The Historical London Method of Brewing on or Around 1736

The Historical London Method of Brewing on or Around 1736

In a great Brewhouse that I was concern'd in, they wetted or used a considerable Quantity of Malt in one Week in Brewing Stout-beer, common Butt-beer, Ale and small Beer, for which purpose they have River and Well Waters, which they take in several degrees of Heat, as the Malt, Goods and Grain are in a condition to receive them, and according to the Practice there I shall relate the following Particulars, viz.

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For Stout Butt Beer.

This is the strongest Butt-Beer that is Brewed from brown Malt, and often sold for forty Shillings the Barrel, or six Pound the Butt out of the wholesale Cellars: The Liquor (for it is Sixpence forfeit in the London Brewhouse if the word Water is named) in the Copper designed for the first Mash, has a two Bushel Basket, or more, of the most hully Malt throw'd over it, to cover its Top and forward its Boiling; this must be made very hot, almost ready to boil, yet not so as to blister, for then it will be in too high a Heat; but as an indication of this, the foul part of the Liquor will ascend, and the Malt swell up, and then it must be parted, look'd into and felt with the Finger or back of the Hand, and if the Liquor is clear and can but be just endured, it is then enough, and the Stoker must damp his fire as soon as possible by throwing in a good Parcel of fresh Coals, and shutting his Iron vent Doors, if there are any; immediately on this they let as much cold Liquor or Water run into the Copper as will make it all of a Heat, somewhat more than Blood-warm, this they Pump over, or let it pass by a Cock into an upright wooden square Spout or Trunk, and it directly rises thro' the Holes of a false Bottom into the Malt, which is work'd by several Men with Oars for about half an Hour, and is called the first and stiff Mash: While this is doing, there is more Liquor heating in the Copper that must not be let into the mash Tun till it is very sharp, almost ready to boil, with this they Mash again, then cover it with several Baskets of Malt, and let it stand an Hour before it runs into the Under-back, which when boiled an Hour and a half with a good quantity of Hops makes this Stout. The next is Mash'd with a cooler Liquor, then a sharper, and the next Blood-warm or quite Cold; by which alternate degrees of Heat, a Quantity of small Beer is made after the Stout.

For Brewing strong brown Ale called Stitch.

This is most of it the first running of the Malt, but yet of a longer Length than is drawn for the Stout; It has but few Hops boiled in it, and is sold for Eight-pence per Gallon at the Brewhouse out of the Tun, and is generally made to amend the common brown Ale with, on particular Occasions. This Ale I remember was made use of by Medlicot Esq; in the beginning of a Consumption, and I heard him say, it did him very great Service, for he lived many Years afterwards.

For Brewing common brown Ale and Starting Beer.

They take the Liquors from the brown Ale as for the Stout, but draw a greater Quantity from the Malt, than for Stout or Stitch, and after the fifth and second Mash they Cap the Goods with fresh Malt to keep in the Spirit and Boil it an Hour; after this, small Beer is made of the same Goods. Thus also the common brown Starting Butt-Beer is Brewed, only boiled with more Hops an Hour and a half, and work'd cooler and longer than the brown Ale, and a shorter Length drawn from the Malt. But it is often practised after the brown Ale, and where a Quantity of small Beer is wanted, or that it is to be Brewed better than ordinary, to put so much fresh Malt on the Goods as will answer that purpose.

For Brewing Pale and Amber Ales and Beers.

As the brown Malts are Brewed with River, these are Brewed with Well or Spring Liquors. The Liquors are by some taken sharper for pale than brown Malts, and after the first scalding Liquor is put over, some lower the rest by degrees to the last which is quite Cold, for their small Beer; so also for Butt-Beers there is no other difference than the addition of more Hops, and boiling, and the method of working. But the reasons for Brewing pale Malts with Spring or hard Well waters, I have mentioned in my second Book of Brewing.

For Brewing Entire Guile Small Beer.

On the first Liquor they throw some hully Malt to shew the break of it, and when it is very sharp, they let in some cold Liquor, and run it into the Tun milk warm; this is mash'd with thirty or forty pulls of the Oar, and let stand till the second Liquor is ready, which must be almost scalding hot to the back of the Hand, then run it by the Cock into the Tun, mash it up and let it stand an Hour before it is spended off into the Under-back: These two pieces of Liquor will make one Copper of the first wort, without putting any fresh Malt on the Goods; the next Liquor to be Blood-warm, the next sharp, and the next cool or cold; for the general way in great Brewhouses is to let a cool Liquor precede a sharp one, because it gradually opens the Pores of the Malt and Goods, and prepares the way for the hotter Liquor that is to follow.

The several Lengths or Quantities of Drinks that have been made from Malt, and their several Prices, as they have been sold at a common Brewhouse.

