VI. In which we treat concerning the making of several Physical Drinks together with their Vse and Vertues Shewing the right way of Bottleing Beer AS to the Ways of making Physical Drinks they are varirious some being made from Herbs others by the Spirits thereof exalted others by their Essential Salts and their Essences exalted which indeed is the most superior Way but seeing that every Brewer and good Housewife cannot obtain these we shall prescribe such as be of more easie Preparation We see that Beer made from Cypress Cedar Sassafrax Wormwood Scurveygrass Elder Mint Balm c. are highly esteemed especially Purle and Scurvygrass here in England But here is one thing which I cannot omit which is this they take the Herbs at any Season with the Gross and more Vertuous part together and put these into Low Weak Sick Defective or Prick'd Beers and so the Tast of the Herb overpowering the same they think it sufficient the Pallats of the Drinkers being pleased not minding whether they answer the End desired sc the contributing something to the Health of their Drinkers which they cannot thus do seeing they want that Internal Sanity themselves which should perform the same Now seeing it is not only this but much more which might be said of the like Nature we shall recommend three things to the Consideration of every Honest Brewer whereby this Defect may in great Measure be Repaired and Supplyed The first is if you design to make any sort of Physical Beer let your Wort have a Sound Body well wrought and settle three Days and while it hath yet a more Invisible and Secret Fermentation Secondly that you only add in the Tops and choice Parts of such Herbs as are design'd for the same And thirdly That those Herbs lie not so long therein as that their Spiritual Qualities may be so much exhausted that their Terrene ones by the Beer or Liquor should be extracted therefore they ought to be well pounded and macerated and in a small Bag put into the Cask that so after their due Time which may be at the most twenty Days they may be taken out again These being observed you may make excellent Beer or Drinks fully answering the End of their Preparation Also instead of such Herbs as are naturally juicy you may add in the Juice thereof if Elder let it be about two Gallons to a Barrel of Strong Beer but if the Juices are Sâ—iptick Eitter or Astringent then will a smaller Quantity serve You may also have most excellent Physical Ales by adding the Spirits of the Concreats truly prepared about thirty or forty Drops more or less according to their Strength into a Glass of Beer The True Spirit of Salt is an excellent Preserver unto Human Bodies being taken ten or twelve Drops after the same manner It cures the Scurvey resists Putrifaction c. Also eight or ten Drops hereof being dropped into a Quart of New Beer makes it immediately tast Stâ—le and renders it drinkable But above all doth our Spiritus Odonâ—ugiasas perform this as you may see at large in the Britannean Magazine of Wines Now if you have a mind to have any other Variations in making divers Physical Ales then proceed thus Make a Syrrup of the Herb and put two or three Spoonfuls thereof into the Ale or Beer in Bottleing and a Spoonful or two of the Essence whether it be Oranges Lemons or Scurvygrass Cypress Wormwood Mint Balm or the like And if you practise this your Experience will prompt you beyond Words A Compound Physical Ale good against the Scurvy Dropsy and other Diseases OF Scurvy grass one Peck â„ž Water-Cresces twelve Handfuls Brooklime six handfuls English Rhubard six ounces Horse Radish four ounces Anniseeds and Carraway Seeds of each one ounce Sweet Fennel one ounce Sena one ounce Polipody of the Oak four ounces Raisins stoned and Lent Figs of each eight ounces New Ale five gallons make it S. A. A good way for the Bottling Beer IN the first Place take a little clear Water or else such as is truly impregnated with the Essence of any Herb and to every Quart thereof add half a pound of Mevis Sugar and having very gently boyled and scumed the same adding thereunto a few Cloves let it cool fit to put Barm thereto and being brought to work scum off the same again and while it is in a smiling condition put three spoonfuls thereof to each Bottle and then filling up the same cork fast down A sew Christals of Tartar also do well in Bottling Beer adding a few Drops of the Essence of Barly Essence of Wine or some other Essential Spirits Accept of this Courteous Reader until Opportunity shall admit us to oblige you with things of a more Sublime Nature Postscript IN this Treatise having spoke of Waters in general laying down Rules sufficient to inform any reasonable Man of their Nature and Preparation yet I think it may not be amiss to add a few Words as a Review of the whole that is how Waters are altered by the Accidental Qualities as well as by the Natural ones and from such things that superficially impregnate the Water with something contrary to its internal Texture that is it purges itself therefrom once peradventure in a Natural Day by its being ponderous it joyns with the earthy Qualities in the Water and so precipitates and washes away but however if it is constantly impregnated with such Heterogeneities It much alters the Purity of the Water and makes the Time very uncertain When we take it purged or when its Body is filled with the said Impurity and so one and the same Water shall variously alter in the manner of Decoction and Fermentation being taken at various Times You have an Example of this in Thames water a pure and sine River originally proceeding from a Spring being fed by the influx of many small Rivulents and so increased to such a magnitude as it is so navigable that it challenges many of the European Rivers appertaining unto the Metropolitan Cities but however it hath these Inconveniences as others have also for being near so great a City it receives the Common Shores and from its adjacent Banks various Excrementious Things as Dung Urin Fish-Bones Diers-Liquor Soap-boylers Drugs the Butchers Corruptions and many other Sulphurous Stinking and Slimy Things which wonderfully alter the Water so that sometimes especially if taken in the Time when it is not purged the Wort will not bear boyling but becomes thick and will not kindly Ferment and so drinks flubby unpleasant and shews the like Effects for it will soon Sour and corrupt so that many who use the Thames Water are afraid to boyl their Liquor or Wort sufficient because it will grow thick and this by them is generally observed but the reason thereof not conceived For other Times the Water being taken when it hath purged itself it may be boyled with the same Success as other Waters and the Beer or Ale will be
