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WHY so little good Malt is made in England.--It is to littlepurpose to hope for the enjoyment of wholesome pleasant beer and ale, unless themalt is good it is brewed from; and such malt is more difficult to come by than mostpeople imagine, which made an expert common brewer say, he believed there was hardlyone malster in twenty that made true malt; and I am really of the same opinion, asthousands I am sure would be, if they had a knowledge of the many incidents and contrivancesthat hinder it. Incidents, I say, because when barley is mowed in several degreesof ripeness, as when some is full ripe, some half ripe, and some only begun ripening,it is then impossible to make good malt of such barley; the occasion of which isowing to a long dry season of weather, that directly succeeds the sowing of it; bywhich means thousands of acres of barley in some years are thus damaged, althoughthis great damage may be very cheaply and easily prevented by liquoring the seedbefore it is sown, as I have, and intend in my future works further to shew, whenI publish my treatise to be entituled New Discoveries in the Art of Agriculture.Secondly, another incident of damage is, when barley after it is mowed is rainedon, so as to make it spire in the field. Thirdly, in the malt-house by wrong managementin the cistern, floor or kiln; on the kiln, by drying brown malt too hastily, soas to cause the kernels to jump and snap, which is blowing of malt, to make the fewerkernels fll the bushel, and thus they are often dried to a bitterness; whereas todry it leisurely as it ought to be, it should be ten hours on the kiln, instead ofwhich many dry it in four hours time. The same fault is also committed by many malstersin making pale malts, who to save time, labour, and fewel, dry them in eight hoursinstead of sixteen; and to deceive the buyer will just crisp them without-side, whenthe inside is rawish: hence it is, that we have such great quantities of bad beerand ale. Fourthly, there are thousands of quarters of malt damaged every year bywhools or wevils, bred by the rawness of pale malt. Many people find themselves sickafter drinking, little thinking such sickness is occasioned by whools or wevils;but I say, wevilly malt will cause the beer to give its drinker a sickness, and whenmany of these stinking poisonous insects are among it, a very panick sickness indeed.The Londoners have no notion of this; and that in some country towns, whereare several malt-kilns, they are never free from wevils all the year.

  To know good Malt.--It is known by smell andtaste, by smelling, if it smells sweet; by taste, if the kernel bites mellow andtastes sweet; for if the kernels are hard throughout, it is a sign of bad malt.--Seemore of this, and many other curious serviceable matters in brewing, in my treatiseintituled The London and Country Brewer, sold by Astley, at the Rosein Pater-Noster-Row, London.

  Hops.--The bright hops of the last year's growthare best, the older the worser. Hops ripe, when gather'd free of the damage of insectsand rains, and if rightly kiln-dried, will (by rubbing them between the finger andthumb) feel oily, yield a delicate scent, and taste thoroughly bitter.

  Of Water for brewing.--The best water to brewwith is a soft river, pond, or rain-water, because these make stronger drink thanhungry hard well-water, and agree best with malt of any kind, in opening its body,whereby the beer or ale wort receives its strength the sooner, and more graduallythan it does from an astringent, sharp, hard, well-water; insomuch that it is allowedby good judges, that one or two bushels of malt may be saved in eight, if brewedwith a river or pond water. I knew a nobleman (whose well-water is a bracky, hard,chalky sort) say he could never have such good beer at his house, as the keeper ofhis park had at his lodge. The reason was, because the keeper brewed with a pond-water,that had much more strength in it than the well-water, and gave the drink a betterrelish; and if such pond-water should be (as sometimes it is in summer) stagnatedand foul, it is only throwing some salt into the copper, and it will not only raisea filthy scum, but entirely cure the water. This and many other matters in brewingI have the more knowledge of, as I was executor to my uncle's will, a brewer in London;which engaged me a little while in that business.

  Of keeping brewing Utensils clean and sweet.--Withouta roomly brewhouse, a sufficient number of tubs or other coolers, and without theyare kept sweet and clean, there is no such thing as brewing right malt liquors. Butif any taint of them is suspected, it may be cured at once by throwing scalding waterinto them, and upon that some bay-salt, which when dissolved, scrub and wash themwell with a birch broom, or hard brush; and thus you will deliver yourself from thatpoisonous damage, called in great brewhouses the fox, which gives the drink a sickishnasty taste, and a very unwholesome quality.

