same Brewer, with the same Malt, Hops and Water, and in the same Month and
Town, and tapp'd at the same time: The Beer of one being fine, strong and
well Tasted, while the others have not had any worth drinking, now this
may be owing to the different Weather in the same Month, that might cause
an Alteration in the working of the Liquors, or that the Cellar may not be
so convenient, or that the Water was more disturbed by Winds or Rains, &c.
But it has been observed that where a Gentleman has imployed one Brewer
constantly, and uses the same sort of Ingredients, and the Beer kept in
dry Vaults or Cellars that have two or three Doors; the Drink has been
generally good. And where such Malt-liquors are kept in Butts, more time
is required to ripen, meliorate and fine them, than those kept in
Hogsheads, because the greater quantity must have the longer time; so also
a greater quantity will preserve itself better than a lesser one, and on
this account the Butt and Hogshead are the two best sized Casks of all
others; but all under a Hogshead hold rather too small a quantity to keep
their Bodies. The Butt is certainly a most noble Cask for this use, as
being generally set upright, whereby it maintains a large Cover of Yeast,
that greatly contributes to the keeping in the Spirits of the Beer, admits
of a most convenient broaching in the middle and its lower part, and by
its broad level Bottom, gives a better lodgment to the fining and
preserving Ingredients, than any other Cask whatsoever that lyes in, the
long Cross-form. Hence it partly is, that the common Butt-beer is at this
time in greater Reputation than ever in _London_, and the Home-brew'd
Drinks out of Credit; because the first is better cured in its Brewing, in
its Quantity, in its Cask, and in its Age; when the latter has been loaded
with the pernicious Particles of great Quantities of Yeast, of a short
Age, and kept in small Casks, that confines its Owner, only to Winter
Brewing and Sale, as not being capable of sustaining the Heat of the
Weather, for that the acidity of the Yeast brings on a sudden hardness and
staleness of the Ale, which to preserve in its mild Aley Taste, will not