THE CYDER-MAKER'S INSTRUCTOR, Sweet-Maker's Assistant, And Victualler's and Housekeeper's DIRECTOR. IN THREE PARTS. * * * * * PART I. Directs the grower to make his cyder in the manner foreign wines aremade; to preserve its body and flavour; to lay on a colour, and tocure all its disorders, whether bad flavour'd, prick'd, oily, or ropy. PART II. Instructs the trader or housekeeper to make raisin-wines, at a smallExpence, little (if any thing) inferior to foreign wines in strengthor flavour; to cure their disorders; to lay on them new bodies, colour, &c. PART III. Directs the brewer to fine his beer and ale in a short time, and tocure them if prick'd or ropy. To which is added, A Method to make yest to ferment beer, as well ascommon yest, when that is not to be had. All actually deduced from the AUTHOR'S experience. By THOMAS CHAPMAN, _Wine-Cooper_. LONDON, Printed: BOSTON, Re-printed and Sold by GREEN & RUSSELL, inQueen-Street, MDCCLXII. [Price One Shilling. ] THE PREFACE. It may be thought necessary, in compliance with custom, that I shouldsay something by way of PREFACE. If the reader would be informed whatmy reasons were for appearing in print, I shall candidly acknowledge, that the great prospect of a considerable advantage to myself wasindeed the strongest persuasive; but I can with equal truth affirm, that it affords me no small pleasure to think I am doing my country atthe same time a very great piece of service; and doubt not but that, as many will soon experience it, my labour will be thankfully receivedand acknowledged. Discoveries and Improvements ought not to be concealed; the publicgood calls loudly for them; but then, in return for the greatadvantage the public receives from them, the author of any suchdiscovery may with the greatest justice claim an adequate reward. PREFACE The following Receipts and Directions are not collected from books, nor interspersed with old women's nostrums; but they are, in verytruth, the result of my own LONG EXPERIENCE in trade, founded onchemical principles, which are principles of never-erring nature. Perhaps I had never thought of this Method of communicating my littleknowledge, had it not been for many gentlemen in the counties of_Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester_, &c. For whom I have done a greatdeal of business, in the cyder-way particularly; and who have oftenexpress'd their desire of seeing my directions for the management ofcyders, &c. Made public. And no doubt such a thing was wanting; for it's hardly credible howmuch liquors of almost every kind is spoiled by mismanagement. Fewpeople know the nature of fermentation, without which no vinous spiritcan be produced; nor any liquor be rendered fine and potible. Fermentation separates the particles of bodies, and from liquidsthrows off the gross parts from the finer, which, without it, couldnot be effected. There is what is called a _fret_, which is only apartial fermentation, that nature is strong enough in some liquors tobring on, without the assistance of art; but this _fret_, or partialfermentation, is never strong enough to discharge the liquor of itsfoul parts; and if they should ever happen to subside, the leastalteration in weather, as well as a hundred other accidents, willoccasion their commixing, and render the liquor almost, or altogetheras foul as ever; to prevent which we call in the assistance of art, and which our method will effectually prevent. In brewing beer, yest is apply'd to it, in order to ferment it, without which it would never be beer. This opens the body of theliquor, and renders it spirity and fine. The reason that cyder is not often fine, is owing to its not beingfermented. After it is got into the hogshead, the generality of peoplethink they have acquitted themselves very well, and done all thenecessary business, except racking it. But I can assure them, the moreany liquor is rack'd, the more it is weaken'd. By often racking, itloseth its body, and so becomes acid for want of strength to supportit. Another gross error many people are guilty of, in keeping the bungsout of the casks. Nothing is more pernicious to fermented liquors, than their being exposed to the open air, whereby they lose theirstrength and flavour. Take a bottle of wine, draw the cork, and let itstand exposed to the open air for twenty-four hours only, and you willthen find it dead, flat, and insipid; for the spirit is volatile, and has been carried off by the air, and what remains is the gross, elementary part chiefly. A cyder-cask should never be kept open morethan fourteen or fifteen days, that is, 'till the ferment is stopt;but so contrary is the practice, that I have known them very commonlykept open three or four months. It hath been objected to me by cyderand sweet-makers, that stopping up the cask so soon will endangerthe head being blown out or bursted; but their fears are groundless, provided the ferment is stopt. The bottoms are quite confined, andit is impossible they should rise, unless a forcing be added to raisethem. The best time for bottling your cyder, is in the