Bitter Balls
These are used as a fraudulent substitute for hops in making beer, and are different in composition, to suit dif ferent kinds of malt liquor.
For ale: 2 pounds powdered gentian, and 1 pound extract of gentian, mixed with sufficient molasses to make a paste. Divide into pound rolls.
For pale ale: 1 pound crude picric acid, 3 pounds ground chamomiles, and pound grains of Paradise, mixed with syrup. 2 or 3 years, if reduced to two-fifths, or at least one-fourth. Ale is not fermented so much as beer, therefore a considerable portion of the saccharine matter still remains in the liquid, apparently unaltered. In conducting this process, both the thermometer and saccharometer must be the guide; -the last is indispensable. The results given by these should be carefully noted in a book kept for the purpose, with the heat of the atmosphere at the time the observations are made, which will serve as a guide for any future brewing.
As soon as the head forms a brown, thick, yeasty appearance, and is inclined to fall, it must be immediately skimmed off. Particular attention must be paid to this point. It is at all times better to skim it before it begins to porter, with all the care bestowed upon it in drop, than allow it to pass again through the brewing, will not turn out sufficiently fine to beer, which will give it a rank, disagreeable meet the taste and eye of the consumer. in taste, termed "yeast bitten;" neither will it which case it is usually subjected to the ope- For porter or stout: either of the above, with the addition of 15 pounds Spanish Equorice softened with a little boiling water.