Col.
George Washington's Small Beer (1737)
To Make
Small Beer
Take a
large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. - Boil
these 3
hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons]
Molasses
while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses
into the
cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this
stand
till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of
Yea[s]t
if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] &
let it
Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask - leave
the bung
open till it is almost don[e] Working - Bottle it that
day Week
it was Brewed.
Benjamin
Franklin's Spruce Beer
For a
Cask containing 80 bottles, take one pot of Essence and 13
Pounds of
Molases. - or the same amount of unrefined Loaf Sugar;
mix them
well together in 20 pints of hot Water: Stir together until
they make
a Foam, then pour it into the Cask you will then fill with
Water:
add a Pint of good Yeast, stir it well together and let it stand 2
or 3 Days
to ferment, after which close the Cask, and after a few days
it will
be ready to be put into Bottles, that must be tightly corked.
Leave
them 10 or 12 Days in a cool Cellar, after which the Beer will
be good
to drink.
