A very peculiar Australian wine is made called Conatto;
this is a rich liqueur, mth a slightly medicinal flavovir in it ; its taste reminds one
of rum shrub and curagoa. Again, it is sometimes like Constantia, and is probably
made from the same kind of grapes that are used for Constantia. Red Albury is a
scented wine resembling somewhat English home-made raisin wine, only it is better.
It is a capital wine for children, and would suit those who like a sweet port. These
are the chief wines of Australia, which, in our opinion, are destined in a few years'
time to become far better known than they are at present ; and Englishmen on
patriotic grounds should at any rate give Australian wines a trial, if their order does
not extend beyond a single bottle.
We have now run through the principal wines drunk in this coimtry, and have
taken exceptional notice of Australian wine, which is but little known, owing
to the fact of its being the only wine worthy of the name that is produced in the
British dominions. Hungarian wine, Italian wine, Swiss wine, are all worth a
trial, especially the former. We ought not, however, to forget to mention our
national beverage — Beer !
Pirst, I do not wish to touch upon the point of making home-brewed beer — in
I
PRINCIPLES — BEER.
fact, good beer can now be obtained so cheap in almost all parts of the country,
that ale is now very rarely brewed at home. First, I woidd call attention to the
importance of always having beer in cask ; by so doing purity is generally ensured,
and the bad custom of sending servants, especially women servants, to the public-
house is avoided. Good, sound, excellent ale can always be got at threepence a
quart ; an eighteen-gallon cask costing 18s., and, indeed, very good beer can be
bought in cask still cheaper. Now, the beer sold in, I fear, too many public-houses,
at the rate of threepence a quart, is adulterated, and often has the efiect of increasing
rather than allaying thirst. Were the general public to know the secret of the
cheap public-house beer that has been doctored with not always such harmless
ingredients as treacle and sugar, they would probably make gi-eater efforts to obtain
their beer direct from the brewery itself. The working ])Oor are necessarily
obliged to drink beer, and it is very much to be regretted that they so rarely
have their beer in cask. The fact is, they have not sufficiently acquired habits
of self-control, and too often a cask in the house proves a temptation too strong
to be resisted.
On this subject, I recollect an occurrence some time ago that illustrates the
difficulty to which I have alluded. A poor woman was exclaiming what a monstrous
shame it would be to close all the public-houses on Sunday for the whole day,
saying that the poor would have to go without any beer with their Sunday's dinner,
which, as a rule, was the only really comfortable meal they got. I asked what
difficulty thei-e would be in getting in a gallon jar of ale on Saturday night, which,
if well-corked down, would keep well till the following day 1 her reply being —
*' Keep, sir ! Lor' bless you, my old man would never go to bed on Saturday night
till he had finished it!" The argument was perfectly sound; and some men must
necessarily be treated like children.
Page 113
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
A very peculiar Australian wine is made called Conatto; this is a rich liqueur, with a slightly medicinal flavour in it ; its taste reminds one of rum shrub and curagoa. Again, it is sometimes like Constantia, and is probably made from the same kind of grapes that are used for Constantia. Red Albury is a scented wine resembling somewhat English home-made raisin wine, only it is better. It is a capital wine for children, and would suit those who like a sweet port. These are the chief wines of Australia, which, in our opinion, are destined in a few years' time to become far better known than they are at present ; and Englishmen on patriotic grounds should at any rate give Australian wines a trial, if their order does not extend beyond a single bottle.
We have now run through the principal wines drunk in this country, and have taken exceptional notice of Australian wine, which is but little known, owing to the fact of its being the only wine worthy of the name that is produced in the British dominions. Hungarian wine, Italian wine, Swiss wine, are all worth a trial, especially the former. We ought not, however, to forget to mention our national beverage — Beer !
Pirst, I do not wish to touch upon the point of making home-brewed beer — in
PRINCIPLES — BEER.
fact, good beer can now be obtained so cheap in almost all parts of the country, that ale is now very rarely brewed at home. First, I would call attention to the importance of always having beer in cask ; by so doing purity is generally ensured, and the bad custom of sending servants, especially women servants, to the publichouse is avoided. Good, sound, excellent ale can always be got at threepence a quart ; an eighteen-gallon cask costing 18s., and, indeed, very good beer can be bought in cask still cheaper. Now, the beer sold in, I fear, too many public-houses, at the rate of threepence a quart, is adulterated, and often has the efiect of increasing rather than allaying thirst. Were the general public to know the secret of the cheap public-house beer that has been doctored with not always such harmless ingredients as treacle and sugar, they would probably make greater efforts to obtain their beer direct from the brewery itself. The working ])Oor are necessarily obliged to drink beer, and it is very much to be regretted that they so rarely have their beer in cask. The fact is, they have not sufficiently acquired habits of self-control, and too often a cask in the house proves a temptation too strong to be resisted.
On this subject, I recollect an occurrence some time ago that illustrates the difficulty to which I have alluded. A poor woman was exclaiming what a monstrous shame it would be to close all the public-houses on Sunday for the whole day, saying that the poor would have to go without any beer with their Sunday's dinner, which, as a rule, was the only really comfortable meal they got. I asked what difficulty there would be in getting in a gallon jar of ale on Saturday night, which, if well-corked down, would keep well till the following day 1 her reply being — *' Keep, sir ! Lor' bless you, my old man would never go to bed on Saturday night till he had finished it!" The argument was perfectly sound; and some men must necessarily be treated like children.