Home Page

Stefan's Florilegium

beer-msg



This document is also available in: text or RTF formats.

beer-msg - 9/9/15

 

Making beer, period beer and ale. Use of hops in medieval beverages.

 

NOTE: See also the files: ale-msg, Ale-a-Beer-lnks, small-beer-msg, brewing-msg, mead-msg, wine-msg, beverages-msg, spices-msg, herbs-msg, p-bottles-msg, cider-msg, Hops-Hist-art, hops-msg.

 

************************************************************************

NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. If information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

   Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                         Stefan at florilegium.org

************************************************************************

 

From: miss059 at uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Rich Bainter)

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs,rec.crafts.brewing,rec.org.sca

Subject: SUMMARY: Herbs in medieval brewing... (Long?)

Date: 30 Nov 1993 09:25:18 -0600

 

Sorry for not editing more out of the following messages, but it seemed

to be if not needed it at least was on the subject.

 

From: DDF2 at cornell.edu (David Friedman)

 

The recipe for mead in Buch von Gute Speise uses hops, sage and a resined

vessel. It is the only usable pre-1600 mead recipes I know of. Curye on

Englysch has two more, although they do not have enough information, in my

judgement, to make it clear how they are really done. If you do not have

access to a copy, and can probably dig out mine.

 

The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, Opened, c. 1660, is the first source I know

of with lots of fermented drinks. There are also a few descriptions of beer

making from the sixteenth century. Harrison's preface to Holinshed's

chronicles has one that mentions hops, arras (?), and bayberries finely

powdered, also long pepper as an alternative..

 

From: billgrae at echonyc.com (Bill Grae)

 

If you're near a particularly large library, check to see if a copy of

_The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, Knight, Opened_.  The book is a

compilation of brewing and meal reciptes assembled in the early 1600's (I

think). Sir Kenelm was fascinated not only with the traditional English

practices of brewing but also the new practices that had been introduced

as a result of contact with "infidels, French, and Germans."

 

BTW, as I'm sure you're aware, the use or non-use of hops was at one point

a raging controversy in Britain with sufficiently political overtones that

hops were actually banned for a while.

 

From: isy3wtm at cabell.vcu.edu (William T. McDonald)

 

Digby is good, but pulls from late in period. There are some earlier

works, German 15th and 16th century, that are specifically about

distillation of spirits. Also, "Il Herbario de Trento", an Italian

herbal from in-period. Also, some research into the origins of

various European liqueurs may reveal the original uses of some of

the herbs and spices in brewing (e.g., hyssop, angelica, anise,

fennel, grains of paradise, cubebs, cumin, cloves, etc.). A review

of the complete Gerard's herbal (versus the excerpt reprints that

are more common) may yield useful information. Also, Bancke's

herbal (English), and a manuscript of Dodoen's (Dutch, from whom

Gerard may have generously 'borrowed').

 

From: Peter Michael Wolanin <pwolanin at phoenix.Princeton.EDU>

 

I have a book (_Making Mead_ by Roger Morse) on making mead that has

the following two books listed as references on early mead making:

 

_The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt Opened:

Whereby is Discovered Several Ways for Making of Metheglin, Sider,

Cherry-Wine, &c together with Excellent Directions for Cookery: As also

for Preserving, Conserving, &c._

published in 1669, reprinted in 1910 by Anne Macdonnel.

Digbie was apparently the queen of England's brewer.  Three of the

recipes are reproduced in my book.

 

 

_Wassail! in Mazers of Mead_ by G.R. Gayre. Published by Phillimore and

Co. Ltd in 1948.  Supposedly discusses the history of mead from

mithology up to 18th century.

 

 

From: jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray)

 

Alecost was used for brewing, I've got some growing in my back garden,

but sadly I haven't any recipes. So if anyone knows what part it did

play let me know. I suspect it was used like hops are now.

 

The fruit of the service tree was used to make beer in england, and

pubs serving ale made from service fruit were called chequer pubs

because of the trees chequered bark. You can still find old pubs

called chequers which probably started out serving ale from the

service tree.

 

I have no idea if it had any medicinal properties, but I would

guess its an old beverage because service trees won't seed in our

currently cold climate, so the custom might date to when the country

was warmer a millenium ago? Nowadays the tree will grow from seed in

France but is infertile here where, though it can extend by suckers

from the root system.

 

When the queen got into the supers of my beehives she layed brood all

over the honey and the result was a bitter tasting honey. In medieval

beekeeping where the queen was not restricted in her movements about

the colony honey flavoured with bitter brood food would be common. We

used the honey to brew a spicy metheglin and it tasted quite good,

perhaps some of the metheglin recipes which use herbs or spices in

mead were a result of brewers making best use of their worst honey?

I suppose spices were quite expensive whereas herbs could be home

grown, so disguising a bad taste might be a more likely use for herbs

than spices?

 

From: COCKERHAM SANDRA L            (MCVAX0::RX31852)

 

The new Special Issue of Zymurgy has an article by Gary Spedding about

beers without hops. He gives many examples and lists his references.

This would probably give you a running start.

 

From: jonathan at indial1.io.com (Jonathan David Bow)

 

For the time period you specified I recommend you consult John Gerard's

_Herbal_, a classic work.  The complete text of the 1633 edition was

republished in 1975 by Dover Publications.  Library of Congress Card No.

74-18719.

 

From: eden.rain at  aldus.com (Eden Rain,Cnslt)

        From: Luxueil on Wed, Nov 17, 1993 2:21 PM

 

"Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, and Cloves, and that gave me my jolly red nose"

Words to a song in a c.1600 collection which refer to the spiced used in

ale/beer. I am *Told* that these were used in place of hops, but since I

know nothing of brewing I don't know how accurate this

is.

 

From: jschmidt at spiff.Tymnet.COM (John Schmidt)

        From: lynchl at attmail.com

        Subject: Period Ale

 

Well, Well.  I hope none of you mind the fact that, since I recieved so

many responses to my offer of help with period brewing, I am writing a

generized response.  If I end up speaking down to someone, I am sorry.

 

First, a few references:

 

Lost Country Life, Dorothy Hartly, Pantheon Books.

This one is a must have for anyone with an interest in the 'common life'

of pre-industrial people in England.  Ale and Beer are discussed in

several places.  Unfortunetly, she seems to equate mashing (of malt) and

hops, as she indicates that mashing was not done until the end of the

mideval period.  This is (very) false.

 

The Historical Companion to House-Brewing, Clive La Pensee, Montag Pub.

This is a very good historical reference to beer making.  Most of it

is out of period, but there is more here on pre-hop beer making then I

have found anywhere else.  This book includes many period beer recipes,

but most are of German origin, and German adopted hops earlyer the the

English. Also has very good info on mashing at home!

 

The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing, Charlie Papazian, Avon.

Good book on beginning and intermediate home brewing.

 

The New World Guide to Beer, Michael Jackson, Running Press.

Very good book on beer styles world wide.  Some historical info.

 

All of these (except Hartly) can be purchased mail-order from the

Association of Brewers, (303) 447-0816, weekdays 8-5 Mountain Time.

 

 

Next, a simple how-to on brewing.  To those of you who have brewed

beer before, this is VERY simple and general.  Skip this section.

This example will brew a basic ale.  Generally of an English light

ale type.

 

To everyone else.  This procedure may sound more complex then that stated

in most beer kits.  I know very few people who follow the directions on

those kits that manage to make good beer.  These instructions are not

goof-proof, but they will minimize the chances for contamination.

 

Many of you make mead or wine.  That's good, you can use much of the same

equipment. But beer has a much lower alchohol level, and generally a much

lower acidity as well.  This means that it is much more suseptible to

infection. Infections in beer can only make the beer taste bad, however,

not hurt you.  One other point, these instructions call for using bleach

as a sanitizer.  Use it.  I know you may use sulphite in wine/mead, but

it doesn't work in beer.

 

Basic Equipment:

Large (3-4 gal) stainless or enameled pot.  No Aluminum! it will make your

beer taste funny!

5-6 gal food grade plastic bucket (with lid) or glass carboy.

Racking tube.

plastic tubing (3-4 feet).

airlock and drilled stopper for your bucket/carboy.

plastic funnel to fit carboy, if one is used.

48 empty beer or champagne bottles.  Don't use other kinds of bottles,

they are not strong enough.

New bottle caps.

Capper.

 

Basic Ingrediants:

6-7 pounds of pale / amber / dark unhopped malt extract.  This is

available in bulk at homebrew stores as a syrup or dry.  Either works.

 

5 gal Good tasting water.  If you use distilled or purified water,

you will need to add a 'pinch' (less then 1/4 tsp.) of Epsom salt to it.

The yeast need it.

 

1-2 oz of Hops (or whatever).  DO NOT buy these from a health

food store, they are not kept well.  Use 'low alpha' varieties like

Hallertauer, Goldings, Fuggles, Tettnanger, Saaz, Cascade, Willamette,

Mt. Hood, etc.  Stay away from varieties like Eroica, Centennial, and

Chinook. Your friendly, local or mail-order homebrew supply person will

help.

 

1 T. of 'Irish Moss'.  Available from a homebrew supply or a health food

store. Not nessessary, but it will make your beer clearer.

 

10-20 grams of dry Ale yeast.  This comes in 5, 8, and 12 gram packets.  

I prefer 'Whitbread', but any should do.  Stay away from 'Red Star' though

 

Process:

Night before - boil 3 gal. water. If you are going to add epsom salt,

do it now.  Let cool while covered.  While cooling,

put 1 oz (a capfull) of unscented bleach in your bucket/carboy, and fill

with tap/hose water.  Let stand for one half to one hour or until the

boiled water is cool enough to add to glass (if the carboy is used).

Empty the bucket/carboy and shake out the drops.  Do not rinse.  The

very small amount of chlorine left is less than that in your tap water.

Put the boiled water into the bucket/carboy.  Seal it up and leave it

over night.

 

Next Day - Dissolve extract in 1.75 to 2 gal. water.  Bring to a boil.  

Add Hops. Boil for 1/2 hour uncovered.  Add Irish Moss and boil for

another 1/2 hour uncovered.  By this point, you should be down to 2 gal.

or so. What you have now is called 'wort' (sounds like 'word').

Pour the wort into the water boiled and cooled the night before.  

If you are using a carboy, use a funnel sterilized by pouring boiling

water through it.  The funnel will direct the hot wort into the cool

water, cooling it enough not to break the glass (usually...).  Let the

(thiner) wort cool until the glass/plastic is only warm to the touch

and add the yeast.  Put the air lock on, fill halfway with water, and

let it sit for a week. If a glass carboy is used, don't fill it up to

the neck, leave about 1/2 gal of headroom.  If it foams over anyway,

don't worry.  Just put the (cleaned) airlock back on and clean up.

 

After a week, sterilize your bottles by running them through a dish washer

or soaking them in a chlorine solution (1 oz to 5 gal).  I have a friend

that bakes them in an oven at 250 degrees for 1/2 hour or so, then lets

them cool in the oven until he needs them...

Boil 3/4 cup of corn sugar (or table sugar, but corn sugar is better) in

3/4 cup of water. let cool.  Sterilize your siphon tube and plastic

tubing in chlorine solution (see above).

Now, if you have TWO carboys or buckets, sterilize the second one, and

siphon the beer into it, leaving the spent yeast behind.  If not, well,

cloudy beer is period.  Add the sugar water to the beer and stir very

gently with the siphon tube.  Don't splash!.  Now, siphon the beer into

the beer bottles carefully.  Do not splash.  Fill each to within an inch

of the top.  Cap them.  Wait for 2-3 weeks before sampling.  The beer

will continue to change over the next month or two.  Depending on how good

you were with sanitation, the beer could last from 1 month (try again!) to

a year or so (you've done this before!).  As Charlie says, "Don't worry,

have a homebrew!"

 

 

Now the historical stuff.

Before hops, there was Grout.  If you are German, there was Gruit.  

Grout was the blend of spices and herbs the brewer used to make their

beer interesting.  Fermented malt water is very sweet and bland.

Because of this, brewers generally used at least one bitter herb.  If

they didn't, they chose herbs that tasted good in a sweet medium.  

There arn't a lot of grout recipies, because this was the brewers secret.

Incedently, most period brewers were women.  It was cooking, and therefor

considered womens work, hence the term 'Alewife'.  Even monisaries would

sometimes hire a woman to come in and help the brothers make beer.  Once

brewing became a profitable buisness, instead of housework, well...

 

Bitter herbs:

Ground Ivy (Alehoof, Creeping Jenny, ...)

Buckbean

Carduus

Centaury

Nettle

Wood Sage

Wormwood

Germander

 

Less bitter or sweet herbs:

Juniper berries

Sweet Gale

Sweet Woodruff

Lavender

Tansey

Alecost

Comfrey

Dandelion

Elecampane

Eyebright

Hyssop

Mugwort

Pennyroyal

Sage

Coriander seed

Cloves

Seville orange (or any orange) peel

Cinnamon

Vanilla

Ginger

Cherries

Raspberries

etc.

 

To make a period Ale:

Follow above procedure for making beer, but don't buy hops.  Reduce the

boil to 1/2 hour, and use grout instead.  Some herbs are better added

just after the heat is removed, and stteped, like a tea.

 

Good Grouts:

1/2 oz Ground Ivy

1/2 oz Juniper

2 oz Woodruff

 

1 oz Germander

1 oz Coriander

2 oz Orange Peel

 

1 stick cinnimun

1 oz buckbean

 

1 oz Ground Ivy

1.5 oz Ginger

 

Etc. Play around with what you have!

