742. To Fine Wine Difficult to Clarify, or Thick in Consequence of an Imperfect Fermentation

742.    To Fine Wine Difficult to Clarify, or Thick in Consequence of an Imperfect Fermentation. To clarify GO gallons, take 1 ounce of the species of Dock or Rumex plant, called Patience root, which boil in 1 quart water. When cold, filter, and add 1 ounce common salt, then 1 glass sheep's blood. Beat all the ingredients well together with a broom until the mixture foams up well, then add it gradually to the wine, stirring continually while pouring it in, and for 15 minutes afterwards. In a few days the wine will bo clear.

743. To Fine Madeira or any kind of Wine with Isinglass

743.    To Fine Madeira or any kind of Wine with Isinglass. To fine 40 gallons wine, steep 1 ounce isinglass in 1 pint of pure cold water over night, and then melt it over a gentle charcoal fire, until a uniform gelatinous mass is formed. When cool, mix with it 3 pints wine, and let it repose 12 hours in a moderately warm room. Then add 1 gallon wine and mix the whole in a wooden vessel; whisk it with a clean broom until it foams up. Pour this mixture gradually in the wine you desire to fine, being careful to stir the whole continually during the process. Bung up the cask, and in the course of 48 hours the wine will appear perfectly clear and bright. Isinglass prepared in this way will precipitate perfectly, and leave no particles suspended in the wine.

744. To Fine White Wine with Eggs

744.      To Fine White Wine with Eggs. To fine 60 gallons white wine, take the whites of 5 or 6 fresh eggs, 1 egg-shell nearly reduced to powder, and a small handful of common salt. Beat the whole together in a little of the wine, with a small clean broom, until it foams, then pour it into the wine gradually, constantly stirring it all the while.

745. To Fine Red Wine

745.      To Fine Red Wine. This is clarified in the same way. "When you have Roussillon, or the dark wines called vin du midi, which are usually of a deep color, and wish to make it of a lighter color, add 5 or 6 eggs, yellows, whites, and shells together, with a small handful of salt.

746. To Fine a Pipe of Port Wine

746.    To Fine a Pipe of Port Wine. Take the whites and shells of ten good eggs, and beat them up to a froth in a wooden bucket; add 1 gallon of Port and whisk it well up to a froth with a clean broom ; draw off 4 gallons, and put the finings in it; stir it up well, leaving out the bung one day; then bung it up, and in ten days it will bo fit to bottle. If the weather be warm, mix up 1 pint silver sand and add to the finings.

747. To Fine Wine, Cider, Ale, or Porter

747.     To Fine Wine, Cider, Ale, or Porter. Take 1 pound finely shredded isinglass, and macerate it in wine, sour beer, cider, or vinegar; add more of the liquid as the isinglass swells, until about a gallon has been used, agitation with a whisk being occasionally had recourse to, for the purpose of promoting the solution. As soon as the whole of the isinglass is dissolved, the mixture is reduced to the consistence of thin syrup, with wine or the liquid that the finings are intended for. The whole is next strained through a cloth or hair sieve, and at once reduced to a proper state of dilution, by the addition of more liquor. A pound of good isinglass will make 10 to 12 gallons of finings. 1 to 11/2 pints is the usual quantity for a barrel of ale or porter; and 1 quart for a hogshead of wine or cider.