liquors, of which the distiller makes spirit, and the brewer a sort of wine, called beer. From a comparison of the processes employed to obtain these two results, it will be found that the brewer's art has attained a higher degree of perfection than that of the distiller. They both have for their object to obtain a vinous liquor; but that of the brewer is, in reality, a sort of wine to which he gives, at pleasure, different degrees of strength; while that of the distiller is scarcely vinous, and cannot be made richer. I will give a succinct exposition of their two processes in order that they may be compared.

OF THE ART OF BREWING.

The art of brewing consists:

1st. In the sprouting of a proportion of grain, chiefly barley. This operation converts into a saccharine matter, the elements of that same substance already existing in grains.

2dly. In preparing the wort. For that operation, the grain, having been previously ground, is put into a vat, which is half filled up with water; the rest is filled up at three different times with hot water—the first at 100°, the second at 150°, and the third at 212°, which is boiling water. The mixture is strongly stirred each time that it is immersed. By this infusion, the water lays hold of the sweet principles contained in the grain.

3dly. The wort thus prepared, the liquor is filtrated, in order to separate it from the grain, and then boiled until reduced to one half, in order to concentrate it to the degree of strength desired. In that state, 40 gallons of wort contain the saccharine principles of 200 wt. of grain.

4thly. The wort, thus concentrated, is drawn off in barrels, which are kept in a temperature of 80° or 85°. The yeast is thrown into it to establish the fermentation, and in a short time beer is made, more or less strong, according to the degree of concentration, and more or less bitter, according to the greater or lesser proportion of hops put into it.

Such are, in a concise view, the proceedings of the brewer. Let us proceed to those of the distiller of whiskey.

OF THE DISTILLER OF WHISKEY.

Whiskey is made either with rye, barley, or Indian corn. One, or all those kinds of grains is used, as they are more or less abundant in the country. I do not know how far they are mixed in Kentucky; but Indian corn is here in general the basis of whiskey, and more often employed alone.

I have ascertained, in the different distilleries which I have visited in the United States—

1stly. That, in general, the grain is not sprouted. I have, however, seen some distillers who put 10lbs. of malt into a hogshead of fermentation containing 100 gallons, which reduces it to almost nothing.

2dly. That they put two bushels of ground grain into a hogshead of fermentation containing 100 gallons, filled up with water.

3dly. They had a ferment to determine the fermentation, which, when finished, yields two gallons of whiskey per bushel of grain, and sometimes ten quarts, but very seldom. I do not know whether those results are exact; but, supposing them to be so, they must be subject to great variations, according to the quality of the grain, the season, the degree of heat, of the atmosphere, and the manner of conducting the fermentation. From my analysing the different sorts of grains, I know that Indian corn must yield the most spirit.

From the above proportions, it results, that 100 gallons of the vinous liquor of distillers yield only 4 gallons of whiskey, and very seldom 5; that is, from a 25th to a 20th. It is easy to conceive how weak a mixture, 25 parts of water to one of whiskey, must be; thus the produce of the first distillation is only at 11° or 12° by the areometer, the water being at 10°. It is only by several subsequent distillations, that the necessary concentration is obtained, to make saleable whiskey. These repeated operations are attended with an increased expense of fuel, labor, and time.

Such are the usual methods of the whiskey distillers. Before we compare them with those of the brewer, let us examine the nature of fermentation, and what are the elements the most proper to form a good vinous liquor: thence we shall judge with certainty, of those two ways of operating.

CHAPTER III.

OF FERMENTATION.

Fermentation has long since been divided into spirituous, acid, and putrid.

It is only since the revival or new epoch of chymistry, that the learned have been occupied in researches on fermentation. I was the first who gave a new hint on this important part of natural philosophy, in 1785. It was then held as certain, that the saccharine substance was the principle of spirituous fermentation. A series of experiments enabled me to demonstrate the contrary, for I obtained a well crystallized sugar by the fermentation of a substance which produces none by any other means.

In September, 1785, I read a memoir to the Academy of Sciences, at Paris. In that memoir I developed my theory. That learned body nominated four commissioners, for the purpose of examining my operations, and sanctioned my discovery by a report, in which it was acknowledged that I had discovered a new truth, and ordered the insertion of my memoir in the collection of those of the Foreign Associates. I attributed the principle of the spirituous fermentation to the mucilaginous substance. This has been since demonstrated, by attentively observing that it always begins with a motion of acid fermentation, which is produced by the mucilaginous substance. The European chymists have since reasoned upon fermentation; each of them has produced a new system; none have been able to bring it to a regular demonstration; and the learned Gay Lussac has said, that fermentation is one of the most mysterious operations of chymistry. Be that as it may, there are facts that are ascertained: let us endeavor to investigate them, that we may derive from them all the information which is necessary to us.

It is incontestable that spirits are produced by the saccharine substance. Grains, however, supply it, although they are not sensibly sweet. This has made me suspect that the fermentation is at first saccharine, which produces the sweet substance that is necessary for the formation of spirit. It is thus that, by a series of internal motions, the fermentation causes the formation of the spirit to be preceded by a slight production of acid; that it transforms the vinous liquor into vinegar, which the same fermentation changes in time into an animal substance, destroyed in its turn by the putrid fermentation. Such are the progressive changes operated by this all-disorganizing phenomenon, and the unerring march of nature to bring back all substances to their respective elements.

The necessary conditions for the formation of vinous fermentation, are—

• 1st. The presence of the saccharine substance.
• 2dly. That of a vegeto-animal substance, commonly called ferment, and soluble in water.
• 3dly. A certain quantity of water.
• 4thly. A temperature of 70° to 75°.
• 5thly. A sufficient mass.

When these are obtained, in a short time the liquor becomes turbid; it bubbles, from the disengaging of the carbonic acid gaz, and the