 

Note: Customers didn't like hops, because they weren't used to them.

So why, you might ask, did hops take over?  Because when they were used,

beer lasted longer.  Hops are a preservitive.  This means that the beer

made with grout will not last as long as beer made with hops.  You were

warned! (Although I have no evidence to support it, I suspect that

during the transition from Ale to Beer, brewers would occationally use

both hops and spices in beer.  The hops would keep the beer, the spices

would keep the customer! )  

 

Fruit beers are very good, add 3-8 pounds at the end of the boil, and let

them soak for 15 min or so...

--

Richard Bainter      | "I want to be called COTTONTIPS. There is something

Phelim Utred Gervas  |  graceful about that lady. A young woman bursting with

Pug                  |  vigor. She blinked at the sudden light. She writes

pug at arlut.utexas.edu |  beautiful poems. When ever shall we meet again?"

 

 

From: alshaw at isisnet.com (A. H. Shaw  )

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Hops/Beer/Ale/AAAARG!

Date: 21 Nov 1995 00:48:35 GMT

Organization: isis inc. (Internet Provider), NS Canada.

 

This should be the real posting: sorry about the blank one.

Since I can't find the Hops in Beer thread I'll start over here.

 

        Basic definitions:

               Modern Usage -

                       ALE: brewed with a 'top fermenting' yeast.

                       LAGER: brewed with a 'bottom fermenting' yeast.

                       BEER: brewed from at least a base of malted

barley, hops and water, and usually marketed aggressively. (sorry about

the editorial)

        Modern commercial breweries usually use yeasts that cannot be

easily split into "top" and "bottom" fermenting varieties; most strains

work in suspension throughout the wort and are filtered out in later

stages. There are _lots_ of various yeast strains and books have been

written about their various properties.  Ale and Lager yeasts do generate

different flavours, and yeast selection is an important part of any beer

recipe.

 

               Medieval Usage -

                       ALE: an _unhopped_ brew, usually from malted barley.

                     BEER: _hopped_ brew, as distinct from ale.

 

        I also suspect that a difference in brewing technique was noted.  

The highly modified English malts were usable in an infusion-type mash

while the less highly modified Continental barley required a multiple

stage decoction mash.  This is pure, ungrounded speculation on my part

and I would welcome any further information.

 

        In England in the 1400s the introduction of hops/beer into a

predominately ale economy was met with resistance.  Brewing 'Beer' and

brewing 'Ale' were recognized as distinct trades.  In 1471 Norwich bans

the use of hops in brewing.  The Ale Brewers Company of London (chartered

1437) petitions the Mayor to prevent the use of hops.  The ale brewers do

not object to the brewing of beer, but wish to prevent the use of hops in

ale. In 1493 the brewers of Beer are recognized as a guild.  They remain

separate guilds until 1556.

       

        Hops were mentioned as early as the late 1100's by Ste. Hildegard

of Bingen.  She apparently noted both their use as a preservative and a

recipe for brewing beer with oats and hops.  Even earlier, King Pepin,

father of Charlemagne, was given a gift of hop yards.  By the 9th Century

hops were under cultivation in the Rheinland, Brabant and the Ile de France.

 

        Now the fun begins.  Yes, apparently other flavourings were used

in beer.  I have found references to a mix called "gruit," a "bitter,

more costly mixture of vegetable substances used to flavour beer."  In

1381 the Archbishop of Klon issued a decree forbidding the import of

hopped beer from Westphalia.  The Bishopric had a gruit monopoly in the

area and of course moved to protect it against cheaper imported

products. The requirement for all persons wishing to brew in Klon to

buy gruit from the episcopal gruit-houses was not lifted until 1495.  On

the other hand in 1487 Munich enacted an ordinance forbidding the use of

anything but barley, hops, and water in the brewing process.  This was

not THE Rheinheitsgebost of current fame, but one of the many, many

other laws enacted in this era to control brewing.  Most of them

stipulated the quality, age, or ingredients that were acceptable in

beer. The famous Rheinheitsgebot is only one of these ordinances,

albeit one that has demonstrated remarkable staying power.  

        Another flavouring I have heard of, only in passing, is

'alehoof.' Has anyone any information on this herb?  I have been offered

some to try in my brewing and would really like to know more before

ingesting it.

        As far as other flavourings go, don't neglect the Belgian brewing

traditions. Coriander, raspberries, strawberries, and many other things

have been added to beer in period.  

        Much of the information here was gleaned from

 

        Alcohol in Western Society from Antiquity to 1800

               A Chronological History

 

               Gregory A. Austin w. staff of Southern California

Research Institute.

               LoC# HV5020.A97 1985       ISBN 0-87436-418-3

 

This is an excellent sourcebook for brewing information and drinking

practices.

 

I remain yours in brewing

 

Robert Peregrine de Marecage            alshaw at isisnet.com

Barony of Ruantallan

East Kingdom                       

 

 

From: ddfr at best.com (David Friedman)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Help: Recipi for MEDIEVAL BEER

Date: 14 Jan 1996 06:57:15 GMT

Organization: Best Internet Communications

 

beth.appleton at lunatic.com (Beth Appleton) wrote:

 

> -> From: Erik_Hartmann at dk-online.dk

> -> a recipi - a dukumented recipe - from the period 1300-1400  (+- 100

> -> years). I have been in contact with danish libraries and archives,

> -> but no luck.

> If you find one, *I'll* be amazed.  The few cookbooks of that

> era that I'm aware of don't have such recipes.  What little I've found

> on brewing anything has been instr. for wine, and that is much, much

> later.  I suspect that it is either Too Basic, or somewhat of a mystery.

> We don't find bread recipes that early, either.  You just learned from

> your folks, or not at all.

>

> Gwenllian Cwmystwyth

 

Erik specified 1300-1400 +-100 years, which takes us to 1500. That includes:

 

The detailed mead recipe in _Buch von Gute Speise_

The very vague one in _Curye on Englysche_

The bread recipe in Platina.

 

So while Gwenllian's basic point is right--clear early recipes for brewing

or bread are hard to find--they are not quite impossible to find, and are

worth looking for.

 

David/Cariadoc

--

ddfr at best.com

 

 

From: david.razler at compudata.com (DAVID RAZLER)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Hopped Up!

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 96 02:13:00 -0400

Organization: Compu-Data BBS -=- Turnersville, NJ -=- 609-232-1245

 

Re: Hummulus lupuis, our friend the hop.

 

     "Beer brewed only with grain tastes thick and sticky. For

centuries man has used a variety of plants, herbs and spices to season

his beer, to help clarify it, and to preserve it. A typical example is

the juniper, which is still used by home brewers in Norway. Coriander,

rosemary and other aromatic herbs were also employed, in a mixture known

as a *gruit*. Another traditional flavoring, the bay leaf, contains some

of the same essential oils that are present in the hop. Brewers learned

through trial and error which plants produced the best results. Perhaps

its superficial resemblance to the grapevine helped draw attention to

the hop as a plant that must surely be useful in preparation of a

potable drink." - [The World Guide to Beer, 1st ed., edtd. by Michael

Jackson, (c) 1977 by Quartto Ltd., ISBN 0-345-27408, a worthy addition

to any library.]

 

     Thus begins a lengthy essay on hops and their relation to the

Official Beverage of the Known World, indicating hops were used in beer

imported to England by the 1400s at the latest.

 

     Further in, authors state that Benedictines were growing hops at

Weihenstephan, Freising as early as 768... "though the evidence of when

they were first used in brewing is less than conclusive."

 

     The same volume makes note of various unhopped wheat beers still

in production and flavored *after* opening with woodruff, lemon or

raspberry, depending on the brew; and krieken-lambic, wheat beer

fermented with cherries.

 

     I hope this provides some answers.

                                   AtT

 

 

From: cav at bnr.ca (Rick Cavasin)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Did the Vikings have Beer?

Date: 28 May 1996 14:52:25 GMT

Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.

 

Russ Gilman-Hunt <Russ_Gilman-Hunt at continue.uoregon.edu> writes:

|> Well, my answer has usually been a safe "no," for I didn't think they

|> had hops and the like.  But in reading _King_Harald's_Saga, my theory

|> has changed.  In chapter 35, our hero is trying to outrun the fleet of

|> King Svein, he throws out the "malt, flour and bacon."  

 

They may not have had hops in Scandinavia, and in any case, hops hadn't

really caught on as a beer flavouring/preservative in a major way at that

time.

 

If you define beer as being a fermented malt barley beverage flavoured with

hops, then the answer would indeed be that the Vikings aren't likely to have

had much in the way of beer.  If you eliminate the hops from the definition,

then the answer would be different.

|> Is this the same malt as in beers?  Is it a different malt?  Is it a

|> case of the translator using "malt" for some other substance, as I've

|> been told was done with "silk" and "satin"?  (sometimes the translator

|> will translate "fine fabrics" to silks or satins.)

 

I see no reason to believe that this would not be malted barley (or perhaps

rye), as used in making ale/beer.  The technology of malting was already

many centuries old by that time, though perhaps not so refined as it was

eventually to become.  Rather than a problem with the translation, I would

be more inclined to suspect the text, since the saga was written long after

the events described.  Details of what was thrown overboard should be taken

with a grain of salt.

 

Some people reserve the term 'ale' for unbittered malt brews, and 'beer' for

bittered brews.  Other bittering herbs were used prior to hops, so, if these

are the definitions you are using, then yes, the Vikings could have had beer.

'Pors' = Sweet gale/bog myrtle was used to flavour beers and meads in

Scandinavia in the relatively recent past.  

I do not know whether or not it was used in Viking

times, but it is listed by Gayre as one of the ingredients in 'groot', an

herb mixture used to flavour medieval beers before the hop hegemony.  That

puts the ingredient in the context of medieval European beers at least.

 

Even if they didn't have 'beer', they probably had unbittered ales.

 

Cheers, Rick/Balderik

 

 

From: ddfr at best.com (David Friedman)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Did the Vikings have Beer?

Date: 29 May 1996 01:46:54 GMT

Organization: Best Internet Communications

 

> Actually hops is a relatively recent inovation having only been introduced to

> beer in the last 400 years or so (beer being one of the oldest beverages in

> existance). In the beginning of beer (the cultivated variety, not just the

> alcoholic drink) a gruit of spices was added having been cultivated by the

> local monks. Hop growing was actually illegal in quite a few areas.

>

>                 Marcus

 

1. Hops go back quite a lot farther than 400 years; perhaps you are

thinking of their introduction to England. They were used earlier on the

continent.

 

2. While I am not certain, I think the pre-hops distinction was between

ale, which was meant to be drunk a fairly short time after it was made,

and beer, which was intended to store longer. A variety of different

preservatives were used for the latter, although not, I think, spices.

When hops came in as the most common herb used to preserve beer, the

distinction shifted to unhopped ale vs hopped beer. Eventually hops came

to be used with everything, and at this point there doesn't seem to be a

very clear distinction between beer and ale.

 

David/Cariadoc

--

ddfr at best.com

 

 

From: sylkie at ardvark.com (Richard Rogers)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Did the Vikings have Beer?

Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 09:08:55 GMT

Organization: The Sylkie Enterprise

 

Russ Gilman-Hunt <Russ_Gilman-Hunt at continue.uoregon.edu> wrote:

 

>Well, my answer has usually been a safe "no," for I didn't think they

>had hops and the like.  But in reading _King_Harald's_Saga, my theory

>has changed.  In chapter 35, our hero is trying to outrun the fleet of

>King Svein, he throws out the "malt, flour and bacon."  

 

>Is this the same malt as in beers?  Is it a different malt?  Is it a

>case of the translator using "malt" for some other substance, as I've

>been told was done with "silk" and "satin"?  (sometimes the translator

>will translate "fine fabrics" to silks or satins.)

 

They definitely had ale. In a number of places you will find reference

to someone making ready for a feast by setting the ale tubs brewing,

usually a few weeks before the feast. This must have made for a very

smelly, strong, green sort of drink. Talk about killer beer farts.

 

I don't have the exact references at hand but I do recall them from, I

believe, Egil's saga and Laxdaela Saga.

 

They did not have much experience with wine, and ran into problems

when they had to deal with it, (see the saga of Half-Dan the Black.)

 

Hope this helps a little.

Thorgeirr The Thirsty

 

 

From: wishbone at airmail.net (R.A.Goodson)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Did the Vikings have Beer?

Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 20:59:25 GMT

Organization: Norse Texas

 

Sandy Straubhaar <straubs at jkhbhrc.byu.edu> writes:

> Russ Gilman-Hunt wrote:

> >

> > Well, my answer has usually been a safe "no," for I didn't think they

> > had hops and the like.  But in reading _King_Harald's_Saga, my theory

> > has changed.  In chapter 35, our hero is trying to outrun the fleet of

> > King Svein, he throws out the "malt, flour and bacon."

> >

> > Is this the same malt as in beers?  Is it a different malt?  Is it a

> > case of the translator using "malt" for some other substance, as I've

> > been told was done with "silk" and "satin"? (sometimes the translator

> > will translate "fine fabrics" to silks or satins.)

> >

> > Lord Conchobhar of Kamrun (Clan MacGuinness) W.O.A.W.!

> > Russ_Gilman-Hunt at continue.uoregon.edu

>

> Zoega's Old Norse Dictionary lists _malt_, n. Malt (for brewing).

