Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/397

363&#93; YEA proper vessel, covered witb a cloth, and suffered to stand for 12 hours, or till it be sufficiently fermented j. whep it should be formed into loavesj and baked. Mr. Henry adds, that this yeast would be more perfe6t, if a deco6tion of malt were substituted for water, A simple deco6lion of malt, however, is now fully proved to be convertible into yeast, fit for brewing : this discover)-^ was made by Mr. Joseph SenyoKjOH whom the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, ia the year 1790, confer- red a bounty of 20l. He directs 3 wooden or earthen vessels to be pro- cured, one being capable of hold- ing 2 quarts, the other 3 or 4, and the third 5 or 6 quarts. A quarter of a peck of malt is then to b»e boil- ed for 8 or 10 minutes, in 3 pints •of water J when one quart must be poured off the grains into the first vessel : as soon as the liquor be- comes cool, such vessel ought to be removed towards the fire, or to a temperature of about 70 or 80° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. In the course of 30 hours, the fer- mentation will commence ; when 2 quarts of a similar cool decoction (made, we suppose, from the same malt), must be mixed with this yeast, in the second, or larger ves- sel} and be repeatedly stirred in the manner practised in common vats. As the fermentation in- creases, a greater portion of the like deco6tion must be added, and be worked in the largest vessel: thus, at length, a sufficient quantity of yeast will be produced, for brewing 40 gallons of beer. This useful contrivance of Mr. Senyor, is farther confirmed by the recent experiments of a cor- respondent, whose plain and Inte- rcstiiig account we are iiuluccd to YEA [363 quote In his own words : " I caused (says he) a gallon of rather weak wort to be made ; with part of which, when cool, I filled the mid- dle part of Nooth's machine-: as soon as it was thoroughly satu- rated with fixed air, I mixed the whole, and placed it in a woodea vessel near the fire, the weather being rather cool. In about 24 hours, there were some faint signs of fermentation ; yet, at the expi- ration of the fourth day, I obtained no more than two table-spoonfuls of very indifferent yeast 5 and tlic wort had become extremely offen- sive. As the yeast was not only- very poor, but in too small a quan- tity for any domestic purpose, t made an infusion of malt and a decotStion of hops, in the manner used among the inhabitants of tl>e island of Jersey, when they find it necessaiy to increase a smail quan- tity of brewer's yeast, l^o this preparation, I added my two spoon- fuls of yeast ; let the mixture staud 24 hours ; then poured off the wa- tery part; mixed the sediment with an increased proportion of the malt and hops j which fermented, and- produced yeast enough to work a gallon of stroi!g-beer, that yielded, a pint of vcrj' fine yeast, of which excellent bread was made. Hav- ing some reason to snspeft, that the fixed air was of little or no use in this experiment, and that a wort might be made, which would fei-- ment of itself, before the liquor, were spoiled l)y too long keeping, I caused to be made four gallons of good wort, rather above porter strength, well hopped, and will) a considerable quantity of colour, and treacle, to pre&erve it from putre- fiidion. It was equally divided, one-half impregnated with fixed air, as in the first experiment 3 each was