Fining With Isinglass

When beer is required to become fine, before it has worked itself so, or if it does not do so in proper time, isinglass is used to assist it; and this is better than the wheat bag, if it can be afforded.

The mixture made with it is called "finings".

The proportion is one ounce of isinglass to a barrel, on an average.

Dissolve it in sour beer till it is as thick as treacle; strain it through a piece of canvas; then put a little more beer till it is about as thick as cream.

Draw out a pail of beer and add the finings, whisk the whole to a head, then pour it through a funnel into the bunghole. Make room for it by previously drawing out another pailful of beer. Then well stir the ale; pour back the last drawn pailful, and replace the bung when the bubbles are gone down.

Try it in a week or ten days. If then it is not clear, add "half a pound of salt to a hogshead," or "two ounces to the hogshead of alum or quicklime".

"Ropiness" requires to cure it more yeast and a second fermentation; adding the wheat bag.

Racking Beer

Racking is drawing off beer from the large casks into small ones, for use. Whenever this is done be sure to empty the large cask into several smaller ones, or it will get flat, from the air filling the empty upper part. Add a few hops to each cask. Rack in a small stream, and do not leave a large space between the cask and tun as you draw it off.

When a small cask is opened for use, and gets flat, add a little new beer to it; or make a paste of wheat flour and treacle, and drop it into the cask to recover it.

Stout

Quantities For One Hogshead

1 quarter of pale malt. 2 bushels of brown malt.

Three-quarters of a bushel of blown malt. 8 lbs. of hops.

Made as all other beer.

Porter

Porter may be made from the second mash of stout by adding 18 lbs. of treacle to it - thus 36 gallons of porter may be obtained. The best hop for porter is the Humulus Gennanicus,

Porter Brewed As "Entire"

Half a quarter of pale malt. 1 bushel of brown malt.

Haifa bushel of blown malt. 4 lbs. of hops.

Brew stout and porter by the general rules for brewing. Porter owes much of its flavour to a high and rapid fermentation.