Take a new Cask and dig a Hole in the Ground, in which it may lye half depth with the Bung downwards; let it remain a Week, and it will greatly help this or any stinking musty Cask. But besides these, I have writ of two other excellent Ways to sweeten musty or stinking Casks, in my Second Book of Brewing.
These, in my Opinion, are the cheapest of all others to furnish a Person readily with, as being many of them good Casks for Malt Liquors, because the Sack and White-Wine sorts are already season'd to Hand, and will greatly improve Beers and Ales that are put in them: But beware of the Rhenish Wine Cask for strong Drinks; for its Wood is so tinctured with this sharp Wine, that it will hardly ever be free of it, and therefore such Cask is best used for Small Beer: The Claret Cask will a great deal sooner be brought into a serviceable State for holding strong Drink, if it is two or three times scalded with Grounds of Barrels, and afterwards used for small Beer for some time. I have bought a Butt or Pipe for eight Shillings in _London_ with some Iron Hoops on it, a good Hogshead for the same, and the half Hogshead for five Shillings, the Carriage for a Butt by the Waggon thirty Miles is two Shillings and Sixpence, and the Hogshead Eighteen-pence: But, to cure a Claret Cask of its Colour and Taste, put a Peck of Stone-Lime into a Hogshead, and pour upon it three Pails of Water; bung immediately with a Wood-or Cork Bung, and shake it well about a quarter of an Hour, and let it stand a Day and Night and it will bring off the red Colour, and alter the Taste of the Cask very much. But of three several other excellent Methods for curing musty, stinking, new and other tainted Casks, I have writ of in my Account of Casks in my Second Book.
_Of Bunging Casks and Carrying of Malt Liquors to some distance_.
I am sure this is of no small Consequence, however it may be esteemed as a light matter by some; for if this is not duly perform'd, all our Charge, Labour and Care will be lost; and therefore here I shall dissent from my _London_ Fashion, where I bung'd up my Ale with Pots of Clay only, or with Clay mix'd with Bay Salt, which is the better of the two, because this Salt will keep the Clay moist longer than in its Original State; and the Butt Beers and fine Ales were Bung'd with Cork drove in with a piece of Hop-Sack or Rag, which I think are all insipid, and the occasion of spoiling great Quantities of Drink, especially the small Beers; for when the Clay is dry, which is soon in Summer, there cannot be a regular Vent thro' it, and then the Drink from that time flattens and stales to the great loss in a Year to some Owners, and the Benefit of the Brewer; for then a fresh Cask must be Tapp'd to supply it, and the remaining part of the other throw'd away. Now, to prevent this great Inconvenience, my Bung-holes are not quite of the largest size of all, and yet big enough for the common wooden Iron Hoop'd Funnel used in some Brew-houses: In this I put in a turned piece of Ash or Sallow three Inches broad at Top, and two Inches and a half long, first putting in a double piece of dry brown Paper, that is so broad that an Inch or more may be out of it, after the wooden Bung is drove down with a Hammer pretty tight; this Paper must be furl'd or twisted round the Bung, and another loose piece upon and around that, with a little Yeast, and a small Peg put into the Bung, which is to be raised at Discretion when the Beer is drawing, or at other times to give it Vent if there should be occasion: Others will put some Coal or Wood Ashes wetted round this Bung, which will bind very hard, and prevent any Air getting into or out of the Cask; but this in time is apt to rot, and wear the Bung-hole by the Salt or Sulphur in the Ashes, and employing a Knife to scrape it afterwards. Yet, for keeping Beers, it's the best Security of all other ways whatsoever.