Skeachan, Or Treacle Ale

Molasses, hops or ginger or extract of gentian, yeast, water. Boil for twenty minutes four pounds of molasses in from six to eight gallons of soft water, with a handful of hops tied in a muslin rag or a little extract of gentian. When cooled in the tub, add a pint of good beer-yeast, or from four to six quarts of fresh worts from the brewer's vat. Cover the beer with blankets or coarse cloths. Pour it from the lees and bottle it. A little ginger may be added to the boiling liquid if the flavour is liked, instead of hops. This is a cheap and very wholesome beverage. Yule Ale was usually made in this manner.

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