The _Dorchester_ Beer, which is esteem'd preferable to most of the Malt-Liquor in _England,_ is for the most part brew'd of chalky Water, which is almost every where in that County; and as the Soil is generally Chalk there, I am of opinion, that the Cellars being dug in that dry Soil contributes to the good keeping of their Drink, it being of a close texture, and of a drying quality, so as to dissipate Damps; for damp Cellars, we find by experience, are injurious to keeping Liquors, as well as destructive to the Casks. The Malt of this Country is of a pale Colour; and the best Drink of this County that I have met with to be sold, is at a small House against the Church at _Blackwater,_ four Miles beyond _Dorchester_, in the Road to _Bridport_, in _Dorsetshire_; they broach no Beer till it is a Year old, and has had time to mellow. But there must be such Cellars as I speak of, which inclose a temperate Air, to ripen Drink in; the constant temperate Air digests and softens these Malt Liquors, so that they drink smooth as Oil; but in the Cellars which are unequal, by letting in Heats and Colds, the Drink is subject to grow stale and sharp: For this reason it is, that Drink, which is brew'd for a long Voyage at Sea, should be perfectly ripe and fine before it is exported, for when it has had sufficient time to digest in the Cask, and is rack'd from the Bottom or Lee, it will bear carriage without injury. It is farther to be noted, that in proportion to the quantity of Liquor, which is enclosed in one Cask, so will it be a longer or a shorter time in ripening. A Vessel which will contain two Hogsheads of Beer, will require twice as much time to perfect itself as one of a Hogshead; and from my experience I find there should be no Vessel used for strong Beer, which we design to keep, less than a Hogshead: for one of that quantity, if it be fit to draw in a Year, has Body enough to support it two, or three, or four Years, if it has strength of Malt and Hops in it, as the _Dorseshire_ Beer has; and this will bear the Sea very well, as we find every day. There is one thing more to be consider'd in the preservation of Beer; and that is, when once the Vessel is broach'd, we ought to have regard to the time in which it will be expended: for if there happens to be a quick Draught for it, then it will last good to the very bottom; but if there is likely to be a slow draught, then do not draw off quite half, before you bottle it, or else your Beer will grow flat, dead, or sour. This is observed very much among the Curious.