> I assume that's the noun in _Haralds saga Sigur›arsonar_ ch. 35,

> but don't have a copy in my office.

>

> brynhildr / Sandy Straubhaar.

 

Actually there is evidence of beer, wine, and ales from digs all over

Scandivania. It's common to the north generally from about 600 on.

Though most if not all good wines came from the south, and the beers

and ales are not exactly what we are use too. And certainly not in the

amounts we have it now. A major trade item. And generally, if it got

them drunk in the Constananople, it would find it's way north. There

is a rather large difference between Primitive culture and  Pre-

Christian culture. The Norse of course being the latter.

 

Rolf the Red

 

 

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

From: ciaran at phoenix.aldhfn.org (Skip Watson)

Subject: Re: Did the Vikings have Beer?

Organization: Auldhaefen Online Services

Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 04:37:10 GMT

 

jklessig at slip.net wrote:

 

: Unless I am mistaken there is evidence indication the cultivation of

: hops in england as early as 800, definitley on the mainland. I am not

: aware of ANY general use of hops for any thing other than beers that

: would cause them to be cultivated.

:

: Chandra

 

       Ahhh, but just because it was there does not mean that it was used

they way we use it now ;-).

        Hops was used as a medicinal and not as an additive for ale. The

addition of hops to ale, in England, does not occur until the English soldiers

brought beire back from France at the end of the Hundred Years War. Even

then there were battles over the use of hops as an additive which is why

you can find laws that control or even outlaw the use of hops for inclusion

in ale.

       Prior to the use of hops in ale, in England, costmary was used to

preserve ale. The use of costmary this way led it to also being called

alecost.

 

ciaran

 

 

From: matchstc at atlcom.net (Mike Vincent)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: question about medieval brewing

Date: Sat, 28 Dec 1996 04:56:59 GMT

 

On 27 Dec 1996 03:47:25 -0500, HPGV80D at prodigy.COM (MISS PATRICIA M

HEFNER) wrote:

 

>I'm reading various sources about Margery Kempe because I'm writing a

>paper about her. It's recorded in her book that "even when the ale was a

>fair standing under barm as any as any man might see, suddenly the barm

>would fall down, so that all the ale was lost". This is why her ale

>business wasn't successful!

>Does anybody know what "barm" is (or was, as the case might be)? I don't

>have a clue...

>Isabelle de Foix

>Shire of Misty Mere

>Kingdom of Meridies

 

I've tried to find out what I can about Dark Ages brewing so I'll give

it the good old college try.

 

There is a layer of yeast and froth raised on top of a fermenting

ale. According to "the Complete Joy of Home Brewing" by Charlie

Papazian (which is one of the "bibles" of homebrewing) the foam is

called kraeusen foam. In modern beer making the 'disapearance of the

foam is a sign that's it's time to transfer to another fermenter ( a

good sign), in more primitive brewing that may have been different.

our degree of sanitation is much higher than the Middle Ages. We use a

closed airlocked fermenter where they fermented in open crocks, they

may have felt the need to skim the foam so as to remove impurities or

bitter flavors.

 

One reference I've seen to Viking beer was that they put out the "ale

pots" a few days before a celebration and started them fermenting. The

beer was drunk "green" , only a few days old. By the time it was a

week old so much contamination had developed only the truly desparate

or the pigs would touch it. As far as I've been able to find out

Brewing in the 1400's wasn't a whole lot progressed beyond that.

 

hope I've been some help

 

Mighel

mka Mike

 

 

From: Kel Rekuta <krekuta at tor.hookup.net>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: question about medieval brewing

Date: 28 Dec 1996 15:08:42 GMT

Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Oakville, Ontario, CANADA

 

> Does anybody know what "barm" is (or was, as the case might be)? I don't

> have a clue...

 

Barm is the foamy, grungy froth at the top of a fermenting wort.

(Beer that is still in its early stages.) It can look like the top

of cauliflower thats gone a little old and started to darker. This is

actually a good thing! All the bubbles trapped under the brownish film

are carbon dioxide, the biproduct of brewing. They form an effective

barrier to nasty micro-organisms that will spoil the wort.

 

In effect, if the barm falls, the barrier is lost. The wort will be

infected and the ale *will* fail.

 

Happy Holidays!

Ceallach

 

 

From: afn03234 at freenet2.afn.org (Ronald L. Charlotte)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: question about medieval brewing

Date: 29 Dec 1996 07:30:20 GMT

 

HPGV80D at prodigy.COM (MISS PATRICIA M HEFNER) wrote:

> Does anybody know what "barm" is (or was, as the case might be)? I don't

> have a clue...

 

It's the foam that sits on top of fermenting ale wort, produced by the

action of the yeast, and containing much active yeast.  In the days of

open vat fermenting it was both a sign of active fermentation, and

served to protect the ale from infection by wild yeasts and vinegar

flies (due to the carbon dioxide that helped isolate the wort from

outside air).

 

If the barm fell, that meant that the wort was contaminated, or the

yeast culture (of which medieval brewers knew noting) had died.  The

double tragedy of this is that some of the barm was needed to start the

next batch of ale.

 

I've also seen a few references to the use of "warm ale barm" used to

leaven bread.

--

   al Thaalibi ---- An Crosaire, Trimaris

   Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL

   afn03234 at afn.org

 

 

From: afn03234 at freenet2.afn.org (Ronald L. Charlotte)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: question about medieval brewing

Date: 30 Dec 1996 21:11:43 GMT

 

bard at themall.net (Medwyn) wrote:

>    Kel Rekuta <krekuta at tor.hookup.net> wrote:

> <...>

> >In effect, if the barm falls, the barrier is lost. The wort will be

> >infected and the ale *will* fail.

 

> But doesn't it fall when the beer is done? The problem with this particular

> quote is we have no indication of the timing of this occurence.

 

From discussions with old-style wood cask fanatics, Traditional ale

brewing casked the ale before fermentation was completely stilled,

ideally tapping the bottom of the fermentation tub above the layer of

lees at the bottom.  Working with a wooden keg, or wax sealed ceramic

container, over-carbonation rupture is a far less likely problem.

 

The habit of post primary fermentation conditioning to provide a head is

a little more recent a development.  It's a lot easier for a home brewer

to charge his ageing keg, or bottles, or batch prime the batch after a

full ferment than it is to judge the correct point to rack off while the

ferment is still active.  Commercial brewers simply inject CO2 or

nitreous oxide or a combination of the two.

--

   al Thaalibi ---- An Crosaire, Trimaris

   Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL

   afn03234 at afn.org

 

 

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 11:34:00 -0500

From: Tim Weitzel <wcrobert at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Hops in the 14th c.

 

Charles said:

>Though my sources are at home, I beleive that using hops in beer was

>introduced into England from Germany during the reign of Henry VIII and

>did not become universal until later.  Therefore the unhopped beers are

>period and hopps in beers are appropriate to the end of period.

>Charles O'Connor

 

Yes, I have read that too.  And that a little creeping plant called by a

variety of names was used instead of Hops in English Ales.  A herbal that

we have at home calls it Ground Ivy, Gill-go-over-the-ground, Cat's Paw,

and even Ale Hoof.  It has blue flower stalks and is related to the Mint

family Labiatae.  It sort of resembles Bugle Weed or Ajuga (<italic>Ajuga

reptans) </italic>but it is distinct from that. <italic> </italic>I can

bring in citations if anyone is interested.

 

Tryffin ap Myrddin

Shadowdale, Calontir

 

 

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 15:30:48 -0500

From: Stephanie Howe <olga at icon-stl.net>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Ground Ivy

 

Ground Ivy- squarish stems w/ paired (mint-like), roundish leaves that

have sort of scalloped edges, and blueish-violet flowers that look like

miniature orchids? Local names vary so much, so I don't know if *my*

ground ivy is *your* ground ivy... How was it used in brewing: leaves,

flowers, other parts of the plant, dried/fresh, added when?

 

Olga

Not a brewer, but I gots the ground ivy...

 

And that a little creeping plant called by a

> >variety of names was used instead of Hops in English Ales.  A herbal that we

> >have at home calls it Ground Ivy, Gill-go-over-the-ground, Cat's Paw, and

> >even Ale Hoof.  It has blue flower stalks and is related to the Mint family

> >Labiatae.  It sort of resembles Bugle Weed or Ajuga (Ajuga reptans) but it

> >is distinct from that.  I can bring in citations if anyone is interested.

 

 

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 19:35:23 -0500

From: theodelinda at webtv.net (linda webb)

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Hops in the 14th c.

 

I recall one of my books on Elizabthan cookery and housekeeping quoting

a period source on the nasty Dutch custom of beer with hops.  The period

author felt very strongly, it seems, that this new-fangled import was

not appropriate for good Englishmen, who were supposed to be drinking

good, old-fashioned brown (unhopped) ale, like their forefathers, who

had whipped the French repeatedly on a regimen of nut-brown ale.  Of

course, if you're not used to it, the way we are, the bitter taste hops

can add to your brewing could be a real shock, although I can  see how

it might make an interesting contrast to the sweeter taste of a mead.

 

 

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 19:24:29 -0500

From: mary boulet <boulet.roger at mcleod.net>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Hops in the 14th c.

 

I have madly rampaged through my study looking for some of my brewing

sources and of course the two I really wanted to find are still missing.

So I'll make do with what I did dig up.

 

"The Illustrated Herb Encyclopedia" By Kathi Keville reports that the

Roman historian Pliny dubbed hops 'Lupus' because it twines tightly

around other plants. It goes on to say that Hops were not much

cultivated until the 9th and 10th centuries and than mostly in France

and Germany. 100 years later the Bavarians where making 'bier' with hops

(sorry the sources are not quoted).

 

In "Brewing Mead-Wassail in Mazers of Mead" by Lt. Colonel Robert Gayre,

Gayre & Nigg with Charlie Papazian sites two instances where beer with

hops were banned. It does not however tell you where to find the

origional text.

1. Archbishop Fredrick of Cologne in 1381 issued a decree that all gruit

be purcashed in the episcopel gruit-houses. At the same time importation

of hopped beer from Westphalia was forbidden.

2. In 1464 a petition was made to the Lord Mayor and Alderman of the

city of London by the ale-brewers to fordid the use of hops in ale.

 

"Inns, Ales and Drinking Customs of Old Engaland" by Frederick Hawkwood

says hops were prohibited by Henry VI and that the prohibition was

repeated by Henry VIII. Once again the source is not given.

 

Sorry, I can't give any more specific information, but it appears that

hops have been known since Roman times and were being outlawed in

England since at least the 1400s.

 

Roger

 

 

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 10:43:22 -0500

From: Tim Weitzel <wcrobert at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Ground Ivy (was Hops ...)

 

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea L.) is a member

of the Mint family (Labiate).  It  is as old as the hills in England.  It

is known from prehistoric times and the Ancient Greek and Roman folks

knew of it and used it (Note 1).  Gerard (1577) quoted Galen and

Dioscorides about some of the medicinal uses of the plant including drops

for sore or weak eyes.  Culpepper, 1616-1654  gives many medicinal uses

such as ear drops for ear ailments, snuff for headaches and congestion,

and a variety of other ailments that seem to be eased by the plant's

natural diuretic properties (Note 2).  Other than that, it is an

astringent, and was recommended for fresh wounds and bruises.  Tea,

extract, and snuff are the main medicinal uses.  Gerard mentions that

women in the northern part of England (Cheshire and Wales) put it in

there "beers" but he didn't know why. (Note 3)

 

The early Anglo-Saxons (not having hops at the time) apparently used it

to enhance the flavor of ale, help preserve it, and to clarify it.  They

added it to the wort while it was heated.  This continued up until about

the time of Henry VIII (Note 3).

 

 

In the US, it grows predominantly in shady areas where people have

gardened before.  Once in among the grass of a lawn, it seems happy

enough even in sun.  In Medieval  England it was described as creeping

along the hedgerows and roadsides and across vacant areas.  Some of the

names come from these habits.  Other names come from its use as a brewing

agent. I have not found any mention of intentionlly gardening with it,

and it would seem that it was plentiful enough without having to care for

it.

 

Common Names:  Ground Ivy or Alehoof

 

Also known as:  Alehove, Tunhoof, Alecost [presumably in New England

only], Gill-over-the-Ground or Gill-go-by-the-Hedge, all dervied from its

brewing uses (gill from french 'guiller'= to ferment; brew).  Gill at

some point also meant also meant 'girl' so there are other names like

Robin-run-in-the-hedge, lizzy-run-up-the-Hedge, Haymaides, and

Hedgemaides. and also Cat's Foot [shape of the leaves] and Field Balm

[medicinal reference] (Notes 1, 2, 3, 4)

 

 

The plant can be recognized by the following: (Note 4)

 

Stems: [Square, as in mints]Creeping and trailing

 

Leaves: Small and kidney [or round] shaped.  [Reddish tint in late

winter, bright green in spring daring to deep green and finally nearly

purple in fall.]

