The Theory and Practice of BrewingCombrune, Michael
Science
The Theory and Practice of Brewing
Combrune, Michael
Brewing
A more certain foundation has been laid down in the first part of this
treatise, and the principles there established will, I trust, in all
cases, answer our ends, provided we make use of proper means to settle
their application. The most elegible means to effect this, must be
to follow, as near as possible, such plan, which the rational brewer
would, in every particular circumstance, sketch to himself, before he
proceeded to business. His first attention ought to be directed not
only to the actual heat of the weather, but also to that which may be
expected in the season of the year he is in. The grinding of his malt
must be his next object, and as the difference of the drinks greatly
depends upon that of the extracts, he cannot but chuse to have distinct
ideas of what may be expected from the amount of the heat of them.
Hops, which are added as a preservative to the extracts form too
important a part to be employed without a sufficient knowledge of their
power. The strength of malt liquors depending principally on their
quantity or lengths, it is necessary to ascertain the heights in the
copper, to answer what, on this account, is intended. The difference
in boiling, for different drinks or seasons; the loss of water by
evaporation; the proper division of the whole quantity of this element
employed, and, in proportion to such division, that of the heat to
be given in each part of the process; the means to ascertain these
degrees, by determining what quantity of cold water is to be added
to that, which is at the point of ebullition, come afterwards under
his consideration. The manner and time of mashing, the many expected
incidents which must produce some small variations between the actual
and the calculated heat of his extracts, it will be incumbent upon
him to make a proper estimation and allowance for. To dispose of the
worts in such forms and at such depths, as may render the influence
of the ambient air the easiest and most efficacious, and then, by
the addition of yeast, to provide the drink with that internal and
most powerful agent it had lost in boiling, are the next requisites.
Fermentation, which follows, and which the brewer retards or forwards
according to his intentions, completes the whole process; after these
necessary precautions, to compare his operations with those of the
most approved practitioners in his art, and to find himself able to
account for those signs and established customs, which before were
loosely described, authoritatively dictated, and never sufficiently
determined or explained, must be to him an additional satisfaction. As
precipitation is requisite in certain cases, the common methods for
effecting it should be known, and likewise the means practised among
coopers to correct the real or imagined errors of the brewer, in order
to render the drink agreeable to the palate of the consumers, will
naturally lead him to consider what true taste is, and by employing
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