Books by William Salmon Professor of Physick living at the Blue Ball by the Ditchside near Holborn-Bridg The French Gardiner instructing how to Cultivate all sorts of Herbs for the Garden an accomplish'd Piece Translated into English by J. Evelin Fellow of the Royal Society An Exact Journal of the Victories obtained by their Majesties Forces in Ireland under the Command of General Ginkle to the Surrender of Limerick Mr. Boyle's Works viz. 1. Of Nature 2. Final Causes 3. Martyrdom of Theodora and Dydimus 4. Christian Virtuoso 5. Experimenta Observationes Physicae being a Collection of Natural and Physical Experiments with a Collection of Strange Reports Mr. Boyle's Funernal Sermon preached by the Bishop of Sarum As also his Elegy CHAP. I. In which we treat of the Art in General as also of the right way of Manuring Land and the Sowing and Planting thereof for its greatest Improvement IN this Chapter we shall treat of Art in general and principally of the Office of Water and Manuring of Land together with the Definition of Brewing Brewing according to the best Sense may be understood to be The Art of making Liquors or Drink and that by Decoction which is properly to be understood Evaporation not of the whole Substance but only of the heterogeneous Particles and a Concatination or linking together of the more homogeneous ones so as to make them the more generous and friendly to Human Nature Now as to the Invention of this Art 't is very Ancient and hath a Physical Root from the Word Coquo to boyle or to Infuse or Digest Species in Water thereby to extract their Vertues and make them Medicinal such are the Decoctions generally prescribed And we make no doubt but that of making Beer was a Physical Invention though not prescribed nor perhaps known to the Ancients although one of late says 'T is not the smallest part of Chymistry when indeed it hath not the least adherance to the Word Chymistry which had its Original from Alchymidus a Jew who had the Art of Transmutation thence called Alchymy or Chymistry what the Word signifies is plainly shewn in the Authority of Language sc to be a dissolving of Metals and an extracting of their Quintessence When as that of making Malt is only an artificial Fermentation in order to manifest the Calidum innatum And why any should say That it had its first Invention in Egypt I cannnot conceive seeing the Art of making Beer hath not been of so long continuance and that Basilius that famous Philosopher quotes it not from Egypt or Greece but cites and describes the making of Malt from England as may be seen in his Triumphant Chariot of Antimony and therefore England may doubtless have the Honour of being the first Authors of making Beer and Ale and therefore let her continue the same in making the best seeing Europe affords not better Grain nor better Water to Brew Decoct or Extract the Vertue withal Now although the Art of Decoction is ancient whence the Art of Brewing had its Original yet do we not say that this is so too but it is no matter whence it did proceed or how old the Invention is seeing it is so useful an one that thereby Drinks are made more generous than they would by Nature be the better the Grain is and the more kindly the Malt is made so as to be Malt indeed the better will the Beer and Ale spend and seeing all these are necessary to be touch'd at we shall begin first with the Foundation thereof sc the Manuring of Land seeing it must be from Good Land that Good Grain must proceed and consequently the most Plentiful Crop The way of Dressing and Manuring Land which hitherto hath been used in England is that of burning up the Stuble and Gause breaking and mixing the Ashes thereof with the Earth as also a Fatting and Supplying of Land with Horse or Cow-dung Fat Marle Chalk and more principally Lime and of later Years for Cold and Moist Ground Soot is highly esteemed and much used and not without good Reason seeing it contains a Nourishing Fatness Now from these we shall make our Observations what that is in all or any of these that Warms Supplies and Nourishes the Earth with Food answerable to that which is daily wasted in Multiplication and Vegetation and though the Earth it self as it is a Passive Domicil or Matrix of Generation doth not deminish one Grain either in Ponderosity or Corporaâ—ity as Helmont hath demonstrated by calcin'd Earth in which a young Tree was set and after its being grown to a considerable height and Stature the Earth still remained the same in pondus as before yet in all this it contains an Invisible Spirit which is exhausted and without a daily Supply as well from Celestials as Terrestrials the Archeius the red Man the Servant of Nature could not have any Matter to work on neither could the Sperm be mixed or sublimed to the Superficies of the Earth for the nourishing of Vegetable Growths and therefore is not the Earth improperly called Magnesia seeing it so greedily attracts the invisible oily Life from Rains and Dews and that joyning to the Fatness of the Earth makes a great quantity of Salt Nitre by the Heat of the Sun and the greater Quantity of Salt Niter there is in the Earth by consequence the greater quantity of Corn grows and increases this as Sandivogius says is done daily So that 't is the fatter Saline and Sulphurous Qualities in the Earth that nourish all things and as we have said in our Britannean Magazine of Wines Lime by the Acid Juice of Vegetables made as Glauber prescribes will produce great Quantityes of Niter and therefore of wonderful and principal Service for manuring of Barren Lands and dung of Cows and Horses by the several Retrogradations of Nature produces the same effect for great quantityes of Niter are found where such Fatness abounds and therefore I say That Land may by Art be yet more enriched ten per Cent. for seeing Nature makes use of these Art may in great sufficiency supply her by adding such things as will increase the Central Sal Niter which the Lime made from Muscles Cockles or other Sea-Shels abundantly doth as also the Sulphurous Spirit of Stone-Cole but more principally the Sulphurous Spirit of the General Magnesia which in plain Terms is Sand Drift distilled and burn'd to Ashes and those imbibed and moistened with the Mummial Life which being mixed with the Ground will abundantly fertiliate the same not only to increase its Goodness ten per Cent. but also to cause decaying Growths to Renew and vegetate afresh and this may be had in great Quantity sufficient to supply seeing the Subject in England doth so plentifully abound And that to the present bettering thereof seeing Art prepares it ready for Nature to work in whenas things of a more inferior Order as Lime Dung c. must be waited on till Nature hath prepared the nourishing