 

Flowers: Bluish-purple, loosely clustered in the axils [base] of the

leaves. [somewhat Orchid-like, or mouth shaped as are all Labiate]

 

Calyx: [sepals or base of flower] five-toothed

 

Corolla: [flowers] two-lipped

 

Stamens: [filaments around the central part of flower] four

 

Pistil: [central part of flower] one, two-lobed at apex [top of pistil]

 

 

Harvesting and using the herb in beverages:

 

Gill Tea can be made by adding 1 ounce [dried] leaves to 1 pint of

boiling water (Note 4).  One peck fresh plants will yield about an ounce

of dried leaves.  It is suggested that something like a plain, unhopped,

malt syrup be used to first taste test a small batch of beer made with

this. (Note 5) English sources (Note 3, for instance) say to pick the

leaves when most of the plant is in bloom, around early May.  The New

England Source (Note 5) says pick in late summer when the leave have

matured. For myself, this yields a very bitter and minty tea that I

choose not to go ahead and brew with.  I intend to try a batch of the May

"crop" but keep missing on my timing.  I have also noticed that if you

have a hedge that the ivy grows up into, the stalks and leave will get

nice and big and hopefully there will be less other plant material, like

grass, intertwined.  It's a mess to pull the dried leaves out of the

clumps of grass!  Dirt from the roots doesn't do much for flavor

either.

 

I haven't made an ale with this yet.  The information from Note 3

suggests that you would add the dried leaves to the wort when it is warm.

If this doesn't produce a strong enough flavor/preservative/clarifier,

then I'd suggest adding the tea to the wort.  I got to try an ale

flavored with Ground Ivy at a Queen's Prize Tournament a few years ago.

I wish I could remember the individual's name.  It was pretty good, but

it tasted a lot like the stuff smells when cut or crushed.  That

particular brew had other flavorings added, which may have altered the

overall effect from just a Ground Ivy ale.

 

Ok, more than anyone wanted to know about that little weed but I hope

this helps.

 

Tryffin ap Myrddin

Shadowdale, Calontir

 

Notes:

 

(1) Brother Cadfaels Garden, Talbot & Whiteman. 1997, Little Brown & Co.

Boston

 

(2) Culpeper's Color Herbal. [1992] 1983. Potterton, ed. Sterling

Publications. New York

 

(3) A Modern Herbal, Greive [1971, 1931] 1992. p. 442. Dorset Press. New

York

 

(4) How to Know the Wildflowers. Dana. [1900, 1893] 1963.  Dover. New

York.

 

(5) Wines & Beers of Old New England: a How-to-do-it History.  pp. 65-66.

Brown. 1978.  University Press of New England,  Hanover, NH

 

 

Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 11:08:42 -0400

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Culinary A&S Entries

 

Mark Harris wrote:

> What is a "small" ale? I assume that is not referring to size of mug it is

> served in. :-)

 

A small ale is made from the second mashing of malt previously mashed

for ale or beer. It's akin to the slightly weaker second cup of tea when

you add hot water to your used tea bag. Later sources simply use fresh

malt in smaller quantities. I believe the name is derived from the fact

that a given amount of malt will make a proportionate quantity of ale,

and somewhat less (1/3-1/2 the amount) small ale. There's an excellent

description of the process in Gervase Markham's "The English Housewife",

which, while not a period source by conservative estimations (my own

included), describes a process that likely didn't change much between

the Middle Ages and advent of hops as a common ale ingredient in the

16th - 17th centuries.

 

Adamantius

 

 

From: "Nancy R. Mollette" <NRMOLL00 at UKCC.UKY.EDU>

To: Stefan <markh at risc.sps.mot.com>

Date: Fri, 18 Jul 97 13:01:39 EDT

Subject: small ale

 

Small ale refers to the second, less strong use of malted barley in brewing...much in the manner of reusing a mundane teabag.

 

As the alcohol content and body were less than the first batch, it was also

called * table ale *, as it's best use was as a drink during meals when

getting intoxicated was not a desired goal.

                                          Anna of Dragonsmark

 

 

Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 14:02:51 -0400

From: Nick Sasso <grizly at mindspring.com>

Subject: Re: SC - keg-brewed ale

 

> Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> The level of fizziness, or the lack thereof, would be along the lines of

> a modern English bitter or mild: not totally flat, but distinctly less

> fizzy than American beers or Guinness, which is quite heady indeed. Bear

> in mind that these ales were formulated with that final effect in mind,

> which effect was originally achieved through keg-conditioning.

> Clarity, BTW, is a pretty modern brewer's judging criteria. A period

> brewer would have been more concerned with the flavor and mouth feel or

> gravity. See La Pensee's "A Historical Companion to House-Brewing" in

> lieu of a detailed rant from yours truly.

 

The use of kegs dates to early period western Europe as a method of

storing and serving brewed beverages due to its strength (glass in late

period was more expensive to send across the county on road than to

another country by boat due to breakage) and sealed quality.  Adimantius

was right on the nose about the comparison to English carbonation vs.

American standards.  The carbonation depended more on the activity level

in the yeast when racked to keg and bunged than the pourousness of the

wood. Beers would often be drunk within a couple of weeks after kegging

due to spoilage possibility.  The loss of carbonation after tapping was

unavoidable.

 

I had a beer from a recipe out of a book on Elizabethan household chores

that greatly resembled a modern brewing recipe if not 10 fold in size

:o) It had all the qualities of a modern cask conditioned ale and would

have been delightful had it not become infected.  The book referenced

above has good information.  Also look in books about daily life in

manors or castles for info on breweries and beers in period.

 

(I know this is not a middle ages brew)

 

niccolo

 

 

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 20:56:14 -0500

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Mulling recipes

 

R. Trigg wrote, quoting someone or other...:

> > They are still used in Europe, particularly in England to heat beer served

> > in the pubs.

> ? Do you mean they are used to mull the beer? I ask because when I was in

> college all too many years ago, I spent some time in England and contrary

> to popular belief, their beer is *not* (automatically) served warm. Even

> the country pubs had chilled beer.

 

Chilled, yes, but not usually to the ice-cold temperature preferred by

Yanks. Ale has been heated for different types of washael bowls,

lambswool, etc, since the Dark Ages. A mulling iron is still

occasionally used for mulled stout, which is a slightly different

animal: basically it is heated by plunging a cherry-red hot poker in it,

heating it overall and caramelizing still further the sugars in the

stout (English stout is generally sweeter than Irish types), resulting

in a warm, foamy beverage of stout with overtones of toasted

marshmallow, if you can imagine such a thing. Pretty darned good on a

snowy evening, actually!

 

Adamantius

 

 

Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 08:10:07 -0400

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - alcohol content in beer

 

Yeldham, Caroline S wrote:

>         My understanding (and its my husband's subject, not mine) is

> that the great change occurs around the switch to glassware for serving

> beers.  When you were using horn or pewter (etc) the clarity of the beer

> was much less important.

>         Caroline

 

I'll go with that assessment. Someone's obviously been reading Clive La

Pensee's "Historical Companion to House-Brewing" ;  ) . I think it's in

the 13th century that we find record of an Oxford brewer being fined and

ordered by the magistrate (assize judge?) that he must let his beer

ferment, settle, and clear for _six_ hours or more. I'd say that would

suggest standards for clarity were different... . However, if you follow

the history (hah!) of the American Budweiser (as opposed to the real

Bohemian Pilsener of that name) you'll see how and why the standard of

total clarity reached new heights, pretty much everywhere beer was

produced in factories, during the Second World War.

 

Adamantius

 

 

Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 09:12:26 -0400

From: Nick Sasso <Njs at mccalla.com>

Subject: SC - Clarity of beer

 

Please do not labor under the misconception that beer was always

sour, murky and low quality before glass containers.  There are literary

references of clarity of the draught that precede glass drinking vessels.

 

The clarity of beer has LOTS to do with the protein content of the mash

and resultant brew.  It will also be effected by the presence of

infection. Wheat beers will almost always be cloudy.  Usually part of

the style.  My conceptualization of the sources I have read is that

brewing techniques varied as did the grain bill of the various mashes.

With all the different grains and protein contents, who knows what

could and couldn't be done to clarify the beer.  They did use irish

moss ininglass as a fining in several cultures/times, which suggests

that clear beer was, indeed, a value that predates glass.

 

niccolo difrancesco

 

 

From: krossa at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu (Sharon Krossa)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Researching Brewing History???

Date: 4 Jan 1999 10:35:47 GMT

 

fuersty at aol.com (Sigeric of Rockhaven) wrote:

>I've been asked by my SCA group to do a presentation regarding Medieval

>Brewing.  I belong to a local homebrew club, so I know how to brew beer in

>todays world, but really know very little about brewing during the Medieval

>time frames. Have any of you brewers or scholars presented this type of

>infomation before, that you may have or could point me to a few good articles

>or web sites?  I have about a month to put this together, but I'd like to get

>started as soon as I can.

 

Are you interested in the physical process of brewing, the people who

brewed, or the regulation of brewing? (Or all three?)

 

If you're interested in the people and/or regulation, I can highly

recommend

 

Bennett, Judith M., _Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a

Changing World, 1300-1600_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).

 

It is an enlightening discussion that covers the changes in the brewing

craft in England over that period (mainly from a widespread small scale

female dominated craft to a concentrated large scale male dominated craft,

to over-simplify things).

 

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any equivelant study for Scotland.

 

Eafric neyn Ken3ocht

 

Sharon Krossa, krossa at alumnae.mtholyoke.edu

Medieval Scotland web wite (including bibliography, names, & clothing):

<http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~his016/medievalscotland.html>;

 

 

Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 09:46:45 -0400

From: "Nick Sasso" <njs at mccalla.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Period Scottish Dessert

 

Yes On this one it the first recorded date is 1601, however I feel that this

is much older, as there are page fragments that appear to have the same

recipe on them, that appear to be of the same fiber content as the older

recipes.

However the older version appears to have been made with "barley wine"

I contacted my cousin in Edinburgh last night about it.  He said that the

copy, he had made of the older recipes(when my Mother-in-law was in Scotland

1993) used a word that would translate as "Home brew",

which usually meant a beverage made from fermented barley.

 

Lady Katherine McGuire

 

************************************************

m'Lady,

 

Barley wine is generally a fermented barley malt beverage that starts with a very high specific gravity, representing high sugar content of the wort.  The result is a high alcohol (up to 14%ish) and very malty & bittered beverage needing long aging times.  This leads to the term barley 'wine'.  It seems reasonable that the term could be translated as both 'home brew' and 'Barley Wine', depending on the brewing practices of specific households.

 

pacem et bonum,

niccolo difrancesco

 

 

Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 08:31:21 -0600

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: RE: SC - malt

 

> Malt has been used back to Sumerian times and prolly before.  It is

> impossible to make beer or ale without it.

> Regards, Puck

 

Actually, you can brew without malt, consider tizwin (I think the spelling

is correct for the Apache popskull made from the simple fermentation of

maize).

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 08:23:27 -0500

From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>

Subject: Re: SC - Spanish beer

 

And it came to pass on 26 Jan 00,, that Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Interesting. Do we know whether he is using the term "beer" to refer to

> all fermented beverages made from grain or perhaps only those that include

> hops?

 

The latter.  He says, "La cerveza es aqua cocida con trigo, cebada,

avena y lupulos..."  which translates as "Beer is water cooked with

wheat, barley, oats and hops..."  He goes on to say that there are two

forms: with more hops and with fewer hops; the latter is healthier, in his

opinion.

 

> I can see where wine might have been more common than beer/ale, even for

> the lower classes, in Spain than say in England, but to be little known?

 

The modern editor's note includes the info that Carlos V introduced beer

into Spain, and brought his master brewer with him from Germany.

 

Personally, I don't touch the stuff.  But since there are doubtlessly beer-

drinkers on this list who should be advised of the health risks they are

taking, and how to minimize them, I'll see about translating that chapter

tonight.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain

Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

 

 

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 12:24:23 -0500

From: "Jeff Gedney" <JGedney at dictaphone.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Spanish beer

 

> The latter.  He says, "La cerveza es aqua cocida con trigo, cebada,

> avena y lupulos..."  which translates as "Beer is water cooked with

> wheat, barley, oats and hops..."  He goes on to say that there are two

> forms: with more hops and with fewer hops; the latter is healthier, in his

> opinion.

 

That matches up with the English usage of the period. "Beere" was usually

a reference to "Flemish Beere" which was a standard indication that Hops

are a part of the recipe. The English Ale at the time was unhopped.

> I can see where wine might have been more common than beer/ale, even for

> the lower classes, in Spain than say in England but to be little known?

 

Spanish Ships of the period (1530) were provisioned with wine as a general

beverage, So the notion that wine was the drink of the "common man", in

Spain, is a valid assuption. Ale was the common drink in England.

Both wine and beer/ale keep longer than water in storage, and also tend to

remove many of the more common contaminants and microorganisms in

the general water supplies, and so these were the basic beverages of period

IIRC.

 

Also interesting is that at the time that the book in question appears to

have been written (1530), Spain and England were cautious allies against

France (either was likely to turn on and attack the other, the resulting brouhaha would then be patched over by the Governments), and their Navies had

regular communication in Spanish and West Indian Ports, as well as English

Ports. So it was quite likely that enough communication existed to make

the cook of a well to do household aware the need to keep beer and ale

on hand for the entertainment of English (and German) nobles.

 

(FWIW, It was not until the Armada Years that there was an outright state

of war between the two, and even then there was a major diplomatic

initiative to patch up the affairs of the countries, to the point that both

the Spanish and English Navies were regularly understaffed and poorly

supported with intelligence and supplies. The English admeral John Hawkins

overcame the habit of Queen Elizabeth to start building a navy, and then

withdrawing funding (at the request of the pro Spanish factions in her court),

by making externsive use of conscripting merchant vessels, and licensing

privateers.)

