Cider
till Christmas. If the ale is flat, or stale, put 3 horse-beans, or 3 raisins into each bottle, and to prevent the bottles' bursting, make a hole in the middle of the cork with an awl; or put into each bottle 1 or 2 peppercorns. If it is desired to ripen it quick, boil some coarse sugar in water, and when cold ferment it with yeast. Then put in 3 or 4 spoonsful of it, with 2 cloves, and if kept in a warm place it will be ripe the next day.
When the ale is sour, put into it a little syrup of capillaire, and ferment it with yeast; when settled bottle it, and put a clove or two with a small lump of sugar into each bottle. It is also useful to put 2 or 3 pieces of chalk, or some powdered chalk into the barrel before bottling.
To Bottle Table Beer.
As soon as a cask of table beer is received into the house, it is drawn off into quart stone bottles, with a lump of white sugar in each, and securely corked. In three days it becomes brisk, is equal in strength to table ale, remarkably pleasant, very wholesome, and will keep many months.
To render Bottled Beer Ripe.
The following method is employed in Paris by some venders of bottled beer, to render it what they term ripe. It is merely by adding to each bottle 3 or 4 drops of yeast and a lump of sugar of the size of a large nutmeg. In the course of 24 hours, by this addition, stale or flat beer is rendered most agreeably brisk. In consequence of the fermentative process that takes place in it, a small deposit follows, and on this account the bottles should be kept in an erect position. By this means white wine may likewise be rendered brisk.
To Manage Ale in the Cellar.
In general nothing is more necessary than to keep it well stopped in a cool cellar, looking occasionally to see that there is no leakage, and to open the vent-holes, if any oozings appear between the staves of the stacks; but connoisseurs in malt liquor may adopt some of the following means: Leave the cock-hole of an upright cask, or the vent-hole of an horizontal one, open for 2 or 3 months; then rack off into another cask with 1 or 2 lbs. of new hops, and closely bung and stop down.
Or, leave the vent-holes open a month, then stop, and about a month before tapping draw off a little and mix it with 1 or 2 lbs. of new hops, which, having poured into the cask, it is again closely stopped.
Or, salt may be used with the hops, as it always gives beer the flavor of age.
To Keep Hops for Future Use.
Hops lose all their fine flavor by exposure to the air and damp. They should be kept in a dry, close place, and lightly packed.