winter, or coolweather, when it is _down_, otherwise you will hazard breaking mostof the bottles. The best method of keeping it, is to put it up in drysaw-dust, which will keep it in a due temperature of heat, without thecolour's subsiding, unless you have laid a high colour on it, which, by long keeping, will subside in the same manner port-wine doth inbottles. For 'tis impossible to set a colour on cyder so strong, asto have it stand the bottle more than twelve or eighteen months, atfarthest. The natural colour will change but little in a much longertime. What I have said of the sweet-making-business, (which I have beenconstantly concerned in for more than twenty years) is principallyrelating to fermentation; for it is in all kinds of made-wines thechief thing to be observed. I shall just take notice here of one ortwo things, by way of caution. If your fruit be candied, the best way to clean them is by bagging, and then you may easily take the stems from them. It is very seldom that the fruit is all of the same goodness, I wouldtherefore recommend, that the best fruit be made separate from theordinary, it being easy, and much more prudent, to mix the liquors toyour palate, than to run the hazard of making the good fruit with thebad, a small quantity of which will sometimes spoil the flavour of theliquor, and turn it acid. As to the method of brewing malt-liquors, I shall only here observe, that the practice of boiling the wort so long as is often done, isvery injudicious. Five minutes is long enough: a longer time servesonly to evaporate the spirit, without having any good effect. Under the head of malt-liquor, I have confined myself to giving properinstructions for curing their disorders, such as fining 'em, _&c. _which must be of great use to victuallers as well as private families, who, by reason of the badness of malt, mismanagement, bad weather, orother accidents, have frequently quantities by them, which for want ofknowing how to cure, lie useless, and are sometimes thrown away. In the course of these receipts, I have endeavoured to lay down everything as plain as possible, preferring, in these cases, plainnessto elegance, even tho' I were capable of it, which indeed I have nopretensions to. Before I take leave of my reader, I must admonish him, that if mydirections are not observed punctually, I will not be answerable forhis success; for he may be assured, in matters of this kind, agreat deal depends upon what many people think trifling, and of noconsequence whether done or not. But on the other hand, if he willtake care to observe them exactly, I am sure they will fully answerhis expectations. So shall he not repent laying out his money on this_little_, but not the least _valuable_, book; nor will my reputationsuffer in having penn'd it for his use; which is the earnest wish of His humble Servant, T. C. The _Cyder-Maker's_ Instructor. Let your fruit be as near the same ripeness as possible, otherwise thejuice will not agree in fermenting. When they are properly sweated, grind and press them; and as soon as you have filled a cask, if ahogshead, which is one hundred and ten gallons, ferment it as follows;and if less, proportion the ingredients to your quantity. A FERMENT for CYDER. To one hogshead of cyder, take three pints of solid yest, the mildestyou can get; if rough, wash it in warm water, and let it stand 'tillit is cold. Pour the water from it, and put it in a pail or can;put to it as much jalap as will lay on a six-pence, beat them welltogether with a whisk, then apply some of the cyder to it by degrees'till your can is full. Put it all to the cyder, and stir it welltogether. When the ferment comes on, you must clean the bung-holesevery morning with your finger, and keep filling the vessel up. Theferment for the first five or six days will be black and stiff; let itstand till it ferments white and kind, which it will do in fourteen orfifteen days; at that time stop the ferment, otherwise it will impairits strength. To stop the FERMENT. In stopping this ferment, which is a very strong one, you must firstrack it into a clean cask, and when pretty near full, put to it threepounds of course, red, scowering sand, and stir it well together witha strong stick, and fill it within a gallon of being full; let itstand five or six hours, then pour on it as softly as you can a gallonof English spirit, and bung it up close; but leave out the vent-pega day or two. At that time just put it in the hole and close it bydegrees till you have got it close. Let it lay in that state at leasta year, and if very strong cyder, such as stire, the longer you keepit the better it will be in the body; and when you pierce it, if notbright, force it in the following manner. A FORCING for CYDER. Take a gallon of perry or stale beer, put to it one ounce ofisinglass, beat well and cut or pull'd to small pieces; put it to theperry or beer, and let it steep three or four days. Keep whiskingit together, or else the glass will stick to the bottom, and have noeffect on the liquor. When it comes to a stiff jelly, beat it well inyour