 

Brandu

 

 

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 21:52:03 -0500

From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>

Subject: SC - Beer

 

Source: Luis Lobera de Avila, _Banquete de Nobles Caballeros_

(Spanish, 1530)

Translation: Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann)

 

Chapter XII

Of beer and of its properties and of its benefits and dangers

 

Beer is water cooked with wheat, barley, oats and hops; and of this

there are two types: a heavy one, which is called double-beer

[duplabiera]; the other is more delicate.  The heavy one is not as good

as the delicate one.  The delicate one is of two types: one which does

not contain much hops, and the other which has a lot.  The one which

does not have much hops is the one which is in use.

 

To be good, beer must be composed of wheat, barley, oats and hops

(which in Flanders is called "the beer herb"), and good water.  These

grains must be good and not spoiled.  It must be thoroughly cooked and

then well purified.  It must be clear and not turbid.  It must have been

made some time ago, cleansed of the dregs and not acidic.

 

Beer made under these conditions is fresh and cold, although it creates

gross humors in bodies, compared to wine.  The heavy beer makes

gross humors; the delicate one, not as much.

 

Beer augments the forces and augments the flesh; it is of great

sustenance, augments the blood, provokes urine, helps to produce

stool, loosens the belly, especially if it contains a lot of hops; although

with a lot of hops it endangers those who have a weak brain, as it

inebriates them, and the inebriation lasts longer than that from wine.  

That which is not well cooked cools only slightly, and swells the belly.  

The acidic kind endangers the stomach; the turbid kind is obstructive,

and it greatly endangers those who suffer from stones; it fattens,

causes inflammation and shortness of breath and engenders much

phlegm. That which is from bad grains engenders bad humors, and the

contrary: from good grains, good humors.  That which is ill-cooked

causes windiness in the stomach and belly and twistings and colic, and

does not digest easily.  That which is not aged and purified of its dregs

and is very recent causes strangulation [of the bladder] and also causes

the same dangers as beer that is not well cooked.  For that reason,

whoever must drink beer, it should be good and at the beginning of the

meal or supper; and see that it has the aforesaid properties, because

they produce good effects.  And because in Spain there are many good

wines and good water and there is little need of beer and it is not

customary, I will not enlarge on this material.

 

It remains to speak of water, because many gentlemen and lords drink

it, so I will speak of its selection and benefits.  And nevertheless, others

make beer only from barley, very good and well cooked, and with hops.  

This would be more salutary and temperate and would be more

deobstruent and medicinal.

 

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain

Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

 

 

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 22:55:25 -0500

From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>

Subject: Re: SC - Spanish beer

 

And it came to pass on 27 Jan 00,, that Jeff Gedney wrote:

> That matches up with the English usage of the period. "Beere" was usually

> a reference to "Flemish Beere" which was a standard indication that Hops

> are a part of the recipe. The English Ale at the time was unhopped.

 

As you can see from the chapter which I have translated and posted,

hops are assumed to be an ingredient -- the only thing that varies is

qunatity.

> Also interesting is that at the time that the book in question appears to

> have been written (1530), Spain and England were cautious allies against

> France (either was like to turn on and attack the other, the resulting

> brouhaha would then be patched over by the Governments), and their Navies

> had regular communication in Spanish and West Indian Ports, as well as

> English Ports. so it was quite likely that enough communication existed to

> make the cook of a well to do household aware the need to keep of beer and

> ale on hand for the entertainment of English (and German) nobles.

According to the (modern) preface, Carlos V introduced beer into Spain,

and brought his master brewer with him.  The Emperor was a Hapsburg

by birth, raised by an Austrian aunt, and ruled in the Netherlands before

he ever set foot in Spain.

(http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/1/0,5716,22911+1,00.html)

 

A strange new drink is much more likely to grow in popularity if it's the

monarch's favorite tipple.

 

> Brandu

 

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain

Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

 

 

Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 12:14:49 -0500

From: "Mary Mumley" <mtmumley at mindspring.com>

Subject: SC - Re Carlos V and Beer

 

I just want to clarify the history here.  The Reconquista was completed

in 1492 by Isabella and Ferdinand.  Carlos V was the son of Juana la

Loca and thus the grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand.  So the

introduction of beer by Carlos V was a couple of generations after the

end of the Reconquista.  Another poster has already pointed out that

Carlos was not raised in Spain and so brought the tastes/customs of the

other parts of the Holy Roman Empire.  I think some Spaniards would be

disturbed to see this discussion be cast into an Al-Andalus vs. Castilla

debate.   Spain is more than Castilla and Andalucia.  What about

Cataluna, the Basque country and Galicia?  (Mmm, I still remember those

lovely Rioja red wines and the to-die-for Galician seafood soup!)

 

   Alessandra di Firenze                                                                 

   Barony of Ponte Alto

 

 

Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 10:08:27 -0600

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: RE: SC - Spanish beer

 

> From:       Stefan li Rous [SMTP:stefan at texas.net]

> Bear commented:

> > Since the references Stefan quotes are at least late Reconquest, I would say

> > the Islamic prohibition does not apply.  This would also be early in the

> > spread of hopped brews, so the question of whether we are talking about all

> > brews or only hopped beers is very valid.  I would suggest that the Iberian

> > climate is probably not optimal for brewing without refrigeration, so that

> > wine might be the beverage of choice.

>

> Interesting comment about the climate and brewing. I was thinking more of

> the fact that grapes grow much better in Spain than England when I made my

> comment. I have only brewed mead and not beer or wine. What is it that

> makes wine brewing more suited to Spain's climate than beer brewing? Do

> the wine yeasts prefer warmer weather than those typically used in beers

> and ales? I would have thought similar conditions were needed for beer

> or wine.

 

Grapes are more difficult to grow in England, but it can be done.  England

grew grapes and had a vintning industry until Eleanor of Aquitaine married

Henry II.  This allowed the less expensive French wines to supplant the

English wine industry, which never recovered.

 

Ales and beers tend to spoil quickly in warm weather.  German brewing was

done primarily in winter until the monks at Munich found they could brew

year round  and keep their barrelled brew longer in the cool caverns under

the monestary.  Wines, with their higher alcohol content, spoil less readily

than brews.  The Iberian climate is quite a bit warmer than northern Europe,

which means wines keep better than beer.

 

Expense would also be a contributing factor.  Where grapes are cheap, wine

flourishes.

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 22:00:21 +0200

From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>

Subject: SC - German Sp‰tzle & good ale (15thC)

 

<snip of spetzle info - see dumplings-msg -Stefan>

 

Now, this is a somewhat sceptic mail, I know. So here comes a small add

on about ale (15th century):

 

"   Bryng vs in good ale, and bryng vs in good ale!

   ffore owr blyssyd lady sak, bryng vs in good ale!

 

Bryng vs in no browne bred, for (th)at is mad of brane;

Nor bryng vs in no whyt bred, fore (th)erin is no game;

But bryng vs in good ale!

 

Bryng vs in no befe, for (th)er is many bonys;

But bryng vs in good ale, for (th)at goth downe at onys;

And bryng vs in good ale!

 

Bryng vs in no bacon, for (th)at is passyng fate;

But bryng vs in god ale, and gyfe vs inough of (th)at,

and bryng vs in good ale!

 

Bryng vs in no mutton, for (th)at is ofte lene;

Nor bryng vs in no trypys, for (th)ei be syldom clene,

But bryng vs in good ale!

 

Bryng vs in no capon flesch, for (th)at is ofte der;

Nor bryng vs in no dokes flesch, for (th)ei slober in (th)e mer,

But bryng vs in good ale!

 

Bryng vs in no eggys, for (th)er ar many schelles;

But bryng vs in good ale, and gyfe vs no(th)ing ellys,

And bryng vs in good ale!"

(Source: Rolf Kaiser, Medieval English, Berlin 1961, p. 478)

 

Thomas

 

 

Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 15:53:03 -0400

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Venison recipe request

 

> troy at asan.com  writes:

> >  Thass okay, _not_ substituting for the Guinness would make it

> >  post-period anyway. I think, though, that what Balthazar meant was that

> >  he misunderstood the request, thinking it to be for a lamb recipe.

> >  

> >  Adamantius

>

> Yep...thought it was all about the lamb.  And you're right, the Guinness

> would place it, oh..about 100 or so years out of period.

 

Closer to 200+, I think. Porter seems to show up in around 1750, but the

double and triple stout porters like Guinness are later still, I

believe. At least the Guinness recipe in La Pensee's book on historical

ales is later, although not necessarily the earliest it gets. In

general, the idea of using malts kilned until neither zymurgically (is

that a word?) active nor fermentably sweet, as adjuncts, seems to be an

alien concept to period brewers. Markham includes a complete set of

instructions for an air-dried "white" malt in 1615, which I mention just

as a reference point. Of course, that still makes a light amber ale...

 

Adamantius

 

 

Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2000 11:28:38 -0400

From: "Jeff Gedney" <JGedney at dictaphone.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Small Beer?

 

> Is "small beer" a lighter, lower-alcohol version

> of what would have been drunk later in the day?  

 

Small beer, as I understand it, was made form the second sparge run from the

mash. (Today it is made from a comparativly diluted wort.)

The process of getting fermentable sugar from grain, involved three steps,

Malting, mashing, and sparging.

 

Malting starts the sprouting process, to release the plants own enzymes that

converth the grain's starches into maltose and other sugars.

 

Mashing takes the Grain, crushes it, and adds heat and water to allow the

natural enzymes to do a more complete job of converting the sugars than

would be possible otherwise.

 

Sparging ( lautering) is the process of running hot water through the mashed

grain to rinse out the sugars.

 

The rinse water then is called "wort" and is used as the base to make the beer.

The sugars come out strongly at first, and as the process continues there

is naturally less sugar in the grain, so the wort contains less sugar as you

go along.

 

The first, strongest, runs take longer to brew, and make heavier and stronger

ales or beers. After these are boiled and flavored with spices or hops, they are

innoculated with yeast and put aside to ferment and age. The grain is

washed again to get as much sugar as possible. this much weaker liquid

ferments and finishes quickly. (it is still boiled first, which is why it was so popular as a "common" beverage for all ages, because the natural yuckey

stuff from the effluvia of the village upstream was killed in the boiling!)

 

So if a very diluted malt beer is made, usually put up the same day or soon

after and drunk within a week, before the ferment really finishes. this results

in a lightly fizzy, and somewhat sweet drink. Kinda the "soda" of it's day.

 

> I have a recipe for a

> lemon-beer, three days, 10 lemons, some sugar, a package of baking yeast,

> water, and voila!, you have a fizzy lemon drink, not enough fermentation

> to have much alcohol (and just how much is another question, when does it

> cross that line and become too much to be used for our purposes) but just

> enough to be fizzy.  

 

Whoa!! invest in a better yeast, you'll taste a lot less yeast, and the finish

will be crisper and more lemony.

I've never like the results of using baking yeast in beverages...

the results are usually cloudy and "bready"

 

"Premier Cuvee" is a good all purpose yeast I would recommend for this

recipe. It keeps a long time in the fridge in active dry form, and it is widely

available at local and on-line brew/wine shops, and is inexpensive.

 

> I don't think this is a period recipe, but it is a

> very simple, easy to make beverage.  

 

Nope not period at all. the use of sugar for fermentation was more likely

in sugar producing areas, such as East India, and was not common in

Europe because it was rather expensive to blow it on making small beer

for breakfast and thirst quenching during the day.  

It would be like making pure milkfed veal steaks every day for breakfast.

Nice occasionally, but too expensive for every day.

 

Brandu

 

 

Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 00:17:15 +0200

From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Small Beer?

 

From: "Jeff Gedney" <JGedney at dictaphone.com

> Is "small beer" a lighter, lower-alcohol version

 

[OF SMALL BEER] - 1631

This recipe uses the malt and hops left over from the following recipe, and

was very likely originally part of that recipe.

 

Now for your second or small drink which are left upon the grains, you

shall suffer it there to stay but an hour or a little better and then drain

it off also; which done, put it into the lead with the former hops and boil

the other also, then clear it from the hops and cover it very close till

your first beer be tunned, and then as before put it also to barm and so

tun it up also in smaller vessels, and of this second beer you shall not

draw above one hogshead to three of the better.  Now there be divers other

ways and observations for the brewing of ordinary beer, but none so good,

so easy, so ready, and quickly performed as this before showed:  neither

will any beer last longer or ripen sooner, for it may be drunk at a

fortnight's age, and will last as long and lively. (From The English

Housewife, etc., by Gervase Markham, 1631, pp. 205-6.)

