At the _Greyhound_ at _Marlborough_
I have drank of the palest-colour'd Ale I ever saw, and the best tasted,
and the strongest that I have met with. In that place they dry their Malt
very tenderly, and brew with chalky Water, and their Cellars are dug in
Chalk: So at the _Crown_ at _Hockrell_ near _Bishop-Starford_ in
_Hertfordshire_, is excellent Beer of a pale Colour, strong, and well
tasted; there the Malt is tenderly dried and the Soil chalky: likewise at
_Nottingham_ and _Derby_ they brew with pale Malt, chalky Water, and their
Cellars are dug in Chalk.
These Places are noted for the Goodness of their Ale all over _England_,
insomuch that it has been computed, that there has been above two Hundred
Thousand Pounds worth of Ale sold in and about _London,_ under the
Denomination of _Nottingham, Derby, Dorchester,_ _&c._ in one Year's time:
but it is not in _London_ that we must expect to taste these Liquors in
perfection; for it is rare to find any of them there without being
adulterated, or else such Liquors are sold for them as are unskilful
Imitations of them; and I may add, are unwholesome into the bargain. While
I am writing this, a Gentleman of good Judgment in this Affair informs me,
that the Brown Malt he finds makes the best Drink, when it is brew'd with a
coarse River Water, such as that of the River _Thames_ about _London_; and
that likewise being brew'd with such Water, it makes very good Ale: but
that it will not keep above six Months, without turning stale, and a little
sharp, even tho' he allows fourteen Bushels to the Hogshead.
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