can with a whisk, and mix some of the cyder with it, 'till youhave made the gallon four; then put two pounds of brick rubbings toit, and stir it together with two gallons of cyder more added to it, and apply to the hogshead; stir it well with your paddle, and shiveit up close. The next day give it vent, and you will find it fine andbright. If you force perry, cut your isinglass with cyder or stalebeer, for no liquor will force its own body. To cure ACID CYDER. It is always to be observ'd, that even weak _alkali_'s cure thestrongest acid, such, for instance, as calcin'd chalk, calcin'doyster or scallop-shells, calcin'd egg-shells, alabaster, &c. But ifa hogshead can soon be drank, use a stronger _alkali_, such as salt oftartar, salt of wormwood; but in using them, you must always preservetheir colour with _lac_, or else the _alkali_ will turn the liquorblack, and keep it foul. To one hogshead, take two gallons of _lac_, and put to it one ounceand a half of isinglass beat well and pulled small; boil them togetherfor five or six minutes; drain it, and when a stiff jelly, break itwith a whisk, and mix about a gallon of the cyder with it; thenput three pounds of calcin'd chalk, and two pounds of calcinedoyster-shells to it, whisk it well together with four gallons moreof the cyder, and apply it to the hogshead. Stir it well, and it willimmediately discharge the acid part out at the bung. Let it stand onehour, then bung it close for five or six days; rack it from the bottominto a clean hogshead, and apply one quart of forcing to it. If youuse a strong _alkali_, put to the _lac_ four ounces of salt of tartar, or salt of wormwood; but the former is best, as it hath not the bittertaste in it which the wormwood has. _Note_, Lac _is milk, but the cream must be skimm'd off it for use_. To cure OILY CYDER. The reason that cyder is sometimes oily, is owing to the fruit notbeing sorted alike; for the juice of fruit that is not ripe willseldom mix with ripe juice in fermentation. The acid part of one willpredominate over the other, and throw the oily particles from it, which separation gives the liquor a disagreeable, foul taste; toremedy which you must treat it in the following manner, which willcause the oily parts to swim at top, and then you may rack the liquorfrom its bottom and oil. To a hogshead, take an ounce of salt of tartar, and two ounces of halfsweet spirit of nitre, mix them in a gallon of _lac_, and whisk themwell together; apply it to the hogshead, bung it up, and let it standten or fifteen days; then put a cock within two inches of the bottomof the hogshead, and rack it. Observe when it runs low, to look to the cock, lest any of the oilypart should come, which will be all on the top, and will not run outtill after the good liquor is drawn off. Put to the clean a quart of forcing, to raise it, and bung it close. _Note_, When you take out the oil and bottom, your cask must be wellfired, otherwise it will spoil all the liquor that shall be afterwardsput into it. For ROPY CYDER. The following remedy for ropy cyder must be proportion'd with judgmentto the degree of the disorder in the liquor. If the rope be stiff andstringy, you must use a larger quantity of the ingredients. If a hogshead be quite stiff and stringy, work it at least an hourwith your paddle, then put to it six pounds of common allum, ground toa fine powder; work it for half an hour after, and bung it up close. This in a week will cut the rope and bring it to a fine, thin, fluidstate. Then rack it into a clean hogshead, and put to it one quart offorcing; stir them well in the hogshead and bung it close up. If but athin rope, use a less quantity of the allum, and work it the same way. CYDERS bad flavour'd. Some cyders in keeping are apt to get reasty, thro' the ill quality ofthe fruit; and sometimes thro' the badness of the cask will get musty, or fusty. To remedy these evils, you must throw it in ferment, if its body isstrong, with yest and jalap, and let it ferment three or four days;which will throw off the greatest part of the taste; then stop theferment. If a hogshead, put to it one pound of sweet spirit of nitre, and bung it up close. This will cure the bad flavour if any left, andlikewise keep it from growing flat. To colour CYDER. In many places, particularly where the soil is light, and the orchardlays rising, the juice of the fruit is nearly white, and tho' thecyder may be strong, it doth not appear to be so, by reason of itscolour, which always prejudices the buyer against it. Many people spoil a great deal of good cyder by boiling and mixingmelasses with it, to give it a colour; which not only gives it a badred colour, but makes it muddy, as well as bad tasted. Others, again, will boil a large quantity of brown sugar and mix with it, which givesit a colour indeed, tho' a light one; when two pounds of good sugar, properly used, is sufficient to colour ten hogsheads, as follows: Take two pounds of powder sugar, the whiter the sugar the farther itwill go, and the better the colour will be. Put it in an iron pot orladle; set it over