On Tanning, or Storing.
At the conclusion of the fermentation in the rounds, the beer is drawn off, and pumped into the store t ats This is the plan in the London breweries ; but the country brewers bung up the same casks in which it is worked, and keep it in these until it is fit for the table. The immense quantities of beer brewed in London ren der this impracticable, and they make use of the store vats. Sonic brewers suppose, that it is better to keep the store in large bodies than in small ones, on account of the great pressure caused by such a depth of liquor ; but a greater advantage probably arises from the equality of temperature which such large vessels preserve, no:, being so subject to be affected by those changes of weather which are so injurious to the beer, by suddenly exciting a slight fermentation in warm weather, and as quickly checking it in cold. To avoid this, the small casks should be stored in cellars beneath the ground, or the great store vats should be kept in large buildings, where the sunshine may have as little influence as pos sible. At Mr Whitebread's brewery, some years ago, two very large cisterns were made underground, and lined with stone and cement ; and the beer was kept in these instead of the wooden store vats. They were de signed by the late Mr John Sincaton, F. R. S. and ex ecuted under his direction.
The beer, if well brewed, will become fine and trans parent merely by keeping; but in London, the great capital required in the brewing trade, urges the brewer to send it out, to make a return in the rough, as it is termed, when cloudy, without allowing proper time for fining itself. At the same time they send with it a proper proportion of fining, which is isinglass dissolv ed in very sour beer, which they brew on purpose, without hops, from the wort of a fourth mash, taken af ter all the others. When the cask of beer reaches the innkeeper, he puts a proper proportion of the finings into the cask ; and the gluten of the isinglass, mixed with the fecula floating in the beer, forms a net-work at the top of the cask, which gradually sinking down to the bottom, carries all the impurities along with it to the bottom of the cask like a filter.
In London, the beer is drawn from the casks in the publican's cellar by a system of small pumps, which raise the liquor from four different casks up to one place, so that it can be drawn from any for them with equal ease. This gives great facility for the mixing of the
different liquors ; for, though porter is professed to be entire butt, that is, drawn from one cask, scarcely any of the London porter is so : The universal custom is, for the brewers to send the publican one cask of stale, and three, or sometimes four, of mild porter. The for mer is that which has an acid taste, from being rather weak and kept longer, and the latter is new. From these the publican draws such a mixture as will suit the taste of his customers.
On Colouring Colouring is used to give a fine brown colour and a peculiar flavour to porter and brown beer. These li quors were formerly brewed from brown malt, and de rived their colour from this circumstance ; but experi ence has now pointed out a much more economical me thod. Brown and other high dried malts owe their colour and flavour to the heat which they receive in the kiln, scorching and partially charring the sugar and flour that they contain. This, at the same time, causes a very great waste of the fermentable matter, which could otherwise be extracted from them in the mash tun ; but, by adding a small quantity of burnt or scorched sugar to the beer, the same colour and flavour may be obtain ed from pale malt, which is found to yield a far greater proportion of fermentable matter than brown malt.
The colouring is made in the following manner : One hundred weight of coarse brown sugar is thrown into a cast iron boiler, of a hemispherical figure, with one gallon of water. This is boiled, and kept constantly stirred. till it turns black, and comes to the consistence of treacle. The smoke rising from it is now set on fire, and this communicates to the whole, which is suffered to burn about ten or twelve minutes, and is then extin guished by putting on the cover of the boiler. While it is still hot, it is diluted with water, to bring it into a liquid state. Three parts of the sugar will make two of this colour. When it is to be used, it is put into the gyle tun in the proportion of two or three pounds to a barrel ; but this entirely depends upon the colour of the malt from which the liquor is brewed, and the co lour which the beer is intended to have.