first charge is worked off, the remainder is let intothe first still, and the second still is charged from themash-keeve. To facilitate the operation, there arepipes with proper stopcocks from still to still, such asthat at f\ and it will be perceived that the wholeprocess of distillation is effected by means of steamadmitted through the tube, d, projecting from themain upright pipe of the boiler into the first still, B,and so proceeding by other pipes through the otherstills. The tubes which convey the steam into thestills descend to within 3 or 4 inches from thebottom.
All the vessels and pipes, as well as the stills, aremade of pine; the pipes are 9 inches square, witha bore of 2|- inches in diameter. The steam-boileris 7 feet deep, the height of which, at the fire place,is 8 feet, and it is supplied by water from the worm-tub by the pipe, a, regulated by a stopcock or ballof lead which is worked by the cord, b. It is notnecessary to describe the other vessels of this arrange-ment, as they are similar to those employed in thedistilleries of Scotland and Ireland . The greatestdisadvantage attending it, is the liability of the timbervessels to become unserviceable when the operationsare discontinued for any time; but in a country likeCanada , where wood is plentiful, this inconvenienceis readily repaired.
The wash is usually made from rye, wheat, orIndian corn, with a mixture of one-twentieth part ofbarley malt, or one pound to the bushel of mixedgrain; many use a larger quantity. This is groundor crushed in a mill, and then mashed with water, ata heat ranging between 158° and 102° Fahr. (70° and72°-2 C.); others work at a temperature so high as180° and 190° Fahr. (82°-2 and 87°'7 C.), but this isunusual. When mashed, a cover is immediately puton the tubs, or keeves, in order to keep in the heatas much as possible. The mash is then permitted toremain, with an occasional agitation by the rakes forabout two hours, until it acquires its proper sweet-ness ; at this stage cold water is added to reduce theheat to between 70° or 74° Fahr. (21°T to 23° - 3 C.)when yeast is added. The tubs or keeves are againcovered and allowed to repose until completely fer-mented, when the distilling commences. The wholemash, grains and all, are put into the still. Brewingand distilling are generally carried on in the Canadas from October till May.
RECTIFICATION OF SPIRIT.—On recapitulat-ing the steps through which the production of spirithas been traced, it will be seen that first the grain, orgrain and malt, is crushed, in order to allow hotwater to act more readily upon it; next, the mashingtakes place and worts result; then the fermentationof the worts commences, and the saccharine mattersare resolved into alcohol; finally, this alcohol is, bysuccessive distillations, separated from its greater por-tion of water, and plain British spirit is obtained.Pure alcohol, the various forms of spirituous liquorsknown as hollands, whisky, gin, British brandy, aridrum, and the cordials under the name of peppermint,cloves, aniseed, &c., are produced by the rectifier,from the plain spirit purchased from the distiller.
VOL. j.
British spirit in the form in which it leaves the dis-tillery is but little known.
The manufacturer of whisky, or any of the otheralcoholic liquors, rarely purifies the products, butdisposes of them to the rectifying distiller, whosebusiness it is to remove from them those contami-nations which render them disagreeable or injurious.If, however, the fabricator conducts this operation aswell as the original preparation from the grain, adistinct part of his premises has to be allotted to thework, to comply with legal enactments. The peculiarprocess followed will be here considered.
All spirituous liquors, when the extraneous bodiesfrom which such liquors are obtained have beenremoved, are identical, with this exception, that avariable amount of water is present in them; theyare all more or less concentrated solutions of alcohol;thus, the alcohol from wine, rum, malt, potatoes,carrots, beets, grasses, and various other sources, isthe same in quality, provided all the other solid andliquid impurities be removed. A single distillation,however, will not effect purification, and when vola-tile oils are present, distillation only, how oftensoever repeated, will not separate them, for thesevolatile impurities pass over during distillation;hence, the spirit procured from wines by simpledistillation will have their peculiar flavour; beer,when distilled, will for the same reason yield alcoholpossessing the abominable taste of the yeast; maltspirit will have the disagreeable qualities of faintsfrom the presence of an oil of an acrid bad taste;and potato spirit the physical characteristics of fuseloil, or oil of potatoes. Thus the disagreeablenessor fragrancy of distilled products is, as in the case ofmalt and potato spirit, duo to the presence of anessential oil, derived from the source of the alcoholicliquid. The chief object of the distiller in rectifyingspirit is the removal of these oily bodies in order toprocure a pure alcohol, from which, by the aid ofother ingredients, he can fabricate liquors imitatingthose more costly products which are formed na-turally, such as the better varieties of brandy, gin,whisky, and all the other kinds of liquors and cordialswhich are in daily request as favourite beverages withthe community.
The cognacs, genevas, whiskies, &c., fabricated inthis country arc all made from the low-wines of themalt distiller, or from the potato or carrot spirit offoreign manufacturers.
All of these spirits, as they come from the firstdistillation of their respective mashes, arc called low-wines or singlings , and being charged with oils, areunfit for any use while in that state. When theyare redistilled, the first portion which comes over ismuch purer, and contains loss water than the sing-lings ; this is called the fureshot. So much of thisspirit as can be produced without the smell of faints,is retained as whisky, and the remaining portion isdiluted and submitted to further distillation.
The strength of whisky, as sent out from themanufactory, is generally about 25 per cent, overhydrometer proof, on Dicas’ scale. On a furtherdistillation of this whisky, a spirit is obtained which
14