For Stout-Beer, is commonly drawn one Barrel off a quarter of Malt, and sold for thirty Shillings per Barrel from the Tun. For Stitch or strong brown Ale, one Barrel and a Firkin, at one and twenty Shillings and Fourpence per Barrel from the Tun. For common brown Ale, one Barrel and a half or more, at sixteen Shillings per Barrel, that holds thirty two Gallons, from the Tun. For Intire small Beer, five or six Barrels off a Quarter, at seven or eight Shillings per Barrel from the Tun. For Pale and Amber Ale, one Barrel and a Firkin, at one Shilling per Gallon from the Tun.

Of Brewing in General.

Of Brewing in general.

Brewing, like several other Arts is prostituted to the opinionated Ignorance of many conceited Pretenders, who if they have but seen or been concern'd in but one Brewing, and that only one Bushel of Malt, assume the Name of a Brewer and dare venture on several afterwards, as believing it no other Task, than more Labour, to Brew a great deal as well as a little; from hence it partly is, that we meet with such hodge-podge Ales and Beers, as are not only disagreeable in Taste and Foulness, but indeed unwholsome to the Body of Man, for as it is often drank thick and voided thin, the Feces or gross part must in my Opinion remain behind in some degree. 

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Now what the Effects of that may be, I must own I am not Physician enough to explain, but shrewdly suspect it may be the Cause of Stones, Colicks, Obstructions, and several other Chronical Distempers; for if we consider that the sediments of Malt-liquors are the refuse of a corrupted Grain, loaded with the igneous acid Particles of the Malt, and then again with the corrosive sharp Particles of the Yeast, it must consequently be very pernicious to the British human Body especially, which certainly suffers much from the animal Salts of the great Quantities of Flesh that we Eat more than People of any other Nation whatsoever; and therefore are more then ordinarily obligated not to add the scorbutick mucilaginous Qualities of such gross unwholsome Particles, that every one makes a lodgment of in their Bodies, as the Liquors they drink are more or less thick; for in plain Truth, no Malt-liquor can be good without it's fine. 

The late Curious Simon Harcourt Esq; of Penly, whom I have had the honour to drink some of his famous October with, thought the true Art of Brewing of such Importance, that it is said to Cost him near twenty Pounds to have an old Days-man taught it by a Welch Brewer, and sure it was this very Man exceeded all others in these Parts afterwards in the Brewing of that which he called his October Beer. 

So likewise in London they lay such stress on this Art, that many have thought it worth their while to give one or two hundred Guineas with an Apprentice: This Consideration also made an Ambassador give an extraordinary Encouragement to one of my Acquaintance to go over with him, that was a great Master of this Science. But notwithstanding all that can be said that relates to this Subject, there are so many Incidents attending Malt-liquors, that it has puzled several expert Men to account for their difference, though brewed by the same Brewer, with the same Malt, Hops and Water, and in the same Month and Town, and tapp'd at the same time: The Beer of one being fine, strong and well Tasted, while the others have not had any worth drinking, now this may be owing to the different Weather in the same Month, that might cause an Alteration in the working of the Liquors, or that the Cellar may not be so convenient, or that the Water was more disturbed by Winds or Rains, &c. 

But it has been observed that where a Gentleman has imployed one Brewer constantly, and uses the same sort of Ingredients, and the Beer kept in dry Vaults or Cellars that have two or three Doors; the Drink has been generally good. And where such Malt-liquors are kept in Butts, more time is required to ripen, meliorate and fine them, than those kept in Hogsheads, because the greater quantity must have the longer time; so also a greater quantity will preserve itself better than a lesser one, and on this account the Butt and Hogshead are the two best sized Casks of all others; but all under a Hogshead hold rather too small a quantity to keep their Bodies. 

The Butt is certainly a most noble Cask for this use, as being generally set upright, whereby it maintains a large Cover of Yeast, that greatly contributes to the keeping in the Spirits of the Beer, admits of a most convenient broaching in the middle and its lower part, and by its broad level Bottom, gives a better lodgment to the fining and preserving Ingredients, than any other Cask whatsoever that lyes in, the long Cross-form. Hence it partly is, that the common Butt-beer is at this time in greater Reputation than ever in London, and the Home-brew'd Drinks out of Credit; because the first is better cured in its Brewing, in its Quantity, in its Cask, and in its Age; when the latter has been loaded with the pernicious Particles of great Quantities of Yeast, of a short Age, and kept in small Casks, that confines its Owner, only to Winter Brewing and Sale, as not being capable of sustaining the Heat of the Weather, for that the acidity of the Yeast brings on a sudden hardness and staleness of the Ale, which to preserve in its mild Aley Taste, will not admit of any great Quantity of Hops; and this is partly the reason that the handful of Salt which the Plymouth Brewers put into their Hogshead, hinders their Ale from keeping, as I shall hereafter take notice of.