Page:The English housekeeper, 6th.djvu/360



cellar, besides its general convenience, in regard to a variety of household purposes, is indispensable to every one who wishes to have good beer. However skilful and successful the brewer, no beer, nor, indeed, any fermented liquors (with few exceptions), can be kept good, any length of time, especially in the summer months, unless they be secured from being turned sour by heat, and by sudden variations of the atmosphere. No cellar can be considered perfect which is not below the surface of the ground. Houses in the country are frequently without the convenience of underground cellaring; but every house ought, where it is practicable, to be built over cellars, which, independently of other advantages, contribute very materially to the dryness and warmth of the building.

The directions for brewing, given by my father, in his "Cottage Economy," are so circumstantial, and so simple, clear, and intelligible, that any person, however inexperienced, who reads them with attention, may, without further instruction, venture to brew without risk of a failure. It is certain that many families, who had previously never thought of brewing their own beer, have been encouraged by the plainness and simplicity of his directions to attempt it, and have never since been without good home-made beer. Brewing is not, perhaps, in strictness, a feminine occupation; there are, nevertheless, many women who are exceedingly skilful in the art. It is obviously not within the province of the mistress of a house, even to superintend the brewing department, but, when circumstances may render it necessary that she should undertake the task, she cannot, when about to give her directions, do better than consult the "Cottage Economy."