  A good plain Way to brew a Hogshead of Octoberor March stout Beer.--There are many ways of doing this; but the plaincommon way is this I am going to direct, I will suppose a hogshead of strong beerwas to be brewed.--In the first place, I would see if my malt was not eat at theend of the kernels by wevils, that it was sweet, and bit mellow; then I would haveit only just broke, and that's all, between the two stones of a mill, or else onlybruised between two rollers of the shape of a mill that flats tobacco-leaves, orthe plat that our country people weave for making straw-hats: Then having my softwater boiled a minute or two, I would put it into the mash tub, there to stand tillI could see my face in it, or just bear my finger in it; then to put my ground maltdirectly into it by degrees, stirring it all the while it is running leisurely intothe tub; when all is in, I would mash the whole for about twenty-five minutes, thencover it with a bushel of malt that I left out on purpose, and leave it so for twoor three hours; at the end of which, I would turn the cock to let the wort run out,and return it back on the malt till it run fine upon some rubbed hops. When I hadmy full quantity, or rather before, I would be putting it into the copper with hops,and boil all as fast as I could, till the wort breaks into particles as big as lice;then I would take all out of the copper as fast as I could, for then it is boiledfull enough, and better than if the wort and hops were boiled longer. But to be morenice, I would put my hops in a large canvas bag or fine meshed net, to be boiledin the wort only thirty minutes at most, but the wort should be boiled on longer,till it breaks as aforesaid; for by boiling the hops so little a while, the drinkwill be impregnated with only the fine spiritous, flowery, wholesome bitter of thehops, free of that nasty-tasted earthy unwholesome quality that is in all hops whatsoever,and which would be extracted if the wort was to boil much longer. As to the quantityof malt and hops to brew a hogshead of strong beer from, it is as a person thinksfit; for from ten to sixteen bushels or more of any sort of malt, a hogshead of goodbeer may be brewed; and as to the quantity of hops, they may be used from four toten pounds or more. Be sure to lay your wort thin in the cooling tubs or backs, forif it is laid thick, it will be very apt to fox; and when almost cold, take abouta gallon, and mix some yeast with it in a pan, tub, or pail; do this in time, thatit may be incorporated with the rest of the wort before it is cold, and when it haswork'd into a curled head turn it, but never beat the yeast into it above once ortwice at most, before you put it into the cask.--Others brew by lading over boilingwater after the first mash is over, and this from time to time without stirring themalt, till all the strong wort is got off; which is a good way, but is too tediousfor some people's patience.--Others work their strong wort in a cask, and will notput any yeast into it before it is all in it, thinking the spirits will not wastehere during the fermentation, as when openly work'd in a tub.--Ale is to be brewedin the same manner, only with less malt and fewer hops; and if a person has a mindto brew an ale that is excellent for the gout or gravel, he may put some treacleinto the copper when he puts in his malt wort to boil; this opens the pores, andpromotes perspiration, to the great relief of the body. N. B. If your firsthot water is not too hot when the malt is put to it, you need not fear a miscarriagein the brewing afterwards.

NOtwithstanding I have done my endeavour, in my aforesaid brewing-treatise,to detect this pernicious practice, yet I find to my surprise it increases, especiallyin the country, as it brings the greater profit to the brewer, who by this meanscan save two bushels of malt in eight. For if one brews eight bushels of malt anddoes not beat the yeast in above once or twice at most, his drink shall be no strongerthan the same quantity brewed from six bushels, if the yeast is beaten in near orquite a week together, as many do in winter time; because by this the malt liquoris so impregnated with the sulphureous and saline spirit of the yeast (which is ofa poisonous nature) that a quart of such yeasty ale has fuddled a very stout man:Which inebriating quality tempts the ignorant to spend their money, lose their time,ruin their health, and bring their family to the parish. Besides which, it greatlylessens the consumption of barley and malt, and consequently the king's duty. Nowto prevent this horrid practice, if the excise officer was to make a narrow inspection,and find yeast beaten into any strong beer or ale above twice, it should by a strictlaw be made very penal.