 

 

(OF BREWING ORDINARY BEER - 1631

Now for the brewing of ordinary beer, your malt being well ground and put

in your mash vat, and your liquor in your lead2 ready to boil, you shall

then by little and little with scoops or pails put the boiling liquor to

the malt, and then stir it even to the bottom exceedingly well together

(which is called the mashing of the malt) then, the liquor swimming in the

top, cover all over with more malt, and so let it stand an hour and more in

the mash vat, during which space you may if you please heat more liquor in

your lead for your second or small drink; this done, pluck up your mashing

strom, and let the first liquor run gently from the malt, either in a clean

trough or other vessels prepared for the purpose, and then stopping the

mash vat again, put the second liquor to the malt and stir it well

together; then your lead being emptied put your first liquor or wort

therein, and then to every quarter of malt put a pound and a half of the

best hops you can get, and boil them an hour together, till taking up a

dishful thereof you see the hops shrink into the bottom of the dish; this

done, put the wort through a straight sieve, which may drain the hops from

it, into your cooler, which, standing over the gyle vat, you shall in the

bottom thereof set a great bowl with your barm and some of the first wort

(before the hops come into it) mixed together, that it may rise therein,

and then let your wort drop or run gently into the dish with the barm which

stands in the gyle vat; and this you shall do the first day of your

brewing, letting your cooler drop all the night following, and some part of

the next morning, and as it droppeth if you find that a black scum or

mother riseth upon the barm, you shall with your hand

take it off and cast it away; then nothing being left in the cooler, and

the beer well risen, with your hand stir it about and so let it stand an

hour after, and then, beating it and the barm exceeding well together, tun

it up into the hogsheads being clean washed and scalded, and so let it

purge: and herein you shall observe not to tun your vessels too full, for

fear thereby it purge too much of the barm away:  when it hath purged a day

and a night, you shall close up the bung holes with clay, and only for a

day or two after keep a vent-hole in it, and after close it up as close as

may be.)

 

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu

cindy at thousandeggs.com

Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th

Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing

Recipes"

http://www.thousandeggs.com

 

 

Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2000 07:48:38 -0400

From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Small Beer?.

 

Hey, here's a thought that I don't think anybody has mentioned in detail

yet. If you _really_ want to serve a perod ale at breakfast, you could

simply brew it on site. Work it into the event as a hands-on

teaching/research project. You could probably do it on, say, Friday

night in the case of one of the Meridien weekend-long events. Somewhere,

there's a record of a law on the books in Oxford (Cindy can doubtless

provide details) that says a brewer/tavern owner may not sell ale that

has not sat and settled for at least six hours prior to sale. This

suggests that the practice of selling new ale was probably pretty

widespread. What you'd be serving would be, essentially, unfermented

ale, with virtually no alcohol, but just the taste of the malt and any

flavorings you chose to add, which might or might not include hops.

Would it taste like Guinness Stout, Heineken, or my own favorite,

Chimay? No. Would it taste bad? No, because the only way it might suffer

is in comparison to certain modern beers and when modern criteria are

applied, which is clearly unfair. Not bad, just unlike a modern beer, as

anybody who's done any perod brewing knows. It actually tastes more than

a bit like sweetened, iced tea, especially when you cool your wort in an

oak vat. Would it have any alcohol? None to speak of. And it is a good

representation of a period beverage? Absolutely!

 

Adamantius, Sometime Evil Period Brewer

 

 

Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 09:57:16 -0400

From: "Jeff Gedney" <JGedney at dictaphone.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Re: liqueurs

 

Stefan hath writ:

> It does appear to have been used more and more as

> the making of beer changed from a cottage industry to the first mass

> production factory based industry. Probably because of it;s perservative

> properties. This shift may have been helped along by the use of hops since

> it allowed larger batches to be made and sold before they went bad.

 

Well, to be more precise, the preservative qualities were the impetus for

mass production of beer (at least in England). "Flemish" (hopped) Beer was

produced in prodigious quantity for supplying the Tudor navy, since it kept

much better (due to the Hops, and the pasteurizing effect of mashing and

boiling the wort)  than water or any other drink.

Wine was not a primary choice of the British sailor because it was deemed

"foreign", and (if made in sufficent manner to survive in a heaving hot ship

more than a couple of weeks) was in fact, rather too strong for thirst

quenching (a happy sailor is one thing, depending on a drunk sailor is

quite another)

A keg of fresh water would go brackish and slimey in a couple of weeks.

Beer could take months to go bad.

It is the adoption of beer as the basic beverage onboard ships that enabled

long ocean crossings, since water casks have to be refreshed every couple

of weeks, and even with favorable winds, an Atlantic crossing was 24 days

or so in Drake's day.

 

"Flemished Beere" was produced by "state" breweries in such prodigious

quantity in Portsmouth and other "navy" towns that the roads in certain

areas were literally lined with casks of beer ready for the Channel fleet.

 

During the Armada campaign and afterward, the Navy paid a premium

to get this beer to the sailors who were regularly in short supply for want of

sufficient transport. Things got so bad, at some points that the Navy

essentially commandeered almost every fishing vessel on the East Anglian

and Southern coasts capable of ferrying the half tun "pipes" out to the fleet.

 

An informative discussion of this can be found at the Mary Rose website.

Also Several books on the Armada campaign discuss the resupply woes

that the Channel fleet sufferred.

Check out the following books for more information:

 

"Founded upon the Seas : A Narrative of Some English Maritime

and Overseas Enterprises During the Period 1550 to 1616" by

Walter Oakeshott

 

"Spain's Men of the Sea : Daily Life on the Indies Fleets in the

Sixteenth Century" by Pablo E. Perez-Mallaina,

Carla Rahn Phillips, Translator

 

"The Voyages and works of John Davis, the navigator" by

A.H. Markham

 

"Discovery : Exploration through the Centuries" by Eric Flaum

 

"The Adventure of Sail" by Captain Donald Macintyre, RN

 

On side a note: "beere" was not necessarily hopped in period, and the

term Flemished or flemish beer was used to denote beer made in the

hopped fashion, since the English at first imported their navy beer from

the flemings, because of the qualities of the hops that the flemish used.

They did not start making it themselves until it was clear that the

imports were falling far short of what was needed by the fleet.

At that time several admirals got the state to finance the construction

of or subsidize a number of brewies. This was achieved in very short

order and the way the Navy started turning out ships, biscuit, and beer,

going from a few ships a year to full production in only a couple of

years was the "Manhattan Project" of the time.

 

It was not till after period that the term "beer" became synonymous with

the use of hops.

 

Brandu

 

 

Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 15:58:23 CEST

From: "Christina van Tets" <cjvt at hotmail.com>

Subject: SC - etymology of beer

 

According to my old linguistics lecturer, who was into brewing in his spare

time (first academic I've ever heard of who had spare time), beer comes from

the old Anglo-Germanic word for barley (bere) and ale comes from a Gothic

word aluir, which meant to hallucinate.

 

Thomas can probably correct me on this, though.

 

Cairistiona

 

BTW, I was under the impression that hops came into England fairly late, but

were used in the Low Countries for some time before that.  Are we being too

Anglo-centric with our 'periodicity' here?

 

 

Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 03:11:03 +0200

From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>

Subject: Re: SC - etymology of beer

 

<< according to my old linguistics lecturer ... beer comes from

the old Anglo-Germanic word for barley (bere) >>

 

According to Kluge/Seebold's "Etymologisches Wˆrterbuch" the etymology

of germ. "bier", engl. "beer", etc. is uncertain; basically there are

three explanations:

- -- the word is connected somehow to a root for "brauen", "brew"

- -- the word is connected with a germanic word for barley (_*bewwa-_)

- -- the word goes back to late latin _biber_ 'drink', also 'beer'

 

Thus, the barley-version is within the range of candidates, though

Seebold says: "Am wahrscheinlichsten ist ein Zusammenhang mit der Wurzel

f¸r _brauen_" 'Most likely is a connection to the root for _brauen_, to

brew'.

 

Among the references given is an article in this journal:

- -- Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft f¸r die Geschichte und Bibliographie des

Brauwesens e.V.

('Yearbook of the Society for the history and bibliography of brewing

...')

 

Thomas

 

 

Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2000 13:30:24 -0500

From: "Michael F. Gunter" <michael.gunter at fnc.fujitsu.com>

Subject: SC - non-member submission - Re: Concrete Midas Funerary Feast Information

 

UNIVERSITY RECREATES 2,700 YEAR-OLD BREW

University of Pennsylvania archaeologists have recreated an ancient

brew of the Phrygians, a recipe that dates back 2,700 years. The beer -

- - called "King Midas Golden Elixir" -- "tastes like hard cider and

sparkles like champagne" and is made by mixing fermented grape juice

and beer, honey mead, herbs and spices. The Phrygians lived about 2,700

years ago in what is now Turkey. In 1957 archaeologists discovered the

tomb of Midas, legendary king with "the golden touch," complete with

his skeleton. A leftover libation from his funeral feast was discovered

among the debris. Chemical analysis of the dregs in a leftover cup

found in the tomb led to the recipe used to brew the beer. Sam

Calagione of Dogfish Head brewery in Delaware helped the archaeological

team with the brewing. "I was scared out of my pants," said Calagione.

"There was no benchmark or precedent for this project -- anyone who'd

had a benchmark for this brew was long dead." He gathered the

ingredients from California, England, Italy and India, and made a test

batch.

 

I'm going to try to get ahold of the brewer for further information.

Ciao,

        -----Gille MacDhnouill

 

 

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Reference to 'stale' ale.

Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 17:07:48 -0500

 

> Bitter ales, IIRC, are a fairly modern (post 1600's)

> invention.  This is not to say that earlier

> concoctions weren't bitter, merely suggesting that an

> *intentionally* bitter ale may not have existed in

> period.  At the same time, over pitching of yeast can

> cause a bitter flavor in beer, as can using, as

> Adamantius indicated, other bitter ingredients.

> However, most un-hopped and still ales would have been

> comparatively sweet, if I'm not mistaken.  Bear seems

> to know quite a bit about brewing history, so perhaps

> we should illicit his response?

> Balthazar of Blackmoor

 

There are a number of people who probably have a better grasp on the history

of brew than I.  On this list, I can think of Cindy Renfrow who has written

a book on the subject.  However, since you asked I'll impart what I have

gleaned.

 

The Assisa Cervisie (Assize of Beer, 1350) names both beer and ale and

suggests that they are made from barley, wheat or oats. It provides no

information about the brewing or what differentiates beer from ale.  The

documentation to which I have access dates from the 18th Century and it is

possible beer may not have been mentioned in the earliest forms of the law.

 

"... In 1282, when Robert Sibille the younger was presented at the court of

Kibworth Harcourt for selling his ale at too high a price, the stipulated

price left him little room for profit. Having paid 2s. for 4 bushels of malt

and required to sell 5 gallons of ale for 2d., he would have had to draw 60

gallons from his malt just to recoup his investment. His ale, in other

words, would have been very weak indeed and his profits very low."

[Bennett, p. 21]

 

This quote is interesting because it predates the Assize.  Under the Assize,

at this price for barley, Sibille would have been allowed to sell 3 gallons

of ale for 2d (if I understand the pricing scheme).  Apparently, because of

a commercial regulation earlier than the Assize, Sibille had to produce a

weaker ale.

 

A more normal recipe would make 60 gallons from a quarter (8 bushels) of

barley, as recorded in the household accounts of the Clare household around

1333.

 

According to some brewers who have experimented with this, the stronger ale

will be sweeter than the weaker ale.

 

The earliest use of hops in beer is supposedly found in Jewish writings

about their captivity in Babylon.  The first mention of its use in beer in

Europe occurs in the 13th Century.  Hopping appears to have started in the

Low Countries (possibly because it improved storing and transporting) and

moved into Germany and England.  In Germany, use of hops as an ingredient in

beer was written into the Reinheitsgebot (Purity Law) of 1516.  Hopping

appears to have come to England in the 15th Century, but not to have become

common before the 16th Century.

 

Gruits (flavorings) included marsh rosemary, sweet gale, bog myrtle, honey,

yarrow, coriander, ginger, aniseseed, juniper berries, cinnamon, etc.

Yeasting could be from wild sporing or from the dregs of a previous batch.

 

So as a judgement call, period ale could be anything from a sweet mellow

brew to a beverage requiring another few trips through the horse.  It would

probably be unhopped, but might be flavored.  A brew made for a noble house

would likely have better ingredients and more grain than one made by a

commercial brewer, thus having a sweeter more appealing taste.

 

Since I haven't chased down the primary references take the comments with a

grain of salt.

 

Bear

 

 

From: grizly at mindspring.com

Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 22:45:37 -0400

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: Re: [Sca-cooks] Reference to 'stale' ale.

 

> --- Philip & Susan Troy  wrote:

. . . SNIP . . .  even if we don't know what it

> was), and the fact that there's no really strong

> reason to believe that the ale used in the recipe was even

>remotely bitter.

 

Bitter ales, IIRC, are a fairly modern (post 1600's)

invention. This is not to say that earlier

concoctions weren't bitter, merely suggesting that an

*intentionally* bitter ale may not have existed in

period. At the same time, over pitching of yeast can

cause a bitter flavor in beer, as can using, as

Adamantius indicated, other bitter ingredients.

However, most un-hopped and still ales would have been

comparatively sweet, if I'm not mistaken.  Bear seems

to know quite a bit about brewing history, so perhaps

we should illicit his response? > > > > > >

 

Actually, the gruits used prior to the hopping was expressly to

add bitterness.  Hops seem to have grown in popularity in 14thish

century on (depending on place) because they bittered AND made beer

last longer before going 'off'.  Unbittered beer is rather cloyingly

sweet in any quantity, though that doesn't mean that ales were heavily

bittered. Ale and beers are broad categories for wide variety under

the headings.  As beers aged, without filtration to remove yeast,

they would have become drier as the yeast continued to feast on

available sugars.  That could be a clue to the quality of 'stale' ale.

 

Historical Companion to HouseBrewing gives the distinction in 14c.

England of Ales being gruit bittered whiles beers were hopped.  If

that can follow, then stale ale would have a lower sweetness due to

longer fermentation and _possibly_ lower bitterness due to no hops.

Certainly an herbed quality dependant on gruit composition that would

ass an additional character to the cooked soup.

