor observes.

Secondly, They alledge for beating the Yeast into Wort, that it gives it a fine tang or relish, or as they call it at London, it makes the Ale bite of the Yeast; but this flourish indeed is for no other reason than to further its Sale, and tho' it may be agreeable to some Bigots, to me it proves a discovery of the infection by its nauseous taste; however my surprize is lessen'd, when I remember the Plymouth People, who are quite the reverse of them at Dover and Chatham; for the first are so attach'd to their white thick Ale, that many have undone themselves by drinking it; nor is their humour much different as to the common Brewers brown Ale, who when the Customer wants a Hogshead, they immediately put in a Handful of Salt and another of Flower, and so bring it up, this is no sooner on the Stilling but often Tapp'd, that it may carry a Froth on the Top of the Pot, otherwise they despise it: The Salt commonly answered its End of causing the Tiplers to become dryer by the great Quantities they drank, that it farther excited by the biting pleasant stimulating quality the Salt strikes the Palate with. The Flower also had its seducing share by pleasing the Eye and Mouth with its mantling Froth, so that the Sailors that are often here in great Numbers used to consume many Hogsheads of this common Ale with much delight, as thinking it was intirely the pure Product of the Malt.

Their white Ale is a clear Wort made from pale Malt, and fermented with what they call ripening, which is a Composition, they say, of the Flower of Malt, Yeast and Whites of Eggs, a Nostrum made and sold only by two or three in those Parts, but the Wort is brewed and the Ale vended by many of the Publicans; which is drank while it is fermenting in Earthen Steens, in such a thick manner as resembles butter'd Ale, and sold for Twopence Halfpenny the full Quart. It is often prescribed by Physicians to be drank by wet Nurses for the encrease of their Milk, and also as a prevalent Medicine for the Colick and Gravel. But the Dover and Chatham People won't drink their Butt-Beer, unless it is Aged, fine and strong.

Of working and fermenting_ London _Stout Beer and Ale.

In my Brewhouse at London, the Yeast at once was put into the Tun to work the Stout Beer and Ale with, as not having the Conveniency of doing otherwise, by reason the After-worts of small Beer comes into the same Backs or Coolers where the strong Worts had just been, by this means, and the shortness of time we have to ferment our strong Drinks, we cannot make Reserves of cold Worts to mix with and check the too forward working of those Liquors, for there we brewed three times a Week throughout the Year, as most of the great ones do in London, and some others five times. The strong Beer brewed for keeping is suffered to be Blood-warm in the Winter when the Yeast is put into it, that it may gradually work two Nights and a Day at least, for this won't admit of such a hasty Operation as the common brown Ale will, because if it is work'd too warm and hasty, such Beer won't keep near so long as that fermented cooler. The brown Ale has indeed its Yeast put into it in the Evening very warm, because they carry it away the very next Morning early to their Customers, who commonly draw it out in less than a Week's time. The Pale or Amber Ales are often kept near it, not quite a Week under a fermentation, for the better incorporating the Yeast with Wort, by beating it in several times for the foregoing Reasons.

Of working or fermenting Drinks brewed by Private Families.

I mean such who Brew only for their own use, whether it be a private Family or a Victualler. In this Case be it for Stout Beers, or for any of the Ales; the way that is used in Northamptonshire, and by good Brewers elsewhere; is, to put some Yeast into a small quantity of warm Wort in a Hand-bowl, which for a little while swims on the Top, where it works out and leisurely mixes with the Wort, that is first quite cold in Summer, and almost so in Winter; for the cooler it is work'd the longer it will keep, too much Heat agitating the spirituous Particles into too quick a motion, whereby they spend themselves too fast, or fly away too soon, and then the Drink will certainly work into a blister'd Head that is never natural; but when it ferments by moderate degrees into a fine white curl'd Head, its Operation is then truly genuine, and plainly shews the right management of the Brewer. To one Hogshead of Beer, that is to be kept nine Months, I put a Quart of thick Yeast, and ferment it as cool as it will admit of, two Days together, in October or March, and if I find it works too fast, I check it at leisure by stirring in some raw Wort with a Hand-bowl: So likewise in our Country Ales we take the very same method, because of having them keep some time, and this is so nicely observed by several, that I have seen them do the very same by their small Beer Wort; now by these several Additions of raw Wort, there are as often new Commotions raised in the Beer or Ale, which cannot but contribute to the rarefaction and comminution of the whole; but whether it is by these joining Principles of the Wort and Yeast, that the Drink is rendered smoother, or that the spirituous Parts are more entangled and kept from making their Escape, I can't determine; yet sure it is, that such small Liquors generally sparkle and knit out of the Barrel as others out of a Bottle, and is as pleasant Ale as ever I drank.