the fire, and let it burn 'till it is black andbitter; then put two quarts of boiling hot water to it; keep stirringit about, and boil it a quarter of an hour after you have put thewater to it. Take it off the fire, and let it stand 'till it is cold;then bottle it for use. Half a pint of this will colour a hogshead. Put to each half pint, when you use it, a quarter of an ounce of allum ground, to set thecolour. PART II. The _Sweet-Maker's_ Assistant. Of RAISIN WINES. These wines are made of various kinds of fruit; of _Malaga's, Belvederes, Smyrna's, Raisins of the Sun_, &c. But the fruit thatproduces the best wines is black _Smyrna's_, their juice being thestrongest, and the fruit clearest from stalks: for the stalks in_Malaga's_ and _Belvideres_ are apt to give the wine a bad flavour, and will always throw an acid on it; for the stalks of all fruits areacid; but the stalks of _Smyrna's_ are so trifling, that after rubbingthe fruit between your hands, they will easily sift out. Wine madefrom this fruit is the colour of Madeira, and has very much theflavour of it. Malaga is the colour and flavour of foreign malaga, butnothing near so strong. Wine made from belvideres is strong and verysweet; and after keeping it four or five years is very little inferiorto old mountain. In order to succeed in making these wines, you ought never to set yoursteeps in hot weather, because the heat will put the fruit in a fretwhich will injure its fermenting kindly. The best time for making isin January or February. Set your steeps in the coldest part of thecellar, still remembering to keep them from the frost. To every gallon of water put five pounds of fruit, if good; if butindifferent, put six pounds, into the steep. Keep stirring them threeor four times a day, and let them continue in the steep till the fruitbegins to burst, and the stones swim on the top; which will be inabout fourteen or fifteen days. Then strain the liquor from the fruit, and press the fruit very dry, mixing the pressings with the rest ofthe liquor, and put all together into a cask, and ferment it in thefollowing manner. To every pipe of wine take two quarts of solid ale yest and one ounceof jalap, put them into a can, and into them pour a gallon of the newwine first made hot, whisk them well together, and apply to the pipe, stirring all together very well. If your cask be less than a pipe, proportion your yest and jalap accordingly. When the ferment comeson, you must keep the bung-hole clean, and let the vessel be filled upthree or four times a day. Let it ferment ten or twelve days, or tillit works clean and white. Then take it off its bottom, which will bevery considerable, and put it into a clean cask. You may filter thebottom thro' a linen rag and put to the wine. Lay some heavy weightover the bung, and let it stand a day. Then lay on the top of the winefive gallons of melasses-spirit, and bung it up close. Leave outthe vent peg a day or two; then drop it in the hole, and close it bydegrees 'till you have made it quite close. Let it lay in this state for six months, at that time rack it from itsbottom into a clean pipe, and you'll find it tolerably fine. Then putto it one quart of _forcing_, and bung it up. Let it lay 'till withina month of your wanting it; for the longer it lays the better it willbe in body. Then rack it for the last time (always observing you touchno bottoms) and put three pints of _forcing_ to it. Stir it well withyour paddle, and bung it up. The bottoms you may run thro' a linen ragas before, and mix with that in the pipe. You may pierce the wine insix or seven days, and you will find it quite fine and bright. To force RAISIN WINES. For one pipe, take two quarts of good cyder; put half an ounce ofground allum to it, and one ounce of isinglass pulled to small pieces. Beat them well in your can three or four times a day, and let themixture stand till it becomes a stiff jelly; then break it with yourwhisk, and add to it two pounds of white sand or stone dust. Thenbreak it up gradually with some of the wine, 'till you have made thetwo quarts two gallons, stir it well together, and apply to the pipe, and bung up close. The sand will carry down with it all the small particles with theisinglass misses, and likewise confine the bottom so as to prevent itfrom rising. But if you make your wine stronger by allowing a largerquantity of fruit to the gallon, this _forcing_ will not do; for all_forcings_ must be stronger than the body forc'd, or else the foulparts will not fall; therefore such wines must be forced with _Englishstum_, a quart of which is sufficient for a pipe, one pound ofalabaster being beat in with it and apply'd as above. ENGLISH STUM. Take a five gallon cask that has been well soaked in water, set it todrain; then take a pound of roll brimstone and melt in a ladle; put asmany rags to it as will suck up the melted brimstone. Burn half thoserags in the cask, covering the bung-hole so much as that it may havejust air enough to keep it burning. When burnt out put three gallonsof very strong cyder, and one ounce of common