B. is adulterated in many ways. Burned sugar (caramel) is added to give color; cocculus indicus, to supply an intoxicating agent which will give an appearance of strength to the 13.; quassia, to impart bitterness in place of hops; grains of paradise and Cayenne pepper, to communicate pungency; coriander and caraway seeds, to yield flavor; liquorice, treacle, and honey, to supply color and consistence. To stale beer there is sometimes added green vitriol (sulphate of iron), or alum and common salt, which, when ag,itatcd with the 13., communicate a fine cauliflower head. It is unneces sary to state that such admixtures are never made in any extensive brewing establish ment with respectable connections.
For the home-brewing of B., many recipes have been published, and one of the best is that Oven by Mr. Donovan in the Cabinet Cyclopaylia. The apparatus he suggests is of the roughest description, and comparatively inexpensive_ A porter-barrel forms the mash-tun; the upper end being taken out, perforated with a gimlet, and lowered into the barrel to near the bottom, Where it is supported about a couple of inches front the true bottom, and constitutes the false bottom through which the liquid drains front the bruised malt. A hole is made in the side of the barrel. near the bottom, and between the true and false bottoms, which can be plugged up with a spigot when not required to let the liquor run off. A second porter-barrel will be useful as an underback and fer menting tun. An ordinary household boiler, or a large common tin-plate one. will answer the purpose of boiling the worts. The mash-tun is first well scalded with hot water, and then is supplied with15 galls. of boiling water and 5 galls. of cold water at GO' F. 2 hush. of first-class bruised pale malt are shaken in, and well stirred through the water, the top of the barrel being in greater part closed with a thick cloth. In an hour or so, the liquid which is iu the tun will be clear when allowed to run out at the spigot-hole; and immediately after it ceases to run, about 21) galls. of nearly boil ing water are run over the half-exhausted malt, and this carries off all the soluble mat ters, yielding altogether about 23 galls. of sweet-worts. These are placed in the copper. 31 lbs. of the best mild hops are added, and boiled for 20 minutes. 'rite liquor is then strained through a fine sieve into the fermenting tun; and when it has cooled down to below a blood-heat (93° F.), a quart of yeast is added, and the fermentation allowed to proceed. 1Vlien the frothy head begins to droop, the upper yeast is skininval off. the liquor put in a cask, bunged up, and allowed to clear for a fortnight, when it will be ready for use.
The foregoing remarks on the manufacture of B. apply to all the varieties of B., ale, and porter (q.v.), brewed and used iu Britain. The liquor may differ in strength, front difference in the quantity of water, or in color, from the malt being more or less charred in the kiln-drying. There are, however, many other varieties of beer. In South
America, the Indians prepared and drank a 13. obtained front Indian corn, and called shirt or maize 13., long before the Spanish conquest. The process followed in making chica is similar to that of beer-brewing in Britain. The maize is moistened with water, allowed partially to germinate, and dried in the sun. The maize malt so pre pared is bruised, treated with warm water, and set aside till the fermentation is over. The chica or maize 13. has a yellow color, and a pleasant acid taste. In the valleys of the Sierra, the maize malt is chewed between the teeth of the Indians and their house holds, and the chewed morsel incorporated with the saliva is put in jars with hot water, when the fermentation proceeds more rapidly than before, and a more highly-prized 13. is obtained. The chica is also made front barley. lice, pease, manioc, pineapples, and grapes. The Clint Tartars prepare a 13. from millet-seed. called bonza or millet-beer. The same seed is used in Sikkim, on the southern slopes of the lower Himalaya, and yields 13. there called matraa. The Arabians. Abyssinians, and many African tribes, employ kir, or the seeds of Iva Aloyssinica, and millet-seed, as sources of beer. The Russians prepare a 13. from rye called gu«ss or The Tartars ferment milk into knumies or milk-beer. The Arabians use the milk to yield their leban, and the Turks'to produce their Frourl. In the n. of Scotland, the Orkneys, and some parts of Ireland, buttermilk, or toil ilk, is allowed to stand till fermentation begins, and an intoxicating liqunr results. The South sea islanders prepare a B. from the root of ilacroplycr racthys Ileum. or the intoxicating long pepper, which is called ova The successful brewing of 13. depends much on the kind of water employed. The water which is found most suitalde contains much common salt, sulphate of lime, and carbonate of lime, in a state of solution. The waters employed in the most extensive breweries contain at least 60 grains of earthy salts dissolved in each imperial gallon. Great care most be taken to select water which not only has the proper amount of saline ingredients, but at the same time is free from organic matter either of animal or vegeta ble origin. 1Vater containing such is liable to the decomposition and putrefaction of its constituents, and by contamination, causes the 13. prepared by means of it to be more liable to go wrong iu the brewing, and to possess ultimately an unpleasant taste.
The employment of 13., especially of that variety known as bitter-beer. has recently rapidly advanced in public estimation as a beverage and article of diet. Bitter-beer acts as a tonic and slight stimulant, and in many cases it is recommended by medi cal men to convalescents in place of wine. Some statistics regarding the consump tion of the different kinds of B., and other kindred beverages, will be found under FERMENTED AND DISTILLED LIQUORS.