Call Number:

Ms. Codex 1924

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Claude E. Clark brewer's notebook, 1875-1898, Ms. Codex 1924, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1875-1898 (inclusive)

Creator:

Clark, Claude E. (Claude Edmund)

Form:

Clippings (information artifacts), Recipes, Manuals (instructional materials), Codices (bound manuscripts), and Manuscripts, English -- 19th century

Abstract:

A notebook comprising a personal manual on brewing written by Claude E. Clark spanning the years from 1875-1898.

Born in Waterford, Herfordshire, England. Claude E. Clark began his education in brewing around age fifteen. He was managing director of the brewery Newland & Nash in Bedfordshire and eventually became secretary. Clark married Ann Elizabeth Whitworth on June 10, 1886. The had three children Violet Adaline, born in 1887 and died in 1889; Kathleen born in 1891; and Claude Stanley, born in 1893. Claude Stanley Clark also became a brewer.

A black, leather-bound volume with a brass clasp comprising a personal manual on brewing written by Claude E. Clark. The volume spans the years from 1875 to 1898. Clark's education began on November 2, 1875 as he states on the first page: instruction was 50 guineas, which was repaid in profits ... I was found to act admirably and produced 4 1/2 brls. The volume contains methods and instructions for the process of making beer. Clark's detailed notes include each aspect of the science of brewing and fermentation including boiling, cooling, mashing, pilching, sparging, steeping, and washing. Brewing equipment such as barrels, copper, tanks, and vessels is noted by Clark. A drawing of a slate tank is pasted in the volume. Clark cites the Brewers' journal, Louis Pasteur, and Charles Graham in his notes. Instructional discussion of ingredients and their uses includes hops, malts, raw grain, sugar, lime and yeast. There are several recipes including those for ales, beers, liquors, and making caramel. The quality of beer is also explored such as flatness, mold, and sourness. Clark observed and noted processes at other breweries such as Blatch's brewery. Additionally there are notes on proofing liquor. A photographic plate of a microscopic field of yeast dated 1884 is pasted in the volume. Some leaves have been excised following the first three leaves. The last third of the volume is blank except for one article near the end. Two clippings regarding the chemical testing of water in Bedfordshire are pasted in the volume. The first leaf is signed Claude Clark, Jan. 1875.