OCR Text |
Show Concerning Cider. Summerfillet an early Cider, but both very ftrong 5 and the Apples mixt together make a good Cider, Thefe Apples yield a liquor more grateful to my Palate (and fo efteem’d of in Herefordfhire by the greater Ciderifts) than any made of Pepiasand Pearmains, of which forts we have very good in that Country; and thofe alfo both Summer and Winter of both forts, andof which I have drank the Céders but prefer the other. Grounds {eparated only witha Hedge and Ditch, by reafon of the difference of Soils have given a great alteration to the Cider, notwithftanding the Trees have been graffed with equal care, the fame Grafs, and laftly, the famecaretaken in the making of the Cider. ‘This as to the Red-ffrakes I have not obferv'd the fame nicene/s in avyother fruzt 5 for Gennet-moyles, and Fillets thrive verywell overall Herefordfhire. The Red-ftrake delights moft ina fat foil : Hamslacy is a richintermixt foil of Red-fat-clay and Sand; and Kings-capel a low hot fandy ground, both well defended from noxious Wizds, and both very famous for the Red-firake-cider. There isa Pear in Hereford and Worcefter-fhires, which is called Barelaud-pear, which makes a very good Cider. I call it Cider (and not Perry) becaufe it hath all the properties of Cider. Ihave drank of it from half a year old totwo yearsold. It keepsit felf without Roping (to which Perry is generally inclined.) and from its tafte: Dr. Beal, inhis little Treatife called the Hereford/bireOrchard, calls itdefervingly a Mafculine Drinks becaufe in fate not like the {weet Jufcious feminine juice of Pears. This Tree thrives very well in barren ground, andis a fruit (with the Red- Jirake) of which Swize will not eat; thereforefitteft to be plant- ed in Hedge-rows. Redftrakes and other Cider-apples when ripe (which you may knowpartly by the blacknefs of the Kernels, and partly by the colour and {medi of the fruit) ought to be gathered in Baskets or Bags, preferved from bruifing, and laid up in heaps in the Orchard tofmweat ; covered every night from the dew: Orelfe, in a Barn= floor (or the like) with fome Wheat or Rye-firaw under them, being kept folongtill youfind, by their melowing, theyarefit for the Aéll. _ Theythat grind, or bruifetheir Apples prefently upon their gaibering, receive fo much liquor from them, that between twenty or twenty two Bufhels willmake a Hogshead of Cider: but this ¢3derwill neither keep fo well, nor drink with fuch a fragrancy as is defired and endeavoured. They that keep them a month or fix weeks hoarded, allow zbout thirty bufhels to the making of a Hogshead but this hath alfo an inconvenience; inthat the Cider becomes not five, or fie for drinking, fo convenientlyas a mean betwixt thele two will afford. Keep them then about a fort-night in a hoard, and order them to be of fuch acaf bythis Mellowing, that about twen- y Concerning Cider. tyfive Bufhels may make a Hogshead, after which mellowing pros ceed thus, 1. Pickand clear your Apples from their fealks, leaves, moaziwefs, or any thing that tends toward rottenne{s or decay. 2. Lay them before the ffore in the Cider-44ill, or elfe beat them fmall with Beaters (fuch as Paviers ule to fix their pitchin in deep troughs of Wood or Stone, till they are fit for the Prefs. g) 3. Having laid clean wheat: ftraw in the bottom of your Prefs, lay a heap ofbruifed Apples upon it, and fo with finall handfal s or wifps offiraw, which by twifting takes along with it the ends of the fram laid firft in the bottom, proceed with the bruifed 4pples, and follow the heaps with your twiltedraw, tillit comes to the beight of two foot, or two foot and a half; and fo with fome firaw drawn in by twisting, and turned over the top of it (fo that the bruifed apples are fet as it were intoa deep Chee/-vat of Straw, from whichthe Country people call it their Cider-Cheefé) Jet the boardfall uponit even andflat, and fo engage the force of your skrew or Prefs fo long as any Liquor will runfromit. Inftead of this Cheefe others ufe bages of Hair-cloth. 4. Take this Liquor thus forced by the Pref, and ftrain it thorow afirainer of hair into a Vat, from whence ftraight (or that day) in pails carryit to the Ce//ar, tunning it up prefentlyin fuch Veffels as youintend to preferve itin; for Icannot approve of a long evaporation offpirits, and then a difturbance after it fettles. §. Let your Vefféls be very tight and clean wherein you put your Cider tofettle: The beft formis the Stuzd or stand, which is fet upon the leffer end , from the top tapering downwards} as fuppofe the bead to be thirty inches diametre, let ther the bottom be but eightee# or twenty inches in diametre; let the Tan-holé or Bung-hole be on the one fide ontwards, towardsthe top. The reafon of the goodnefs of this form of Vefeelis,becaufe Cider(as all {trong Liquors) after fermentation and working,contracts a creant or skin on the top of them, which inthis form of Vefsl is as it finks contraéed , and fortified by that contraction, and will draw frefh to the laft drop 5; whereas in our ordinary Vefels, when drawn out about the half or middle, this skin dilates and breaks, and without a quick draught decays and dies. 6. Referve a Pottle or Gallon of the Liquor to fill up the Vefsel to the brim of the Bung-hole, as oft as thefermentation and working leflens the Liquor,till it hath done its work. ; 7. Whenit hath compleated its work, and that the Vefelis filled upto the bang-hole, top it upclofe with well mix’d clay, and weil tempered, with a handful of Bay-falt laid upon thetop of the clay,to keep it moift, and renewed as oft as need fhall require 5 for if the clay grows dry it gives went to the /pirits of the Liquor, by which it fuffers decay. fad an |