 

pacem et bonum,

niccolo difrancesco

 

 

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Reference to 'stale' ale.

Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 08:45:03 -0500

 

> *Ales* are beers which use an ale yeast, and are

> brewed at warm temperatures, giving them a sweet,

> rich, somewhat floral flavor (particularly if they are

> hopped). <clipped>

> Balthazar of Blackmoor

 

IMS, there is a description of the Vandal ale pot in Pliny.  I know there is

a description of using ale barm to leaven bread.

 

I suspect the initial yeasting of such was by exposure to the air (as with

lambics) and that we wound up with ale yeasts because the brewers saved the

dregs of good batches of ale to start the next.  This raises the question as

to when period brewers used open cooling of the wort and when they

inoculated the wort.

 

As for the words beer and ale, they appear in Old English as "beor" and

"alu" (or "ealu").  I haven't found any references for the derivation of

ale, but beer may come from the Latin "bibere," "to drink."  I also haven't

found a solid definition of precisely what was meant by either word in Old

English. I suspect the fine distinctions began when the Germans started

producing lighter tasting malt beverages around the 13th Century and the

technical differentiation between ale as top fermenting and beer as bottom

fermenting probably dates from the same time.

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 09:50:55 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Queen of Cats" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: SCA-Cooks maillist <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] more on drinking water in the Middle Ages

 

On Thu, 24 May 2001, Mark.S Harris wrote:

> Margaret said:

> > For that matter, I have at least one reference to people in poverty (or

> > austerity, which is not the same thing) drinking water instead of ale. I

> > can check when I get home for the exact citation, if anyone is interested.

> Please do. I'd love to have more useful info, preferable with

> references.

 

>   Stefan li Rous

 

The water citation(s), from Dyer again:

 

p93, discussing poverty "Stories of shocking poverty were told,..., of

nuns reduced to drinking water because their house could not afford

ale,..."

 

p153, discussign peasant circumstances "Better-off peasants recieved malt,

showing that they were expected to drink ale regularly."

 

and

 

p154 "Beatrice atte Lane, who was surrendering 24 acres, was promised 1

1/2 quarters of maslin, and 1 1/2 quarters of drage, sufficient for an

ample diet of bread and ale, while a smallholder with 4 1/2 acres, Sara

Bateman, received a quarter of maslin and 4 bushels of barley, the

ingredients of a menu of bread and pottage, accompanied mostly by water."

 

Citations are from

Dyer, Christopher. Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages: Social

Change in England c. 1200-1520. Cambridge University Press, 1989.

 

Fascinating book if you, like me, think that sort of info is neat.

 

Margaret FitzWilliam

 

 

Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 10:56:21 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Queen of Cats" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] more on drinking water in the Middle Ages

 

On Fri, 25 May 2001, Decker, Terry D. wrote:

> Does Dyer provide a glossary?  I believe the term drage probably equates to

> dredge, which is a mixture of oats and barley.

> Bear

 

No, he doesn't have a glossary, but he's pretty good at defining his terms

in situ. P 57, he defines drage as "made from a mixture of barley and

oats". Maslin is defined earlier on the page, FWIW.

 

Margaret

 

 

Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 16:11:41 +0200

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Beer from unsafe water?

 

Herre is the recipe from Harrison.  The word 'kettle' is not used.

 

BEER - 1577

        "Nevertheless," he says, "sith I have taken occasion to speake of

bruing, I will exemplifie in such a proportion as I am best skilled in,

bicause it is the usuall rate for mine owne familie, and once in a moneth

practised by my wife and hir maid servants, who proceed withall after this

maner, as she hath oft informed me.

 

        Having therefore groond eight bushels of good malt upon our

querne, where the toll is saved,3 she addeth unto it half a bushel of wheat

meale, and so much of otes small groond, and so tempereth or mixeth them

with the malt, that you cannot easily discerne the one from the other,

otherwise these later would clunter, fall into lumps, and thereby become

unprofitable. The first liquor which is full eightie gallons according to

the proportion of our furnace, she maketh boiling hot, and then powreth it

softlie into the malt, where it resteth (but without stirring) untill hir

second liquor be almost ready to boile.  This doone she letteth hir mash

run till the malt be left without liquor, or at the leastwise the greater

part of the moisture, which she perceiveth by the staie and softe issue

thereof, and by this time hir second liquor in the furnace is ready to

seeth, which is put also to the malt as the first woort also againe into

the furnace, whereunto she addeth two pounds of the best English hops, and

so letteth them seeth together by the

space of two hours in summer, or an houre and a halfe in winter, whereby it

getteth an excellent colour and continuance without impeachment, or anie

superfluous tartnesse.    But before she putteth her first woort into the

furnace, or mingleth it with the hops, she taketh out a vessel full, of

eight or nine gallons, which she shutteth up close, and suffereth no aire

to come into it till it become yellow, and this she reserveth by it selfe

unto further use, as shall appeare hereafter, calling it Brackwoort or

Charwoort, and as she saith it addeth also to the colour of the drinke,

whereby it yeeldeth not unto amber or fine gold in hew unto the eie.    By

this time also hir second woort is let runne, and the first being taken out

of the furnace and placed to coole, she returneth the middle woort into the

furnace, where it is striken over, or from whence it is taken againe.

 

        "When she hath mashed also the last liquor (and set the second to

coole by the first) she letteth it runne and then seetheth it againe with a

pound and a half of new hops or peradventure two pounds as she seeth cause

by the goodness or baseness of the hops; and when it hath sodden in summer

two hours, and in winter an houre and a halfe, she striketh it also and

reserveth it unto mixture with the rest when time doth serve therefore.

Finallie when she setteth hir drinke together, she addeth to hir

brackwoort1 or charwoort halfe an ounce of arras2 and halfe a quarterne of

an ounce of baiberries finelie powdered, and then putteth the same into hir

woort with an handful of wheate floure, she proceedeth in such usuall order

as common bruing requireth.  Some in steed of arras and baies add so much

long peper onely, but in hir opinion and my lyking it is not so good as the

first, and hereof we make three hoggesheads of good beere, such (I meane)

as is meet for poore men as am I to live withall whose small maintenance

(for what great thing is fortie pounds a yeare computatis computandis, able

to performe?) may indure no deeper cut, the charges whereof groweth in this

manner.

 

        I value my malt at ten shillings, my wood at foure shillings which

I buie, my hops at twenty pence, the spice at two pence, servants wages two

shillings sixpence, both meat and drinke, and the wearing of my vessell at

twentie pence, so that for my twenty shillings I have ten score gallons of

beer or more, notwithstanding the loss in seething.  The continuance of the

drinke is always determined after the quantitie of the hops, so that being

well hopped it lasteth longer.  For it feedeth upon the hop and holdeth out

so long as the force of the same endureth which being extinguished the

drinke must be spent or else it dieth and becometh of no value.

(From The Description of England, by William Harrison, 1577.  This recipe

is cited in many sources, but the spelling and punctuation vary.

 

Cindy

 

 

From: "Hrolf Douglasson" <Hrolf at btinternet.com>

To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: indigo [was Re: [Sca-cooks] Puritans, was: Canadian Friends]

Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 22:54:33 +0100

 

> What some people believed made berserkers go

> berserk is toadstool mushrooms (the variety that's

> red with white spots). I'm not really sold on the

> idea, though I can see some of them doing this.

 

bog myrtle flavoured beer produces some wonderful effects on warriors and is

authentic to the ORIGINAL berserkers.

they know the Vikingar used it and it is an hallucinogenic

 

vara

 

 

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 14:06:02 -0400

From: Elizabeth A Heckert <spynnere at juno.com>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: [Sca-cooks]Bog myrtle beer, was: Puritans, was: Canadian Friends]

 

On Tue, 09 Oct 2001 15:42:04 +0000 "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com> writes:

>Recipe please.

 

     Olwen,

      Ann Hagen says that bog myrtle was the 'wort' for some groups of

people (including the Vikings) before hops were used.  I have a bad

enough reaction to alcohol that I don't drink it; all my info is theory

only and fairly confusing to me without taste to associate with it.

 

      Elizabeth

 

 

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: RE: indigo [was Re: [Sca-cooks] Puritans, was: Canadian Friends]

Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2001 10:53:02 -0500

 

Try looking for "Gale Beer." Just for fun, here's a couple pages about bog

myrtle:

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/galswe03.html

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/g2603/0000/2603000015/p1/article.jhtml

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 09:49:01 -0400

From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"

        <adamantius.magister at verizon.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] beer

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

On Sep 1, 2006, at 9:19 AM, Cat Dancer wrote:

> To wrench this back to something resembling on-topic, are lambics even

> remotely period?

 

According to this,

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pvosta/pcrbier1.htm

 

yes, if possibly somewhat late in period (earliest known written

reference is 16th century, and describes the process as being from an

old recipe).

 

Certainly soured wheat beers and lightly hopped ales flavored with

spices and fruits, are. An early post-period, non-Belgian example I'm

particularly fond of is the Giulielma Penn recipe for apple beer,

which is a hopped ale made using apple juice instead of water, for

mashing one's barley malt, then hopped and fermented like any other

ale. Which is different from lambic, but still...

 

Adamantius

 

 

Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 09:57:37 -0400

From: "grizly" <grizly at mindspring.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] beer

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

-----Original Message-----

>>>> To wrench this back to something resembling on-topic, are lambics

even remotely period?<<SNIP>>

 

While I cannot document the existance of the word "Lambic" as a style or the

prevalence of the consumption of the liquid, lambic is a beer that has been

innoculated by wild yeast cultures and bacteria to give it the chracteristic

tartness.

 

TRADITIONALLY:  Krieks  are cherry flavored lambics; framboise is raspberry

flavored lambic.  It is painfully simple to create such a beverage, and the

Belgian breweries have used open fermentation vats for centuries.  It is

more than likely that the beers have been soured by the yeast/bacteria as a

matter of course for that particular region, and the natural flora have

varied over time.  The wild yeast/bacteria today are very possibly (maybe

probably) not the exact same as were present in 1500's.

 

niccolo difrancesco

 

 

Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:00:43 -0400

From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"

        <adamantius.magister at verizon.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] beer

To: grizly at mindspring.com, Cooks within the SCA

        <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

On Sep 1, 2006, at 9:57 AM, grizly wrote:

> spices and fruits, are. An early post-period, non-Belgian example I'm

> particularly fond of is the Giulielma Penn recipe for apple beer,

> which is a hopped ale made using apple juice instead of water, for

> mashing one's barley malt, then hopped and fermented like any other

> ale. Which is different from lambic, but still...

> Adamantius> > > >

> Hey boss, you got a reference for that post-period dealy?  Apple

> and barley could be scrumptious in beer.

> niccolo difrancesco

> (gonna teach the local townies how to make beer soon!)

 

Obviously, I now can't find it, but it's in a book called "Penn

Family Recipes", and was apparently the receipt book of one of his

wives, and dated, as I recall, 1694. Here, I clipped this from a

webbed article referring to the good Giulielma's recipe for oatcakes:

 

Benson, Evelyn Abraham, ed. -- Penn Family Recipes ?Evelyn Abraham

Benson 1966. Pub. George Schumway, York, PA 1966

 

Unfortunately, what I'm lacking is the actual recipe (if I can find

the book I'll post it), but again, as I recall, it is a quite typical

ale recipe: heat liquor, pour over ground malt, mash, drain and

reserve wort, boil with hops, strain, cool, pitch yeast, etc. The

only difference being that the liquor in this case is apple juice

instead of water.

 

Good stuff!

 

Adamantius

 

 

Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 20:21:34 -0400

From: "Daniel  Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>

Subject: [Sca-cooks]  beer

To: <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.org>

 

> Was written:

>>  Hey boss, you got a reference for that post-period dealy?  Apple

>> and barley could be scrumptious in beer.

>> 

>> niccolo difrancesco

>> (gonna teach the local townies how to make beer soon!)

> Obviously, I now can't find it, but it's in a book called "Penn

> Family Recipes", and was apparently the receipt book of one of his

> wives, and dated, as I recall, 1694. Here, I clipped this from a

> webbed article referring to the good Giulielma's recipe for oatcakes:

> Benson, Evelyn Abraham, ed. -- Penn Family Recipes ?Evelyn Abraham

> Benson 1966. Pub. George Schumway, York, PA 1966

> Unfortunately, what I'm lacking is the actual recipe (if I can find

> the book I'll post it), but again, as I recall, it is a quite typical

> ale recipe: heat liquor, pour over ground malt, mash, drain and

> reserve wort, boil with hops, strain, cool, pitch yeast, etc. The

> only difference being that the liquor in this case is apple juice

> instead of water.

 

stamp apels and strain them as usuly for Cyder

then take the Liquor and warm it

and put it upon the malt,

then when it is Com throu boyle it,

and then worke it Like other bere,

when it is put into vesells put 3 pound of hard suger

in to the quantaty of an hogsheed,

a few hops should bee boyled in it-

 

Daniel

 

 

From: jk <klessig at cox.net>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Beer

Date: Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:51:50 -0700

 

Georg <thegeorg at stny.rr.com> wrote:

>Rye is the other grain that jumps to mind because it's a proper grain

>that can probably be malted like wheat or barley. However, I don't know

>off the top of my head any place where one can buy malted rye, and it

>certainly will not be available in malt extract form. If your friend (or

 

Actually that is incorrect. A few years ago while at a client's site

(a food processor), while waiting for my contact, I was reading one of

his trade magazines, and in there was an ad for among other things

malted rye extract.   They did however want to sell only in multi

barrels lots. So,  it IS out there.