but is that which gives Vertue and must by consequence be united with the Centre thereof seeing Life always subsists in the Centre of every Body which cannot be touched any other way so as to be exhausted but by Fermentation and a violent Seperation which is an Exhalation of the Saline and Sulphurous Qualities thereof which is that Earth by which the said Element is Elementated which doth remain even in Rain-water after all the Moisture is evaporated and this is that in this Element together with the Spiritual Life which nourishes Beings seeing the Element it selt is only as a Menstruum or Vehicle for conveying of the same to the Centre of the Earth where the Sperm is mixed and sublimed for Vegetation and therefore if the volatile Aquacity is in part evaporated then by consequence must the Menstruum become more sharp and powerful to act on Bodies and as it is more satisfied by the radical Union of the Grain so is that Liquor so produced more durable vertuous and agreeable to Constitutions either temperately hot or cold as will be shewn more at large in that Chapter that treats of Brewing And although some as I before cited ignorant in the Law of Nature do affirm That Decoction separates the volatile brisk and airy Life drawing their Argument from the groaning cracking or sighing of the Water in Decoction when alas this is nothing else but the crackling Serpent or wild Blass which is separated by the first Action of Decoction and then ceaseth and the Water concentrates into Parts more agreeable As for Example take Water and put it on the Fire and make it immediately to boyle and violently to evaporate in such a way that all the parts may be radically opened and then immediately damp or put the Fire quite out and this wild Gass shall only evaporate and the Water become free and quiet in its Decoction and is more powerful for the extracting Tinctures as also for the making Essential Oyles or indeed any use whatsoever let others say what they will to the contrary and the more especially where the Sulphurs that are to be extracted are of an hot and generous Nature as is plain in that of making Tea and Coffee or the Infusion of Sage and Sassafrass and many others in that 't is a general Custome to boy I their Waters twenty four hours and only open the Pipe to let forth the wild Gass which is purely Philosophical Observe that this Experiment is best made in such Vessels as have a blind Head and proper beck only for Evaporation And thus having in general run through what was promised in this Chapter we shall conclude the same with this positive Affirmation sc That Decoction and Fermentation are the two Pillars on which depends Exaltation and Perfection CHAP. II. In which we treat of the right way of Brewing Beer and Ale in general so as to make them the most Durable and Vertuous to Drink THE right way of Brewing is by a true and natural Preparation of the Menstruum or Liquor by which the Vertue is extracted from the Grain which can be no other way but by Decoction which must be so artificial as to separate the wild Gass as was touched at in the last Chapter That being the Grand and Fatal Enemy to Human Life and there is no Element in Nature so much abounding with the same as Water as is plainly manifest in this That Rain-Water takes into its Womb all and every Gass that proceeds from other Elements which is the reason that those Places where Bogs abound and the Air hath not Power to penetrate the Body thereof so as to rarifie and enliven the same are so unhealthful and so often cause contagious Diseases for you must know the Motion Decoction and Rarification is the Life and Exaltation of Beings as hath been said as also the Purification thereof in that they separate heterogeneities and concatinate and ripen the homogeneous Qualities and seeing these are of such Universal Tendency in Nature why may not they be the same in Art For Decoction is here really necessary for without the same it is impossible to prepare our Food so as to make it generous agreable and healthful for our Bodies For as that Learned and profound Philosopher Bernard Trevisan saith in his Answer to Thomas of Bononia That Water which is Cold and Moist if it be well mixed with Vegetables assumes another Quality and in Decoction takes to it and puts on the Quality of the Thing wherewith it is throughly mixed And there can be no true Mixture of things of Different Textures but by Decoction and Fermentation but you are to observe That when I speak of Decoction I mean not one so violent as to evaporate the Compound but to ripen the same So then I shall come to explain what that Decoction is which best agrees with our Mind and is that upon which the whole End and Scope of our Intention is built sc a Seperation of the Wild and Unruly Gass which is the grand Enemy and fatal Destroyer of the Life of Man for reasons before rendred the manner how this is done hath been also already touches at therefore in preparing your Liquor in the Art of Brewing let the same be carefully observed For otherwise instead of having a wholesom and generous Liquor you have that which is destructive to the fermentative juices in us by its Stagnatizing quality and tho this hath been prevented by many in the Art of Brewing yet it hath been by accident the true Philosophy thereof being unconsidered For when the Wise and Prudent of this Nation have by experience found their Beer ill Brewed by making of them ill-disposed or by its soon souring or roping they have ordered that the same should be well boyled and then they have found a better effect by which boyling a separation of the Gass predicted hath been made and this might have been much more easily done and without a considerable diminution of the Liquor had but the true reason been understood sc by an immediate sudden quick and violent boyling and then an immediate damping of the Fire so that the Gass may evaporate which will be more in one half hour than by gentle simering in five or six hours for the Body of the Water is radically opened so as to let that freely pass out and then the Water attracts and receives in its place a vital and spiritual Life from the Air for there is no such thing as a Vacuum in Nature for if Nature should admit of this Beings would soon be annihilated But we se the contrary for Nature tends to the bettering of things and aims at her End rejoycing in the same as the Pismire doth and threfore is she not one moment Idle as Sandivogius truly says but many times she comes short of her end by meeting with obstructions in the way and therefore must it be the great business of Art to help her where she is deficient sc by
