From The American Handy Book of the Brewing, Malting, and Auxiliary Trades – 1902
This beer has a local reputation in some parts of Pennsylvania, and is still brewed in Allegheny. It may also be classed as a temperance beverage, containing but little alcohol. Its name is probably a corruption of the German “Schwenke”.
The material employed is malt. Balling of wort, about 7 percent, hops about one-half pound per barrel, and a flavoring condiment like anise seed.
The malt is doughed-in at 167° F. (60° R.), and the mash held at 154° F. (53½° R.) until inverted. The hops are boiled one to two hours, the condiment about 30 minutes. The pitching temperature is about 61° to 63° F. (12° to 14° R.). The beer is run into puncheons as soon as the kräusen begins to fall, is allowed to spurge out, and is topped up every few hours, until the Balling of beer is about 5, when the beer is racked into trade packages and stored at about 61° to 63° F. (12° to 14° R.), until it has raised sufficient life, when the beer is cooled to about 42° to 45° F. (5° to 6° R.) and marketed.
(oR is “degrees Reaumur” – an obsolete French scale with 0 as freezing and 80 as boiling point of water)
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