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Another Way. A Woman, who lived at Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, and had the best Ale in the Town, once told a Gentleman, she had Drink just done working in the Barrel, and before it was Bung'd would wager it was fine enough to Drink out of a Glass, in which it should maintain a little while a high Froth; and it was true, for the Ivory shavings that she boiled in her Wort, was the Cause of it, which an Acquaintance of mine accidentally had a View of as they lay spread over the Wort in the Copper; so will Hartshorn shavings do the same and better, both of them being great finers and preservers of malt Liquors against staleness and sourness, and are certainly of a very alcalous Nature.
The pale Malt is the slowest and slackest dryed of any, and where it has had a leisure fire, a sufficient time allowed it on the Kiln, and a due care taken of it; the flower of the grain will remain in its full quantity, and thereby produce a greater length of wort, than the brown high dryed Malt, for which reason it is sold for one or two shillings per Quarter more than that: This pale Malt is also the most nutritious sort to the body of all others, as being in this state the most simple and nearest to its Original Barley-corn, that will retain an Alcalous and Balsamick quality much longer than the brown sort; the tender drying of this Malt bringing its body into so soft a texture of Parts, that most of the great Brewers, brew it with Spring and Well-waters, whose hard and binding Properties they think agrees best with this loose-bodied Malt, either in Ales or Beer's and which will also dispense with hotter waters in brewing of it, than the brown Malt can.
For which reason they throw in, great Quantities of Chalk into their Wells at Ailsbury to soften their water, which coming off a black Sand-stone, is so hard and sharp that it will often turn their Beer sour in a Week's time, so that in its Original State it's neither fit to Wash nor Brew with, but so long as the Alcalous soft Particles of the Chalk holds good, they put it to both uses.
Others there are that will hang a Bag of Wheat in the Vessel that it mayn't touch the Bottom, but in both Cases the Wheat is discovered to absorp and collect the saline acid qualities of the Beer, Yeast and Hop, by which it is impregnated with their sharp qualities, as a Toast of Bread is put into Punch or Beer, whose alcalous hollow Nature will attract and make a Lodgment of the acid strong Particles in either, as is proved by eating the inebriating Toast, and therefore the Frenchman says, the English are right in putting a Toast into the Liquor, but are Fools for eating it: Hence it is that such whole Wheat is loaded with the qualities of the unwholsome Settlements or Grounds of the Beer, and becomes of such a corroding Nature, as to do this mischief; and for that reason, some in the North will hang a Bag of the Flower of malted Oats, Wheat, Pease and Beans in the Vessels of Beer, as being a lighter and mellower Body than whole Wheat or its Flower, and more natural to the Liquor: But whether it be raw Wheat or Malted, it is supposed, after this receptacle has emitted its alcalous Properties to the Beer, and taken in all it can of the acid qualities thereof, that such Beer will by length of Age prey upon that again, and so communicate its pernicious Effects to the Body of Man, as Experience seems to justify by the many sad Examples that I have seen in the Destruction of several lusty Brewers Servants, who formerly scorn'd what they then called Flux Ale, to the preference of such corroding consuming Stale Beers; and therefore I have hereafter advised that such Butt or keeping Beers be Tapp'd at nine or twelve Months end at furthest, and then an Artificial Lee will have a due time allowed it to do good and not harm.
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