taking out of the way that which is offensive to her And that you may yet the better conceive why there should be such a Gass in Waters we shall give you the reason You may remember that I said before 't was the Menstruum of the World making one Globe together with the Earth and having its centre in the heart of the Sea and as Sandivogius saith hath one Axle-tree and Pole with the Earth by which all Courses and Fountains of Water issue forth and disperse themselves through the pores of the Earth so according to more or less do Springs arise and afterwards meeting together encrease and come to be Rivers and those return to the place whence they originally came Now as the Waters pass through the pores of the Earth and through narrow and strait places where Sand is they leave their saltness there and become fresh so that 't is a certain and Infallible Maxim in Philosophy That Water is purged by Sand now afterward as they pass on further they take into their Bodies more or less of the Nature of those things which they passed through and if they come through a place which is hot and Sulphurous and continually burning they are thereby made hot and thence Baths arise for as Sandivogius saith there are in the bowels of the Earth places in which Nature Delights and separates a sulphureous Mine where by the Central Fire 't is Kindled the Waters runing through these burning places according to the nearness or remoteness are more or less hot and so break forth into the superficies of the Earth and retain the tast of Sulphur as all Broath doth of the Flesh boyled in it After the same manner it is when Water passing through places where are Minerals as Copper Allum doth acquire the savour of them as also through all the other diversity of Vapors that the Earth abounds withall so there is no wonder why this Element should be impregnated with a wild Gass as before-said seing it passes through such diversities thereof in the Bowels of the Earth and as it comes to the superficies thereof in a more immediate degree or as it passes further through such places where it is again purged so doth it retain more or less of the aforesaid Gass and this is that which causes the great diversity of Waters so that some are harsh and rough others more mild others more slippery and friendly to Nature as such which passed through Alkalisated places or where abundance of Chalk abounds And 't is observable that some Waters shall wash with half the quantity of Soap as others will which proceeds from the richness of their Abstersive virtue and Salutiferous qualities in Nature and from a Spirituous Oleous and Saline Vapour that they are impregnated withal in the Bowels of the Earth and where is that Philosopher now born that can demonstrate to us how much with this or the other quality Nature hath impregnated the same seing she works invisibly any otherwise than by the effect produced in the use thereof or who dare presume to assert that he will shew us the exact number of times that Nature hath decocted or impregnated the said Waters with different moist vapours or how often it hath since its issuing forth received its purgation or how much it must be now decocted and purged to make them equally generous seing there is such great diversities of Waters as is plainly manifest some more friendly others more austere some more agreeable to one Texture some to another and tho it is still but Water yet doth it as much differ in some Cases as if compounded of different Textures being so unlike to one another for some waters are so prepared to our hands that little or no boyling will make excellent Beer others must have a considerable time of Decoction to ripen them or else they 'l not be fit to make Beer of we have an example of this by the Waters of Roterdam of which indifferent Beer is made as those that have travelled can testifie But a certain English Brewer upon the well-boyling of his Liquor in the first place before Mashing even to a considerable consumption made excellent Beer and Ale thereof which I by my own experience can testifie was little inferiour to that of England which is highly esteemed there Here the Vertue of Decoction was manifested even by that Water which proceeds from one of the finest Rivers in Europe for that it comes from the Rhine The manifest Difference of Waters may also be discerned in most Counties of England For for Example let six Sacks of Hartfordshire Malt which was made from one Grain at one and the same Time from the Cestern to the Kill be brewed in six different Places or with six different Waters and every one of these Beers shall be discernably different in Tast although the Grain was one yet doth this Difference issue forth by the diversity of Menstruums or Liquors Therefore I would have all our English Gentry Brewers and other House-keepers that brew their own Beer if they desire their Health not to hearken to Notional Theory or to such as are swelled up with the Poyson thereof like a Toad touched by a Spider ready to burst without the Antidote of Plantine but apply themselves to Experience the only sole Mistress of true Wisdom and in the first place let them by many Tryals prove the Nature of their Water first by a more short and afterwards by a longer Decoction But in all be sure that you separate the Wild Gass the Sword of Mankind and when they obtain a Liquor most Generous and agreeable to their Constitutions let them keep to the same for in this Case every Man is properly his own Judge and there is an Ancient Proverb in England That every Man at Thirty Years of Age is either a Fool or a Physician that is he must then know what best agrees with him Now for these alledged Reasons it is impossible for any Man to prescribe an infallible Rule in Brewing any more than those general ones here by me performed therefore I apply my self to the Judicious as my proper Judges to determinate the Cause depending and to Encourage and Receive Truth according as it is delivered God knows my Heart I write not for Notions sake nor for Vain Glory but for the sake of â—ruth and the Health and Prosperity of those the inhabitants of Britain whom I so highly esteem as my daily Labours may easily demonstrate in that I cannot chuse but cast my Mite into her great Treasuries of Wisdom c. But from the Digression to the Matter in Hand I say then That all Waters are more generous that are most endued with a salutiferous Saline oleous Life and do daily receive a Rarification from the friendly Archeius of Nature as also a fresh Influence from the Starry Powers But here by the way it must be observed That Waters are best to be taken when the Sun hath exhaled the