 

jk

 

 

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Beer

From: Robert Uhl <eadmund42 at NOSPAMgmail.com>

Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2006 09:19:21 -0600

 

Georg <thegeorg at stny.rr.com> writes:

> Rye is the other grain that jumps to mind because it's a proper grain

> that can probably be malted like wheat or barley. However, I don't know

> off the top of my head any place where one can buy malted rye, and it

> certainly will not be available in malt extract form.

 

Actually, a Google search for "rye malt extract" will turn up a few

results.  The homebrew hobby is great these days!

 

But it appears that rye triggers gluten issues too.  A 100% rye-based

beer would be...interesting...in flavour, anyway.

 

I think that buckwheat is gluten free. You could possibly make a

drinkable beer from sorghum & buckwheat malts with some sugar added.

It'd probably not win any awards, but given a choice between never

drinking water or wine and drinking such a brew, I know which I'd

choose.

--

Guthlac of Caerthe <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>;

 

 

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Beer

From: Robert Uhl <eadmund42 at NOSPAMgmail.com>

Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2006 09:12:14 -0600

 

"AK&DStrohl" <strohls at enter.net> writes:

> Today, as I left work, I overheard a conversation about not being able to

> get any beer made _without_ barley or wheat.  Apparently the guy saying it

> is allergic to both grains.  He was talking to another person about making

> beer with rice or other grains. This person suggested  checking out

> microbreweries for them.

> And I thought here is a question for the SCA group.

 

Beer brewed from sorghum is commercially available.  Some homebrewers

are playing with sorghum, millet and spelt (although I can't remember

off-hand if spelt or millet trigger gluten reactions).  The Homebrewer's

Digest <http://www.hbd.org/>; has had some threads on it.

 

> I know there is a lot of information available about brewing your own

> beer.

 

If you don't know how to brew at all, be aware that there is a learning

curve.  It's pretty easy, but it's there. Also, brewing only from

grains (called all-grain, it's what one would need to do in order to

brew without wheat or barley) is typically considered an advanced topic,

although for millennia it was the _only_ way to brew beer.  It's not

that difficult: you add hot water to grain in quantities & at a

temperature sufficient to effect a certain final temperature, then let

it sit for about an hour to an hour-and-a-half; then you strain the now

sweet liquid (called wort) from the spent grain; then you boil the wort

with hops for a period of time; then you cool the wort to pitching

temperature; following that you rack (transfer) the wort in a

fermentation vessel (on the homebrew scale, this is typically a 5

gal. glass carboy); finally you pitch the yeast and slap on an airlock.

After a week primary fermentation is done; then you let it mature for

another week, possibly in a second container; then you bottle or keg it

up and wait another week for carbonation to complete.  Three weeks after

brew day you're drinking your very own beer!

 

The standard homebrew batch size is 5 gallons; this is 48 bottles of

beer or one Cornelius (soda) keg.

 

It's a fun hobby, one I recommend to everyone.  I've been brewing since

I was 16 (my mother bought me a kit for Christmas that year), and I love

it.

--

Guthlac of Caerthe <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>;

 

 

Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 10:10:56 -0400

From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] The English and Warm Beer

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

While looking for something on barley water, I came across

this title --

 

Warm beere, or, A treatise wherein is declared by many reasons that

beere so qualified is farre more wholsome then that which is drunke cold

with a confutation of such objections that are made against it,

published for the preservation of health.

Publication Info: Cambridge : Printed by R.D. for Henry Overton, and are

to be sold at his shop ..., 1641.

 

This may answer that age old question as to why the English drink their

beer warm.

 

Johnna

 

 

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:04:48 -0700

From: Dragon <dragon at crimson-dragon.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] brewing

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

Betsy Marshall did speak thusly:

The joy of Homebrewing  by Charles Papazian has all you'll ever need to

know- I recommend starting with one of the used volumes

 

http://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Joy-Home-Brewing/dp/0380763664

---------------- End original message. ---------------------

 

As popular as that book is, it is not a very good reference for

making GOOD beer.

 

His methods and recipes are workable, sometimes even palatable, but

they are not GOOD.

 

One of my biggest bones to pick with his stuff (and mind you it has

been a while since I last read it) is that he never talks about

proper quantities of yeast to use. His recommendations on how much

yeast to use are far below what professional brewers use and it shows

in the results. Slow fermentations and off-flavors are to be expected

with such small quantities of yeast.

 

To put it in perspective, he recommends using dry yeast as is without

creating a starter or pitching the amount of yeast you get from a

smack-pack. This very often results in DAYS of no indication of

fermentation. A more effective strategy (and one that produces better

beer) is to use a far greater volume of yeast. For a typical 6 gallon

batch, I would pitch a full quart of active yeast slurry which I had

grown into a starter of sufficient volume over the week or so before

I brewed. My fermentations were active within an hour or so and done

in about a third the time they took following the recommendations

given by Papazian.

 

I also vehemently disagree with his recommendation to use champagne

yeast for fermenting meads. That strain of yeast ferments things bone

dry and leaves a nasty taste (IMO). There are much better yeasts to use.

 

Steeping grains in a grain bag is a bad process he recommends for

augmenting the flavors of extract brews. These grains should be

mashed at an appropriate starch conversion temperature, not allowed

to steep at the temperatures he recommends (close to boiling). Then

they should be properly sparged. Following his method leaches a lot

of tannins into the wort, this is not good because it changes the

flavor in an undesirable way and adds to the formation of sediment in

the beer. I'm also not a big fan of extract brews in general, you

simply can't make certain types of beer with extract and even when

you can, the process of extracting all the water from it to make a

syrup both darkens it and changes the flavor profile leaving it with

a canned, cooked taste.

 

I am sure I could criticize a lot more items if I went back and

re-read his book again, but I am far beyond that level. I learned a

lot from professional brewers and Chris White (of White Labs, a yeast

supplier to the brewing industry) back when I was actively brewing.

 

One of these days I'll get back into it and I really ought to write

the book that should replace that one.

 

Dragon

 

 

Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:59:21 -0400

From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] brewing

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 

-----Original Message-----

As popular as that book is, it is not a very good reference for

making GOOD beer.

 

His methods and recipes are workable, sometimes even palatable, but

they are not GOOD. . . . . . . .  < < <SNIP> > >

 

I am sure I could criticize a lot more items if I went back and

re-read his book again, but I am far beyond that level. I learned a

lot from professional brewers and Chris White (of White Labs, a yeast

supplier to the brewing industry) back when I was actively brewing.

 

One of these days I'll get back into it and I really ought to write

the book that should replace that one.

 

Dragon > > > > > > >

 

Be sure that you are writing a book for people that are neophytic and have

little to no desire to move beyond the most basic skill levels.  Your

criticisms are sometimes accurate and sometimes unfair.  "Uncle Charlie"

wrote a book based on the very early homebrewing efforts he, his wife and

friends made in the late 70's (IIRC). His was the first and only widely

published and distributed guide (for years) with step by step instructions.

He wrote his first edition at a time when it was patently illegal in many

the states to brew beer in the home. Technology, equipment, materials and

information resources have far outpaced what was available when he first

published . . . doesn't change the initial usefulness of the book for

unskilled and ignorant would-be brewers.

 

Sure, the guy did not write the definitive guide to creating commercial

grade beverages in you basement with a burlap sack and an old bucket.  What

he does have is a very conversant treatment of the subject that gets people

in the door and provides enough variety of method and recipe to keep the

basic entry-level brewer interested.  Not unlike some of the first cookery

books many of us bought to use in becoming historical cook type people.

 

niccolo difrancesco

(started with that book . . . moved beyond it quickly . . . and still come

back to it)

 

 

Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:04:02 -0800 (PST)

From: Louise Smithson <helewyse at yahoo.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org, SCA-AuthenticCooks at yahoogroups.com

Subject: [Sca-cooks] More german cookery and brewing books

 

In the collection of the Bavarian State library:

These are all at: http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/ausgaben/uni_ausgabe.html?projekt=1174066449

 

All downloadable as a PDF, and more interesting all of them have recipes for the cellar (i.e. beer) recipes too.  

Now I haven't looked at them yet, so I don't know if they are all just reprints of one another or if there are unique and additional recipes in each of them.

Helewyse

 

Koch- und Kellerey von allen Speisen. - Franckfurt am Meyn, 1544

Signatur: Res/4 Oecon. 209

[2008-08-05]

URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00025628-3

 

Koch- und Kellerey von allen Speisen. - Franckfurt am Meyn, 1537

Signatur: 4 Oecon. 208

[2009-01-29]

URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00027277-4

 

Kocherey und Kellermeisterey von allen Speisen und Getrenken. - Frankfurt a. M., 1557

Signatur: 4 A.gr.c. 35

[2008-04-25]

URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00015958-7

 

Kocherey von allen Speisen unnd Getrenken. - Stra?burg, 1581

Signatur: Oecon. 1004

[2009-01-19]

URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb00034005-6

 

 

Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:11:53 +0000

From: Holly Stockley <hollyvandenberg at hotmail.com>

To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Interesting article on the female origins of

        beer

 

If you've got some interest in the topic, there's a recent thesis you could go looking for, as well.  It's likely in Dutch, but there may be an English translation available as well.   Here's the info from the Defense:

Date and Time: 18-11-2009 16:15

Location: Academy Building, 29 Cathedral Square, Utrecht

Researcher: Marjolein van Decks

Faculty : Faculty of Humanities

Thesis: Brewing, fires and serve. Working women in the Dutch beverage industry, 1500-1800

Supervisor 1: Prof. dr. AF Heerma of Voss

 

 

Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:26:32 -0400

From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Interesting article on the female origins of

        beer

 

The classic volume and very available one is

Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World,  

1300-1600 By Judith M. BennettPaperback: 280 pages Publisher: Oxford  

University Press, USA (April 22, 1999)

 

Amazon carries it.

 

There's also Pamela Sambrook's Country House Brewing in England,  

1500-1900

 

Johnnae

 

On Mar 30, 2010, at 4:11 PM, Holly Stockley wrote:

<<< If you've got some interest in the topic, there's a recent thesis  

you could go looking for, as well.  It's likely in Dutch, but there  

may be an English translation available as well.   Here's the info  

from the Defense:

Date and Time: 18-11-2009 16:15

Location: Academy Building, 29 Cathedral Square, Utrecht

Researcher: Marjolein van Decks

Faculty : Faculty of Humanities

Thesis: Brewing, fires and serve. Working women in the Dutch  

beverage industry, 1500-1800

Supervisor 1: Prof. dr. AF Heerma of Voss >>>

 

 

Date: Sun, 05 Jun 2011 11:32:40 -0700

From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ginger Beer?

 

On 6/5/2011 8:14 AM, David Walddon wrote:

<<< I am making some light "beer" like recipes today for the summer season.

I have a lemon rasion recipe and a cherry "wine" recipe from  Digby.

Does anyone know if there is a ginger beer type recipe from period?

Eduardo >>>

 

Digby's 'Weak Honey Drink' (Small Mead) is in Cariadoc's _Miscellany_

(http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/drinks.html#1 ) is very like

ginger beer- more so if you increase the ginger in the recipe. Give it a

try! It comes out at about 3% alcohol, is very light and refreshing.

 

Liutgard

 

 

Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 22:17:45 -0700

From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ginger Beer?

 

<<< I am making some light "beer" like recipes today for the summer season.

I have a lemon rasion recipe and a cherry "wine" recipe from  Digby.

Does anyone know if there is a ginger beer type recipe from period?

Eduardo >>>

 

I don't know what would count as "ginger beer type." Digby's Weak

Honey Drink, which we prefer to call small mead, is a lightly

fermented drink flavored mainly with ginger.

--

David/Cariadoc

www.daviddfriedman.com

 

 

Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:40:01 -0400

From: David Chessler <chessler at usa.net>

To: "atlantia at atlantia.sca.org" <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>,

        sca-east at mail.indra.com

Cc: ebpayne at yahoo.com, patches023 at verizon.net, storvik at yahoogroups.com

Subject: [MR] An illustrated history of English beer

 

An illustrated history of English beer

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatpicturegalleries/8764910/An-illustrated-history-of-English-beer.html

Hop-pickers in Kent, 190T

Forget being a nation of tea-drinkers. There's

nothing the English like more than a pint of beer.

 

Fifteen photos with long captions. Only the first

5 or so pertain to our period, but the rest are

interesting, and some may be useful to the brewers among us.  

 

 

Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 16:40:00 -0600

From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Boiling wort was Re: Stefan's Florilegium files

        for    November

 

<<< Along those lines was the wort boiled in period before yeast were added

when making ale or beers?

Any evidence either way?

 

Magnus >>>

 

Open question about boiling the wort a second time after the mashing.

Mashing has used boiling or near boiling water since the time of the

Sumerians (reference The Hymn to Ninkasi), but boiling wort doesn't seem to

happen before 1600.

 

Why don't you try these two pages to get started.

 

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pwp/tofi/liz_brewing.html

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pwp/tofi/medieval_english_ale.html

 

You might also find Cindy Renfrow's website useful,

http://www.thousandeggs.com/links.html#Beer%20Links

 

To really find out when it starts, you probably need to reference 18th and

19th Century brewing texts until you find a starting date, then compare

comments of quality and spoilage of beer and ale over time.

 

Bear

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
All other copyrights are property of the original article and message authors.

Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org