The _Dorchester_ Beer, which is esteem'd preferable to most of the
Malt-Liquor in _England,_ is for the most part brew'd of chalky Water,
which is almost every where in that County; and as the Soil is generally
Chalk there, I am of opinion, that the Cellars being dug in that dry Soil
contributes to the good keeping of their Drink, it being of a close
texture, and of a drying quality, so as to dissipate Damps; for damp
Cellars, we find by experience, are injurious to keeping Liquors, as well
as destructive to the Casks. The Malt of this Country is of a pale Colour;
and the best Drink of this County that I have met with to be sold, is at a
small House against the Church at _Blackwater,_ four Miles beyond
_Dorchester_, in the Road to _Bridport_, in _Dorsetshire_; they broach no
Beer till it is a Year old, and has had time to mellow. But there must be
such Cellars as I speak of, which inclose a temperate Air, to ripen Drink
in; the constant temperate Air digests and softens these Malt Liquors, so
that they drink smooth as Oil; but in the Cellars which are unequal, by
letting in Heats and Colds, the Drink is subject to grow stale and sharp:
For this reason it is, that Drink, which is brew'd for a long Voyage at
Sea, should be perfectly ripe and fine before it is exported, for when it
has had sufficient time to digest in the Cask, and is rack'd from the
Bottom or Lee, it will bear carriage without injury.
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