damp and cold Fog therefrom and their Bowels are warmed with the benevolent Rays warmed with the benevolent Rays thereof for to be sure what Nature does not in this Case Art must for this before-described Gass is not only evident in Water but also in most other concreted Beings You have an Example hereof in Wheat-Corn which is the wholsomest Grain in Europe and the Staff of Man's Life in that it hath received a permanent Maturation both from the Celestial and Central Sun for if it be eaten raw or the Flower thereof it causes Diseases but being fermented and baked the Heat sends forth this said Gass as is evident in that it becomes so Vertuous the like is to be seen in Syder yea even in Wines which are not to be ripened but by a Fermentation which is even a Sparkling foaming or as I may truly call it Nature 's violent Decoction even to an Exorbitancy and all this is in order to separate that which doth not centrally agree therewith sc the wild Gass which is evident in this That if a Barrel be then closed up it will burst in Pieces for it will make its way out But as soon as this is exhaled then the Action of Fermentation ceases but where it ceases before the said Gass is fully sent forth there it causes the Liquors soon to Fret Corrupt Rope and Sour as being diseased in itself wants an internal Sanity and the best Cure in this Case is Racking it off Now it is observable That what Decoction is wanting in the Separation of this Gass Fermentation doth compleat And I wonder why this late Writer should allow a Window in the Kill to let the gross Steams sullen Damps and stupifying Vapors as he calls them to pass freely away and to let in the Air when he doth not at the same time allow the same Benefit to Water which is the Element and Vehicle which conveys the same to other compounded Beings in the Act of Generation And though Nature hath been never so bounteous in ripening the same yet is it not fully separated there-from And Fire which is in the highest degree Hot and Dry that even that contains in it this wild moist Gass as we can easily demonstrate before Men of all Qualities now if what is here said is not sufficient to demonstrate the Nature and Effect of the said Gass then let such as desire to be better satisfied apply themselves to other Volumes as our Spagyrick Philosophy Asserted as also our Trifertes Saladini But however we shall add thus much seeing this new Moddler attributes all the unhealthful Qualities to proceed from well-boyl'd Beer and principally those of the Scurvy Stone and Gout yet we say on the contrary That these rather proceed from Beer not well boyled especially where this Gass is not fully evaporated for 't is from this and only this that they proceed For this Gass is Mineral and Excrementitious and hath in it such wrathful Qualities as stagmatise the vital Functions for it is endued with a Coagulative and Forming Quality and will make Stones or Excrements and sometimes takes on the Bodily Form of Arsnick or Poison it must be doing although Evil. We read in Aventius Annel Bavar lib. 7. Anno 1343. That above fifty Men with many Cows were turned into Stone Ortelius tels the same Story of whole Herds in Russia And Camerarius reports That in the Province of Chilo in Armenia at the blast of a South Wind which happens four Times in the Year whole Troops of Horse have been turned into Statues of Stone standing in the Warlike Posture as they were before And Ovid describes the Thracian Waters which make all things Marble and turn their Guts into Stones that take them inwardly Which in plain Terms are no other than this Gass which is plainly to be demonstrated in the Vrinous Classes though not so evidently in the Vinor one because the Calidum Innatum or warmth of the enriching drying Sulphur doth so dilate it that it is easily spent in Decoction and Fermentation But the Urinous and Mercurial Qualities do rather Increase and give Strength because the Vinor and Sulphurous Qualities which are there are so small as not to be able to put into Motion so as to work its way forth now as the Vinor and Vrinous are the two general Classes of Nature in that the very Spirit of the World which nourisheth all things is Vrinous so doth the Vinor contain the Vrinous though invisibly as the Vrinous doth the Vinor in the same Nature according as the hot and moist or cold and moist Qualities get predominancy and from hence it is very evident That this Spirit is the Original Cause of many Diseases and principally by its Volatility for that Diseases have their first Original in the Spirits and that this doth remain in Beer unboyl'd is evident in this Example-Take Wash prepared by the Distillers where neither Liquor nor Wort is boyled but hastened into a Fermentation and being put into the Still and suddenly made to boyl as they do the Beck of the Still being not immediately put into the Worm till this Gass is invisibly off for if it should it would cause it violently to boyle over and so foul the Worm or else force off the Head of the Still when as Beer well Boyled and Fermented having Age to boot may be stilled without this Observation and will yield by abundance the far more wholsom Spirit The same is done in Syder Wines and other Liquors so ordered and this is one Reason why French Brandy excels English Spirits Another Consideration which is a plain Proof that this Gass remains in Beer unboyled is the Paleness of its Colour which shews it rather to have the Moist Mercurial Quality predominant than the Sulphurous and Friendly one Friendly I say because Tincture shews Sulphur and Sanity because these are the Houses of Light and so chase away thousands and legions of the dark diseasie Ideas now Decoction only is that which manifests Tincture and by consequence the Health-making Vertue And I can compare white Beer to no other than Chyle or Posset which is only made by the first Action of the Stomach which should it remain so crude by a debility in Nature all Physicians would allow to be the Author of many Diseases but when the Central Fire is strong to make a true Concoction Digestion Circulation Fermentation and Separation then Tincture is brought unto it which by the help of the Vital Flame is exalted and so from thence the Animal Spirits elaborated then doth this Tincture manifest it self in the healthful Constitution when Diseases and Death are pale and wan And what egregious Nonsense is this even a Contradiction to the Laws of Nature to make as if that which is her first Intention should be That from whence Sanity should proceed and yet at the same time not to allow the degrees of Exaltation thereunto Our new Moddler saith That to make Malt with Judgment