allum (pounded and mixtwith the cyder) into the cask. Keep rolling the cask about five orsix times a day for two days. Then take out the bung, and hang theremainder of the rags on a wire in the cask, as near the cyder aspossible, and set them on fire as before. When burnt out, bung thecask close and roll it well about three or four times a day for twodays; then let it stand seven or eight days, and this liquor will beso strong as to affect your eyes by looking at it. When you force a pipe, take one quart of this liquid, put half anounce of isinglass to it beat and pulled to small pieces. Whisk ittogether, and it will dissolve in four or five hours. Break the jellywith your whisk, and put one pound of alabaster to it, then dilute itwith some of the wine, put it in the pipe, bung it close, and in a dayit will be fine and bright. To cure ACID RAISIN WINES. The following ingredients must be proportioned to the degree ofacidity; if but small, you must use the less, if a stronger acid alarger quantity. It must likewise be proportioned to the quantity ofwine as well as to the degree of acidity. Observe that your cask be nearly full before you apply theingredients; which will have this good effect, the acid part of thewine will rise to the top immediately, and issue out at the bung-hole. But if the cask be not full, the part that should fly off will stillcontinue in the cask, and weaken the body of the wine. If your cask befull, it will be fit to have a body laid on it, in three or four daystime. I shall here proportion the ingredients for a pipe, supposing it quiteacid, so as but just recoverable. Take two gallons of lac, and two ounces of isinglass, boil them aquarter of an hour; strain the liquor, and let it stand 'till itis cold; then break it well with your whisk, and put four pounds ofalabaster and three pounds of whiting to it. Stir them well together, and add one ounce of salt of tartar to the whole. Mix by degrees someof the wine with it, so as to dilute it to a thin liquor. Apply thisto the cask, and stir it well with your paddle. This will immediatelydischarge the acid part from it, as was said before. When it is off and quite down, bung it up for three days, thenrack it, and you'll find part of its body gone off by the strongfermentation. To remedy this, you must lay a fresh body on it inproportion to the degree to which it hath been lower'd by the aboveprocess; always having special care not to alter flavour. And thismust be done with clarified sugar; for no fluid body will agree withit but what will make it thinner, or confer its own taste; thereforethe following is the best manner. To lay a fresh body on the WINES. Take three quarters of a hundred of brown sugar, and put into yourcopper, then put a gallon of lime water to it, to keep it fromburning. Keep stirring it about 'till it boils; then take three eggsand mash all together with the Shells, which put to the sugar. Stirit about, and as the scum or filth arise take it off. When quite cleanput it into your can, and let it stand 'till it is cold before you useit. Then break it with the whisk by degrees, with about ten gallons ofthe wine, and apply it to the pipe. Work it with your paddle for halfan hour; then put one quart of _stum forcing_ to it, which will unitetheir bodies, and likewise make it fine and bright. You must keep itbung'd very close. To cure RAISIN WINES that are cloudy. These wines, if they take a chill, are affected in the same mannerwith Port-wines. Like them they will be cloudy, and will have afloating lee in them, which by shaking in a glass will rise in clouds. If any thing be apply'd to it cold, it will strike a greater chillupon it, and change its true colour to a pale or deep blue one; toprevent which, and take off the chill, you must, _For a Pipe_, Take one gallon of lac and one ounce of isinglass broke in smallpieces, three pounds of alabaster, two ounces of sweet spirit ofnitre; boil them together for five or six minutes; Stir them and applyto the pipe as hot as possible. Stir it well in the pipe with yourpaddle, and in about two hours after, bung it close up. Let it layfive or six days, and you'll find it quite fine and bright. This will make it a little flat, to remedy which you must rack itclean from it's bottoms, and throw a quart of _stum forcing_ to it. To colour RAISIN WINES. Wine made of raisins of the sun is always of the colour of rhenish, which is almost white. Very often that which is made of malaga's(especially if the fruit be but indifferent) will not hold its colour, but must have a colour laid on it. The right colour of raisin wine is the colour of mountain. You musttake care that your wine has not a great bottom in it; for if it has, 'twill be longer before it falls fine. In order to lay a mountain colour on your wine, you must take three orfour pounds of brown sugar, according to the quantity of wine you wantto colour. Put it in an iron pan or iron ladle, set it over the fire, and keep stirring it about. Let it burn in this manner 'till it isquite black and bitter, which will be in about half an hour. If