Cottage Economy, to Which is Added The Poor Man's FriendCobbett, William
General
Cottage Economy, to Which is Added The Poor Man's Friend
Cobbett, William
Agriculture; Home economics; Poor laws -- Great Britain
42. The two _scales_ of which I have spoken above, are now to be spoken
of; and, that I may explain my meaning the more clearly, I shall suppose,
that, for the tradesman's family, it will be requisite to brew eighteen
gallons of ale and thirty-six of small beer, to fill three casks of
eighteen gallons each. It will be observed, of course, that, for larger
quantities, larger utensils of all sorts will be wanted. I take this
quantity as the one to give directions on. The utensils wanted here will
be, FIRST, a _copper_ that will contain _forty gallons_, at least; for,
though there be to be but thirty-six gallons of small beer, there must be
space for the hops, and for the liquor that goes off in steam. SECOND, a
_mashing-tub_ to contain sixty gallons; for the malt is to be in this
along with the water. THIRD, an _underbuck_, or shallow tub to go under
the mash-tub, for the wort to run into when drawn from the grains.
FOURTH, a _tun-tub_, that will contain thirty gallons, to put the ale into
to work, the mash-tub, as we shall see, serving as a tun-tub for the small
beer. Besides these, a couple of _coolers_, shallow tubs, which may be the
heads of wine buts, or some such things, about a foot deep; or if you have
_four_ it may be as well, in order to effect the cooling more quickly.
43. You begin by filling the copper with water, and next by making the
water _boil_. You then put into the mashing-tub water sufficient _to stir
and separate the malt in_. But now let me say more particularly what this
mashing-tub is. It is, you know, to contain _sixty gallons_. It is to be a
little broader at top than at bottom, and not quite so deep as it is wide
across the bottom. Into the middle of the bottom there is a hole about two
inches over, to draw the wort off through. In this hole goes a stick, a
foot or two longer than the tub is high. This stick is to be about two
inches through, and _tapered_ for about eight inches upwards at the end
that goes into the hole, which at last it fills up closely as a cork. Upon
the hole, before any thing else be put into the tub, you lay a little
bundle of _fine birch_, (heath or straw _may_ do,) about half the bulk of
a birch broom, and well tied at both ends. This being laid over the hole
(to keep back the grains as the wort goes out,) you put the tapered end of
the stick down through into the hole, and thus _cork_ the hole up. You
must then have something of weight sufficient to keep the birch steady at
the bottom of the tub, with a hole through it to slip down the stick;
otherwise when the stick is raised it will be apt to raise the birch with
it, and when you are stirring the mash you would move it from its place.
The best thing for this purpose will be a _leaden collar_ for the stick,
with the hole in the collar plenty large enough, and it should weigh three
or four pounds. The thing they use in some farm-houses is the iron box of
a wheel. Any thing will do that will slide down the stick, and lie with
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