are the best that go through Sand and Chalky Places which do imbibe the Contrarietyes as is plain in this of the late Invention of making Salt-Waters fresh late I cannot so properly call it being touched at by Helmont and other Philosophers but however it was of late that a Patent was obtained for the same Salt-Water therefore is thus made Fresh by a Precipitation or Imbibing their Saline Qualityes by some contrary Ferment and then the Aquacity may be distilled off either in a Copper-Still or such Instruments as the Patentees have ordered to sea Now the matter proper for precipitating the Saline Quality is Salt of Tartar Pot Ashes Lime made from good Chalk or rather that of Oyster Muscle or Cockle-Shels or two or three of these mixed together and made into Balls and thrown into the Still and the Water distilled there-from shall be as purely Fresh as the best River or Fountain Water Now the Philosophy and Mechanical Reason hereof is this The Alkaly destroyes the Sharp and Spiritual Points of the Acid and fixes it so that that which is yet more Spiritual may ascend And the same thing may be performed by any other Alkaly This is the Reason why Lime Chalk Beech-Ashes Crabs-Eyes and Alkalized Nitre or that of Coral make sour Beer sweet as the Spirit of Salt in few Drops immediately makes New Beer drink Stale Why then may not our Springs be enriched by causing them to run through such things as will make a Precipitation of the Saline contrary Qualityes whereby they may be made wholesome and agreeable to our Constitutions seeing both Nature and Art daily perform the same and Experience shews us That it may be radically done For Example If you have a Spring which is Saline Vitriolick Muddy or Nauseous then dig as near as you can to the Head of the said Spring and round about it make a Bed of Beech or Wood-Ashes and then lay another of Sand and then let the Foundation thereof be made with Chalk and the Waters by passing through shall be made so Sweet and Pleasant as to answer the End desired This may be done in any Place where the Waters ascend and where Chalk and the rest may be had with little Cost and Labour but with great Advantage to the Drinkers thereof seeing Diseases as hath been said do often proceed there-from Now your Waters being prepared you may thus proceed to your Brewing First make your Liquor or Water to boyle very suddenly and when it boyles with the greatest Violence immediately damp or pull out your Fire as hath been said or immediately remove your Liquor into some proper Vessel there to remain and cooll till the height of the Steam or Vapour is so gone as you can see your Face in it and then put it into your Mashing Tub to wet your Malt as stiff as you can well row it up and let it remain so about a quarter of an Hour and then add another Fortion of Liquor and row it as before for if you ad your Liquor by degrees you shall the better obtain the Vertue from the Malt then add your full Quantity of Liquor according as yâ—â— purpose to make your Beer or Aâ—â— in Strength then let the whole stand about two Hours more or less according to the strength of your Wort or difference of Weather then let it run into the Receiver and Mash again for a second Wort but your Liquor must be somewhat cooler than for the first and let it stand but half the Time these two Worts being added together you may put the Quantity of Hops you design thereto and put it into your Copper and let there be a large blind Head fitted to the same lute all fast that nothing may evaporate and gently boyl the space of one or two Hours and as the Goodness or Badness of your Liquor or Menstruum is remove then the Head and let it out into the Receiuer and strain the Hops there-from into your Coolers And so have you a Wort in which the full Vertue of the Grain and Hop is which being cooled fit for Barm let it work and then be tunned up according to the Experience of the Brewer Now if you design it for Distillation of small Beer for Servants then Mash a third Time with your Liquor almost cold and let it stand not above three quarters of an Hour the which you may Hop and Boyl according to Discretion there being no Curiosity to be observed the full and essential Parts of the Grain being before extracted wherefore this is something austere and harsh but may be moderated by a little Honey or Molasses and being boyled with Hops Wormwood or any other preserving Herb becomes excellent Drink Now Double Ale or Beer is the two first Worts used in the place of Liquor to Mash again on Fresh Malt and then doth it only extract the Sweet Friendly Balsamick Qualities there-from its Hunger being partly satisfied before wherby its Particles are rendered globical so as to defend themselves from Corruption for being thus brewed it may be transported to the Indies remaining in its full Goodness nay rather enrich it self therefore must double-brewed Beer contain three times the vertue of the single because of its durable Qualities and internal Sanity whenas the single if not well brewed especially soon Corrupts Ropes and Sours And thus you have in general my Sentiments concerning Brewing of Beer to Drink of which we cannot as before was said be more particular seeing the great Diversity of Waters and different manner of each particular Brewer which make considerable Alteration and some are so practically expert that they need no Teacher therefore our Intention here is no other than only to delineate and point forth the exact Method of separating that Gass which is so destructive to Human Kinds c CHAP. III. In which we Treat concerning the Way used in Brewing in order for Distillation THE way used by Distillers is that whereby they may obtain the greatest Quantity of Spirit and although we do not approve of it yet we think convenient to give it because they shall not think that we are ignorant thereof Which is thus First heat the Water a little above Blood-warm that is between Blood-warm and Scalding hot and then the Malt being in a Mash Tub add so much Liquor to it as is sufficient just to wet it and this is called Mashing then row or stir it up very well with two or three Pair of Hands for half an Hour together stiffly till it is all mixed in every part then add in what Quantity of Liquor you think fit but the stiffer you mash the better it is then strow it it all over with a little fresh Malt and let it stand an Hour and a Quarter or thereabouts then let it off into its Receivers and mash again with Fresh Liquor and let it stand about an Hour rowing it up as before said so a third Time But some will mash a fourth Time
