Chronicle and Romance: Froissart, Malory, Holinshed: (The Harvard Classics Series)
History
Chronicle and Romance: Froissart, Malory, Holinshed: (The Harvard Classics Series)
England -- Social life and customs -- 16th century; Great Britain -- History -- Edward III, 1327-1377
Having therefore ground eight bushels of good malt upon our quern,
where the toll is saved, she addeth unto it half a bushel of wheat
meal, and so much of oats small ground, and so tempereth or mixeth
them with the malt that you cannot easily discern the one from the
other; otherwise these latter would clunter, fall into lumps, and
thereby become unprofitable. The first liquor (which is full eighty
gallons, according to the proportion of our furnace) she maketh
boiling hot, and then poureth it softly into the malt, where it
resteth (but without stirring) until her second liquor be almost ready
to boil. This done, she letteth her mash run till the malt be left
without liquor, or at the leastwise the greatest part of the moisture,
which she perceiveth by the stay and soft issue thereof; and by this
time her second liquor in the furnace is ready to seethe, which is put
also to the malt, as the first woort also again into the furnace,
whereunto she addeth two pounds of the best English hops, and so
letteth them seethe together by the space of two hours in summer or an
hour and a half in winter, whereby it getteth an excellent colour, and
continuance without impeachment or any superfluous tartness. But,
before she putteth her first woort into the furnace, or mingleth it
with the hops, she taketh out a vessel full, of eight or nine gallons,
which she shutteth up close, and suffereth no air to come into it till
it become yellow, and this she reserveth by itself unto further use,
as shall appear hereafter, calling it _brackwoort_ or _charwoort_,
and, as she saith, it addeth also to the colour of the drink, whereby
it yieldeth not unto amber or fine gold in hue unto the eye. By this
time also her second woort is let run; and, the first being taken out
of the furnace, and placed to cool, she returneth the middle woort
unto the furnace, where it is stricken over, or from whence it is
taken again, when it beginneth to boil, and mashed the second time,
whilst the third liquor is heat (for there are three liquors), and
this last put into the furnace, when the second is mashed again. When
she hath mashed also the last liquor (and set the second to cool by
the first), she letteth it run, and then seetheth it again with a
pound and a half of new hops, or peradventure two pounds, as she seeth
cause by the goodness or baseness of the hops, and, when it hath
sodden, in summer two hours, and in winter an hour and a half, she
striketh it also, and reserveth it unto mixture with the rest when
time doth serve therefore. Finally, when she setteth her drink
together, she addeth to her brackwoort or charwoort half an ounce of
arras, and half a quarter of an ounce of bayberries, finely powdered,
and then, putting the same into her woort, with a handful of wheat
flour, she proceedeth in such usual order as common brewing requireth,
Some, instead of arras and bays, add so much long pepper only, but, in
her opinion and my liking, it is not so good as the first, and hereof
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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