le, and fasten it up.
Let it stand twelve months in casks, and twelve in bottles before it be
drank. It will keep, and be very fine, eight or ten years. It should be
brewed in the beginning of March. Great care must be taken that bottles
are perfectly prepared, and _the corks are of the best sort_.
The ale will be ready in three or four months, and if the vent-peg be
never removed, it will have spirit and strength to the last. Allow two
gallons of water, at first, for waste.
After the beer or ale is run from the grains, pour a hogshead and a half
for the twelve bushels; and a hogshead of water, if eight were brewed.
Mash, and let stand; and then boil, &c.
ORIGIN OF MINT JULEPS.
'Tis said that the gods, on Olympus of old,
(And who the bright legend profanes with a doubt!)
One night, 'mid their revels, by Bacchus were told,
That his last butt of nectar had somehow run out.
But determined to send round the goblet once more,
They sued to the fairer mortals for aid
In composing a draught, which till drinking were o'er,
Should cast every wine ever drank in the shade.
Grave Ceres herself blithely yielded her corn,
And the spirit that lives in each amber-hued grain,
And which first had its birth from the dews of the morn,
Was taught to steal out in bright dew-drops again.
Pomona, whose choicest of fruits on the board
Were scattered profusely, in every one's reach,
When called on a tribute to cull from the hoard,
Express'd the mild juice of the delicate peach.
The liquids were mingled, while Venus looked on,
With glances so fraught with sweet magical power,
That the honey of Hybla, e'en when they were gone,
Has never been missed in the draught from that hour.
Flora then from her bosom of fragrancy shook,
And with roseate fingers pressed down in the bowl,
All dripping and fresh as it came from the brook,
The _herb_ whose aroma should flavor the whole.
The draught was delicious, each god did exclaim,
Though something yet wanting they all did bewail;
But _juleps_ the drink of immortals became,
When Jove himself added a handful of hail.
HOFFMAN.
PUNCH.
Four elements, joined in
An emulous strife,
Fashion the world, and
Constitute life.
From the sharp citron
The starry juice pour;
Acid to life is
|