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m B R E Yti:. the ftraw-dried is the bcft; the wood-fort has a mofl: ungrateful tafte, and few can .bear it, but the neceffitous, and thofe that are accuftomed to its ftrong fmoaky tang; yet it is much ufed in feme of the weftern parts of England. The fern-dried malt is alTo attended with a rank difagreeable talle from the fmoak of this vegetable. Of ^grinding Malts. Twts article'Well deferves the notice of all brewers, for on it the goodnefs of our drink greatly depends ; becaufe, if it is ground too fmall, the flour of the malt will -be the eafier and more freely mixed with the water, and will caufe the wort to run thick; therefore the malt muft be only juft broke in the mill, to make it emit its fpirit gradually, and incorporate its flour with the water in fuch a manner, that fir-ft a ftout beer,: then an ale, and afterwards a fmall beer may be had at one and the fame brewing, and the wort run off fine and clear to the laft. Many are likewife fo fagacious as to grind 'their brown malt a fortnight before they ufe it, and keep it in a dry place, that it may become mellower, by.lofing in a great meafure the.fury of its harlh fiery particles, and its fteely nature, which this -fort of malt acquires on the kiln. However, this, as well as many other-hard bodies, may be reduced by time and air into a more foluble, mellow, and foft condition, and then it will imbibe the water, and give a natural kind tinfhire more, freely, by which a greater-quantity and ftronger drink may be made than if it was ufed directly from the mill, and be much fmoother and better tafted. But pale malts will be fit for ufe at a week’s end, becaufe the leifurenefs of their drying endows them with a foftnefs from the time they are taken off the kiln to the time they are brewed, and fupplies in them what time and air muft do in the brown forts. This method of grinding malt fo long beforehand cannot be fo conveniently pratftifed by fome of the great brewers, becaufe feveral of them brew two or three times a week ; but now moft of them grind their malts into the tun by the help of a long, defcending, wooden fpout; and here they fave the charge of emptying or uncafing it out of the bin,-and alfo the wafte of a great deal of the mhit-flour, that is loft when carried in balkets. A fteel hand-mill, will, by the help of only one man, grind fix or eight bufhels in an hour, and will laft a family many years without hardening or cutting. There are fome old fafhioned ftone hand-mills in being, that fome prefer to the iron ones, becaufe they alledge that thefe break the corn’s body, when the iron ones only cut it in two, which occafions the malt, fo broke by the ftones, to give the water a more eafy, free, and regular power to extrad its virtue, than the cut-malt can that is more confined within its hull. Notwithftanding, the iron ones are now moftly in ufe, for their great difpatch and long duration. In the country they frequently throw a fack of malt on a ftone or brick floor as foon as it is ground, and let it lie, giving it one turn, for a day or two, that the ftones or bricks may draw out the fiery quality it received from the kiln, and give the drink a foft mild tafte.
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Of the Nature of feveral Waters, and their Ufe in Brevsing. Water is a matter of great importance in brewing wholefome fine malt-liquors. Now, the more fimple and freer every water is from foreign particles, it is the better. Spring-waters are in general liable to partake of thofe minerals through which they pafs. At Uppingham in Rutland, their water is .faid to come off an alem rock, and fo. tinges their beer with its faline quality, that it is eafily tafted at the firft draught. But that which will lather with foap, or foft water, that percolates through chalk,, or a grey fire.-ftone, is generally accounted.heft ;. for chalk in this refped excells all other earths, becaufe it communicates nothing unwholefome. to the waters, but abforbs. any minerals that, may .accompany the water that runs through them : For which reafon they throw, in great quantities of chalk into their wells at AUeftmry to foften their water, which, coming off a black fandftone, is fo hard and /harp, that it will often turn their beer four in a week’s time ; fo that in its original ftate it is neither fit to walli nor brew with, but fo long as the alcaline particles of the chalk hold good, they put it tq both ufes. River-water is lefs liable to be loaded with metallic,* petrifying, or faline particles^ than the well or fpring forts, efpecially at fome dillance from the fpring head,, becaufe the rain-water mixes with and. foftens it. But in running, it often colleifts grofs particles, from ou-zy muddy mixtures, particularly near town, which make the beer fubjed to new fermentations, and g?ow foul upon any alteration of the weather, as the ThameS-water. generally does ; yet this, for its foftnefs, is much betten than the hard for t; however, both thefe waters are ufedby fome brewers. But where river-water.can be had clear} in a dry time, when no great rain has lately fell out of rivulets, or rivers that have a gravelly, chalky, fandy,' or ftony bottom, free from the difturbance of cattle, &c. and in good air, it may then juftly claim the name of a moft excellent water for brewing, and will make a ftronger drink with the fame quantity of malt than any of the well-waters; infomuch-that that of the Thames has been proved to make as ftrong beer with feven buftiels of malt, as well-water with eight; and fo are all river-waters in a proportionable degree, arid, where they can be obtained clean and pure, drink may be drawn fine in a few days after tunning. Rain-water is very foft, of a moft fimple and pure nature, and the beft diluter of any, efpecially if received free from dirt and mortar that often mix with it as it runs off tiled roofs; this is very agreeable for brewing of ales that are not to be kept long, but for beers that are to remain fome time in the calks, it is not fo good, being apt to putrify the fooneft of any. Pond waters. This includes all.ftanding waters, chief-; ly from rain, and are good or bad according to circumfiances; for where there is a clean bottom, and the wa-. ter lies undifturbed from the tread of cattle, or too many filh, in an open found air, in a large quantity, and where