Others again for Butt or Stout Beer will, when they find it works up towards a thick Yeast, mix it once and beat it in again with the Hand-bowl or Jett; and when it has work'd up a second time in such a manner, they put it into the Vessel with the Yeast on the Top and the Sediments at Bottom, taking particular Care to have some more in a Tub near the Cask to fill it up as it works over, and when it has done working, leave it with a thick Head of Yeast on to preserve it.

But for Ale that is not to be kept very long, they Hop it accordingly, and beat the Yeast in every four or five Hours for two Days successively in the warm weather, and four in the Winter till the Yeast begins to work heavy and sticks to the hollow part of the Bowl, if turned down on the same, then they take all the Yeast off at Top and leave all the Dregs behind, putting only up the clear Drink, and when it is a little work'd in the Barrel, it will be fine in a few Days and ready for drinking. But this, last way of beating in the Yeast too long, I think I have sufficiently detected, and hope, as it is how declining, it will never revive again, and for which reason I have in my second Book encouraged all light fermentations, as the most natural for the Malt Liquor and the human Body.

Of forwarding and retarding the fermentation of malt Liquors.

In case Beer or Ale is backward in working, it is often practised to cast some Flower out of the Dusting Box, or with the Hand over the Top of the Drink, which will become a sort of Crust or Cover to help to keep the Cold out: Others will put in one or two Ounces of powder'd Ginger, which will so heat the Wort as to bring it forward: Others will take a Gallon Stone Bottle and fill it with boiling water, which being well Cork'd, is put into the working Tub, where it will communicate a gradual Heat for some time and forward the fermentation: Others will reserve some raw Wort, which they heat and mix with the rest, but then due Care must be taken that the Pot in which it is heated has no manner of Grease about it lest it impedes, instead of promoting the working, and for this reason some nice Brewers will not suffer a Candle too near the Wort, lest it drop into it. But for retarding and keeping back any Drink that is too much heated in working, the cold raw Wort, as I have said before, is the most proper of any thing to check it with, tho' I have known some to put one or more Pewter Dishes into it for that purpose, or it may be broke into several other Tubs, where by its shallow lying it will be taken off its Fury. Others again, to make Drink work that is backward, will take the whites of two Eggs and beat them up with half a Quartern of good Brandy, and put it either into the working Vat, or into the Cask, and it will quickly bring it forward if a warm Cloth is put over the Bung. Others will tye up Bran in a coarse thin Cloth and put it into the Vat, where by its spungy and flowery Nature and close Bulk it will absorp a quantity of the Drink, and breed a heat to forward its working. I know an Inn-keeper of a great Town in Bucks that is so curious as to take off all the top Yeast first, and then by a Peg near the bottom of his working Tub, he draws off the Beer or Ale, so that the Dreggs are by this means left behind. This I must own is very right in Ales that are to be drank soon, but in Beers that are to lye nine or twelve Months in a Butt or other Cask, there certainly will be wanted some Feces or Sediment for the Beer to feed on, else it must consequently grow hungry, sharp and eager; and therefore if its own top and bottom are not put into a Cask with the Beer, some other Artificial Composition or Lee should supply its Place, that is wholsomer, and will better feed with such Drink than its own natural Settlement, and therefore I have here inserted several curious Receipts for answering this great End.

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