but then it must not stand above half an Hour but I say that three times is sufficient the fourth being fitter for Small-Beer for poor People than for Distillation without you use it in the stead of Liquor for other Mashings on Fresh Malt. Now some very Ingenious Persons boyl their Liquor and coole in which I well approve of Now every Wort that comes is pumped up out of the under Back into the Cooler there to Cool and then from the Cooler into the Wash-Backs and there let it remain till all the three Worts come together And by the way observe that you neither Hop nor Boyl as for Beer now when they are down in the Backs and in a proper coolness and fit to be set then add good Yeast enough to work it very well as for Ale and as the Yeast rises up beat it down again and keep the same all in and let it work three four or five Days according to the Season of the Year and according to the Temperament of your Back when set and Judgment of the Distiller for a Back of Wash either too cold or hot set may be easily holpen by adding in hot or cold Liquor now if you exactly know the Time of the Washes being come then you may take off your thick Yeast to set other Backs with but if not then you must take with you these Signs it will work it self down flat and then the thick Yeast will sink to the bottom and what lies on the Top will be a kind of an hoary or yeasâ—y Head And you must observe That your Wash must neither be sour nor sweet but in a Medium between both for then it will be most profitable for the Distiller The way to work it into Low Wines and Proof-Spirits is as follows Pump it out of your Wash Back into the Still until it is filled as high as the upper Nails or thereabout and as it is pumped up be sure that another row all up together that so that in the Bottom may come into the Still thick and thin together let down your Head on the Still but put not the Nose thereof as yet into the Worm but first make a very good Fire so as to cause it to boyl and so a great part of the Gass will go off as much as possibly can without Decoction then as the Beck begins to drop the Nose must be put into the Worm and all luted fast with a Paste made of Whiting and Rie-Flower Now your Still being brought thus to work if it should run too fast with wet Coals or Ashes immediately damp the Fire and thus proceed to your first Extraction to draw off your Low Wines Now 't is observable That some Malt will in the beginning run off a Cann two or three of Proof Spirits and then it generally runs long othersome runs not at the beginning so fully Proof yet will yield indifferently well Thus your Low Wines being distilled you let them lie ten or fourteen Days to enrich themselves for Low Wines in that Time get by lying but some think that afterwards they lose but Proof Goods lose by lying except they lie warm Having thus done you may proceed to a second Extraction into Proof Goods and then to a third called Rectification which we shall omit here because God willing the next Impression of our Britannean Magazine of Wines I shall shew the Art so far as that most excellent Stuff may be made Rules to know what Quantity may be Extracted from every Quarter of Malt. YOU must in the first Place make about fifty Gallons or something more than three Barrels of Wash and that in the first Extraction will make 32 34 or 36 Gallons of Low Wines and those if you let them lye will make in the second Extraction 11 or 12 Gallons of Proof Spirits nay some Malt will make 13 especially if in the second Extraction you add some Water into the Still and such Malt will run two or three Cans or seven or eight Gallons Proof Spirits in a Tun more than other Malt nay sometimes fifteen or twenty We generally count That 20 or 22 Quarters of kindly Malt will give a Tun of good Proof Goods The way of Brewing Good Drink from Molasses PRepare your Liquor as before for Beer directed and when about blood-warm add to every hundred of Molasses thirty six or forty Gallons of Liquor and stir them well together until the whole is Dissolved and then up with it into your Copper adding thereunto three Pounds of Lignum Vite one Pound of dry Balm and four Ounces of Nutmegs Cloves and Cinamon together clap on its blind Head and lute fast and digest twenty four Hours then let it run out into its Receiver and as it is fit to set to work put your Yeast in and let it work sufficiently then tun it up and let it come by its Age Mellow and Brisk to drink and you shall have an excellent Drink very wholsome to Man's Body and might be of great Service to those Islands where Sugar and Molasses so plentyfully abound We have brewed Molasses our selves in Holland and by taking off the fulsom Tast we have had excellent Ale little inferiour to that of Barley The manner how Molasses are brewed for Distillation is shewn in our second Part sc the Britannean Magazine of Liquors our Intent and Purpose here being only to treat of such Liquors as may be brewed and prepared with the least Difficulty Now it is observable That Buck-wheat makes also an excellent Drink and is very much used in Holland but there is no Grain comparable to malted Wheat or Barley both for good Beer Ale and Mum although Beans truly prepared afford a very good Beer and Mum which in Germany is usually done and Doubtless some of the English Brewers know the Experiment of mixing the same with their Malt a small Proportion does not amiss but too great a Quantity gives it a Smack It is very good to know the difference and nature of things for though we may at present have plenty of all sorts of Grain yet a Time of Scarcity may come too soon and then a Man if fore-armed with Knowledge may in some measure help himself It is good to fear the worst and then the best can do us no harm let us not be therefore too much lifted up for as there hath been a Time of Famine and Distress so there may be again which I truly Fear and then if it should be so those Beans and Oats which now make the Horse to prance the Nation might be glad of for Bread and Beer for as an Ingennious Person observes The distilled Water of Oats doth so warm the Stomach that it doth overcom the Senses 'T is well known That many do brew a very strong and mighty Drink with Malted Oats and how profitable the same might be to all English Brewers if there might be sufficient Store of them had in a Dearth of Wheat and Barley