you burn one pound of sugar, put a quart of boiling hot water toit; stir it about, and let it boil a quarter of an hour longer, thentake it off and let it cool. A pint of this mixture is sufficient tocolour a pipe of wine; but note, that with every pint you must mix aquarter of an ounce of common allum pounded to a fine powder; whichwill set the colour so that it will not subside, other wise it willfall to the bottom, and have no good effect on the liquor. If you would have your wine of the colour of port, you must take eightounces of logwood raspings, four ounces of alkanet root, one ounce ofcochineal. Infuse them over a slow fire for three hours; strain theliquor from the wood, and keep it boiling. Then burn three pounds ofbrown sugar as before, and put the colour'd liquor to it; boil alltogether a quarter of an hour longer; then take it off, and when cold, bottle it for use. A pint of this liquor will make a pipe the colour of port wine. Youmust always remember to set the colour with a quarter of an ounce ofcommon allum, ground or beaten to a fine powder. PART III THE _Housekeepers_ DIRECTOR. FORCING for BEER. There are two sorts of forcings for beer; for what will agree with onekind of beer will not serve for another. Some beer when kept twelve orfourteen months will taste as new and sweet as if not brew'd more thansix or seven, nay a much shorter time, which must have a differentforcing from that which is proper for beer that is ripe or less sweet. Beers that are full and sweet must be forc'd in the following manner, viz. For a hogshead, take a gallon of stale cyder, likewise one ounce ofisinglass beat and pulled to small pieces, with an ounce of commonallum ground to a fine powder, put them to the cyder; whisk it welltogether and let it stand 'till it's a jelly. Then break it inyour can, and put one ounce of cream of tartar, and two pounds ofstone-dust to it; whisk it well together, and dilute it with some ofthe beer till you have made the gallon five. Apply it to the hogshead, and stir it well about; and when the ferment is gone off (which willbe in two or three hours) bung it up close. Leave out the vent-peg;and in a day or two you'll find it fine and bright. Beers that are not Sweet are forced with _stum_, the same that is madefor raisin wine, with this difference only, that you must take forone hogshead, three pints, and two pounds of alabaster; stir them welltogether, and dilute with beer as above. This will carry down all thefoul particles, and make the beer fine in three or four hours. * * * * * FORCING for ALE. ALE that is brew'd in the winter to be drank in about two monthsis apt to get foul, occasion'd by the brewer's neglecting it whencooling. Sometimes it is left out in the frost, which will chill it, and make it curdy as it were, and and foul; to remedy this you must Take two gallons of cyder, and put two ounces of insinglass to it. When it is a jelly, add to them two pounds of brick-rubbings; whiskthem well together, and dilute with some of the ale. Put the wholein the hogshead, and stir all about very well. When the ferment is alittle off, bung it close; the next day give it vent, and you'll findit fine. ALE or BEER ACID. If your beer or ale be a little prick'd, you must take for eachhogshead a gallon of lac, boil it with an ounce of isinglass, drainit, and when cold, put to it two pounds of alabaster, two poundsof calcined chalk, and one ounce of salt of tartar. Stir them welltogether, and apply to the hogshead. Mind that the cask be full, and this will immediately discharge theacid part from it, (as in page 12. ) Bung it up for three or four days'till it is settled; then rack it into a clean hogshead, and put twoquarts of _ale forcing_ to it, and bung it close. BEER or ALE ROPY, to cure. If beer or ale should at any time get ropy, as in other disorders, you must proportion the strength of your remedy to the degree of thedisorder. But beer or ale is seldom known to be so ropy as cyder. Take, for one hogshead, two pounds of common allum in one lump, ifpossible; put it into a clear fire, and burn it an hour, then poundit, and apply to the hogshead. Stir it well for half an hour. Thiswill cut the rope in a day or two; then rack it and force it with thesame _stum forcing_ at is directed for beer that is not sweet, asin page 26. If the rope be but thin, one pound of allum will besufficient. Hyssop will cut a thin rope in ale, but this always givesit a bad taste. To make YEST, to ferment new BEER. Many people that live at a distance from any town, are at a greatloss, especially in the winter time, for yest to brew with; I shalltherefore here give them directions to make an artificial yest thatwill answer the purpose altogether as well as the natural. Take two quarts of small beer and one ounce of isinglass; boil themtogether five or six minutes; put it into a can or pail, and whisk ittill it comes to the consistence of yest; let it stand an hour after, then put it to your wort in the same manner you were used to do thenatural yest; this will be sufficient to ferment a hogshead. THE END.