wilchn.
/wɪltʃ//wɪlʃ/ Suffolk dialect. Now Historical.
A bottle-shaped wicker strainer formerly used in brewing to strain the liquid from grains of steeped malt. Cf. thead n.
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the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > brewing > [noun] > strainer
theadc1400
huckmuck1472
jack back1764
wilch1823
hop-jack1875
hop-back1888
1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 484 Wilch, the sediment or lees of beer, home-made wine,..also a brewing utensil.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Wilch,..the wicker strainer set upright in the mash-tub, to prevent the grains from running off with the wirt.
1956 G. E. Evans Ask Fellows who cut Hay v. 61 The utensils used in the brewing were..a wilch (or wilsh), a bottle-shaped appliance made of wicker. (The wilsh was a filter used when straining off the liquid or wort from the mash of steeped malt.)
1962 A. Jobson Window in Suffolk i. 28 The brewing tackle would be housed in a large shed or outhouse set apart for that purpose, and would include the tubs or keelers, the wilches, mash sticks,..mallets, spigots and taps.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1823