Measure help us with some Artificial Fermentation when that by which the Natural is performed is through an imprudent Use and Negligence found short and deficient Now in this Case you must consider by what Qualities the Yeast acts and so prepare a Ferment agreeable thereunto The Old Country Wife helps herself much in this with Flower and Eggs and some by that of Castle-soap but we by a Union and Spiritual Action of the three Principles in such a way that the Sulphur may be predominant therefore we say That if you have the true Essential Oyl of Barly so prepared as just now hinted you need not at any Time have any Deficiency or Shortness of Ferment seeing it is durable and a small matter thereof will supply your Want Also the true Quintessence of Malt is not to be despised nor the true Quintessence of Wine For that by these many excellent Secrets are performed but more especially and above all doth our Sal Panaristus supply this Deficiency in all and every part thereof if it be but rightly used For as the Famous Radolphus Glauber says concerning his Sal Mirabilis or fixed Nitre That if the same be with Flower throughly moystened with Warm Water and set in a Warm Place then by its own proper Power and Vertue it begins to Ferment especialty if some fresh Hops be put to the Water by which also other Things are promoted to Fermentation This serves not only for Yeast for Bakers but Brewers may also thereby help themselves for by it Wort may be excited into Fermentation and the more highly our Sal Panaristos is exalted and purified the better both it perform this Operation as being more endued with the Spiritual Action of Fermentation therefore are we now labouring to produce it in such Quantity as may be sufficient to give Demonstration of its wonderful Vertue to the most Ingenious Enquirers of Art Many excellent and profitable Truths are in the Art of Fermentation which being more largly treated of in our Britannean Magazine we omit it here and come to the other Heads as follows Now the Way which Experience shews to be the best to order your Vessels for the Preservation of your Beer is as follows You must not at one Time scald them and at another Time wash them with cold Water for that is the direct course to make your Beer get a Tangue of the Vessel for the Scalding of the Vessel as you call it doth not so much wash away the Smell of the Tilts and Grounds as it attracts and stirs up the Gummous Rasomous and Oleous Part of the Wood unto the External Pores and as that finds something to operate with it must be doing then doth it give an hidden Ferment and cause the Beer to receive the Effects of that Tangue for Nature is never one Moment idle but will be doing even when deprived of its Original Form and the Activity of the vivifying Spirit therein as is evident in the Wood of Dead and Corrupted Trees yea where the Life of its Vegetation is totally destroyed for there by Fermentation and Putrefaction Worms are generated which evidently makes good what we have said We also see That after the Death of Human Kinds yea while the Body is roting and Food for the Worms that the Hair doth yet grow whilst it hath any Moysture to succor it which although Excrementous yet doth it vegetate and so would every Form be doing something although it destroys a far more pleasant one as Beer is destroyed by the Tangue of the Cask In Holland they seldom know the Effect of this evil Tangue for that the Cask hath one Head taken out by the Brewers Servant or Cooper and so brought to the River and there with a Broom well washed and every Chink thereof rubbed with a Brush and then set an End to let the Water run away and some rub them with Hop leaves that come out of the Wort and so Rince them again then being dryed in the Air and headed they take a long Piece of Canvis and diping it in Brimstone they make Matches thereof and with a few Coriander Seeds they set Fire thereunto and opening the Bung they let the Match burn in the Vessel keeping in as much as they can of the Sulphurous Fume by laying the Bung lightly on and when the Match is burned they stop all close for a little Time then being opened and coming to the Air you find your Cask as sweet as a Violet for the Acid and Sulphurous Spirits have carried off all the Corruptive and Volatile Particles and bound and constringed the more Solid and Sulphurous ones Sulphurous I say because the Wood burns like a Candle by reason of its Oyly Fatness for Sulphur is the Fiery Fuel of Wood and Coals as Oyl is of a Lamp for the Wet Mercurial Saline Properties extinguish Fire as is evident in the Difference between Extreme Wet Wood and Dry. This plain Position brings me to consider By what Power and Action Trees subsist living in the Winter when they are deprived of their Flourishing Greenness There be Various Opinions concerning this Point It is the general Vogue That the Sap and Essential Vertue of the Tree doth as the Cold Approaches fall down and retreat into the Root and at the return of the Sun in the Spring clivate itself again to replenish the Tree in all and every part thereof But Culpeper being a Man of a sharp Wit thought he had fully comprehended this things and so went about the Confutation of this Opinion by his endeavouring to shew That the Cold constringed and bound the Sap in every part of the Tree alike in the Winter saying It returned not the the Root but called them Sap-mongers who asserted the same Now our Moddler having received from him this Notion seems to impose a new Florish thereon and yet defines not the same so as to give Satisfaction to such as daily enquire into the great Business and Action of Nature For Nature hath a wonderful and most mysterious way of working she performs her Actions by Volatilizations and Fixations or by a rarifying Circulation and Condensation whence Maturation and Perfection these being carryed on and aided both by the External and Internal Powers as was before mentioned in that of Fermentation So then we must consider by what Power she externally Rarifies and by what Power she condenses for as it is the Nature of the External Mercurial Gass to Bind and Constringe the Pores of Trees Plants c. so is it of the External Heat to mollifie and open the same that so the Internal Heat may be admited in its rarifying Sublimation which works opposite Effects to that of the former for as the Internal Mild and Mercurial Spirit doth penetrate and open so doth the Internal Warmth of Sulphur congeal and ripen Now seeing these are necessary to be touched at in all and every part thereof in order to clear this Doctrine we shall proceed as follows First