Attempt at a "Historic" Norse Beor

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odinraven

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I have recently become interested in brewing an authentic as possible example of beer or "beor" brewed in Scandinavia (specifically Denmark) around 900 AD. This turned out to be a huge can of worms and doing the research was a project in and of itself. Turns out historians and archaeologists debate furiously over what was brewed, how it was brewed and what it was called (some historians think beor is actually cider not beer for example, this is by no means the only point of contention). After several headaches and reading some very poorly written yet interesting stuff on all types of fermented beverages in Medieval Scandinavia, here is what I worked out that is known:

1) Beer in this period and region used mainly malted Barley and some Rye. Other ingredients may have been used but this is where the arguments start. Other fermented beverages drank were probably rare or imported since not much else grew there worth fermenting (yes this includes mead, bees don't like cold either).

2) Hops were used for bittering, clarification, preservation and flavor but were definetly not exclusive to this task. Others included Aleshoof, Sweet Gale, Meadowort, and Juniper berries.

3) Modern brewers in the region use ingredients similar to the above to brew traditional ales and a drink called Sahti.

Now for the assumptions. First of all I figure a brewer in this period would not be pretentious about her ingredients (oh yeah, brewing was women's work back then). She would use what she had on hand to make the best ale possible. Now in this time period in Denmark they had crop rotation worked out and rotated rye with barley so a typical example would have mostly barley and a bit of rye. For bittering, preservation and flavor a mix of on-hand ingredients would be likely as well. Second, an ale during this time would be strong because part of the reason for brewing was to make "liquid bread" a long lasting, portable source of calories and nutrition. This also matches with the modern examples. Third, the malt would be imperfect (some not totally converted) and kilned over a fire imparting smoke flavors and some malt that would be brown or even black. Finally, this ale would be stored for months at a time in wooden casks so would pick up oaky flavors as it aged. So the result? A Dark Brown, cloudy-as-a-thunderstorm, alcoholic brew with spicy fruity and oak notes.

At least that's what I think it would be like and what I hope to produce with this recipe. Let me know what you think and if any improvements could be made for either flavor or authenticity. I am limited to my current equipment so please keep that in mind.

Batch Size: 4.5 Gallons

Grain bill:

8 lbs Smoked Malt
3 lbs Rye Malt
1 lb Flaked Barley
1 lb Flaked Rye
1 lb Brown Malt
4 oz Black Patent Malt

Yeast:
Notingham Ale Yeast (dry)
pitched into 1/2 Gallon starter with 1/2 lb DME the day before

Hop/Herb/Mineral additions:
1 Tbsp Gypsum (Strike Water)
1 Tsp Kosher Salt (Strike Water)
1 oz Northern Brewer Hops (60 mins)
0.25 oz Aleshoof (60 mins)
1 oz Northern Brewer Hops (30 mins)
2 oz Juniper Berries (15 mins)

Secondary:
2 oz light toast Oak Chips

Bottling:
1/4 Cup DME (Really light Carbonation)

Target OG: 1.084
Target FG: 1.020
Target ABV: 8.5%

Heat 4 Gallons water in brewpot to 180 degrees add Salt and Gypsum. Put all the grain in a Nylon mesh bag and steep for 1 hour keeping temp stable at 154-158 degrees. Remove grain, adding additional water through grain bag if needed to get 4 gallons wort and boil adding Hops, Aleshoof and Juniper berries according to schedule. Rack to primary and pitch. Ferment to completion at 60 degrees then transfer to secondary on oak and age for 2 months. Bottle with priming sugar.
 
Never heard of a "beor" but maybe its a danish thing (doesn't show up on Danish wiki though). Also, we have plenty of berries, fruits and bees here so I don't think your information is correct on that account.

That said you are probably on the right track with your recipe. Smoked malts were what was used because that was how you prepared them for brewing back then. From what I understand hops were not really used at that time, but plenty of recipes I've seen call for sweet gale and juniper berries, and honey sometimes. As you have probably seen while you researched a few traditional beers with juniper has survived to this day; gotlandsdricku and sahti. This would probably be the common mans beverage in those times. In larger towns and amongs the ruling elite I don't think the beer drunk would have been much different from those in Germany and along the Baltic coast.

Good luck with your beer, would love to hear how it turns out :D .
 
To Nanannan:

Beor is an old Norse word now totally out of use. The style (if it was a style at all, it may have been a generic word for "thing that gets me drunk") is now totally dead as far as anyone can tell. Also, I wasn't implying that there weren't any berries, fruits, or bees there, simply that it was more economical to grow grain and brew with that due to climate and the methods of the age. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

To Ølbart:

Thanks a ton for the suggestion on the malt, I will definitely use it if I can get my hands on it.

Correct on the widespread use of hops, however hop use goes WAY back (first Egyptian recipes mention it). Since hops grew wild in Denmark there is archaeological evidence of hop use in the region as early as 454 ad. Hops grew in popularity over time in that region so by the period I am shooting for use should be appropriate.

Thanks for the input!
 
Google gottsland drika. It's an old school norse drink. Tough to describe: high alcohol, smoked, sweet, juniper instead of hops, drunk while it's fermenting.
 
Sounds awesome! Why not smoke your own malt over some juniper branches and be even more authentic? :rockin: Regardless, would love to hear about the progress on this.
 
I would like to see some pictures and a description of the taste as well. Would the brew have been carbonated in this period?
 
Sounds like a good project! Looking forward to hearing the results!

BTW, I had to look up Alehoof aka Ground Ivy, Tunhoof, Gill-over-the-ground & Creeping Charlie. Where did you find some? Online or in the garden?

Good luck!
--LexusChris
 
Subscribed. Let us know on the progress on this one. I would like something in my folder for my nordic heritage....Danish and Sweedish!
 
This is from a recent BYO magazine article on Gotlandsdricka

3.3lb Smoked Malt
6.8lb Vienna Malt
.25lb Cara-Aroma
1.5lb Pale Wheat Malt
.25lb Carafa 1
.25lb Peated Malt
1.9lb Cane Sugar
4 POUNDS Juniper boughs, with berries
.19lbs Dried Juniper Berries
13AAU Perle hops @ 60 minutes
1oz Bakers yeast

Boil 2lbs of the juniper boughs in 8-9 gallons water, until the liquor turns dark brown. Cool to 180 degrees. In the MLT, put the remaining boughs over the false bottom/manifold/etc so they form a layer 2-4 inches sick.

Mash in the grist to the juniper liquor @ 1.2 qt/lb. Also add the dried juniper berries at this point. Mash 120 minutes @ 154. Runoff until appx 6.5ish gallons total, then boil 75 minutes. First hop addition at 60 minutes, add sugar at 15 minutes. Cool to appx 70 degrees, then pitch bread yeast.

Ferment in the primary for 3-5 days (article doesnt give the fermentation temp, but i'm guessing about 70-75 degrees based on my experience with bread yeast). Rack to secondary for 4-6 days, then rack to a serving vessel.

The article says that if using a keg, use just enough pressure to keep it flowing. It also states to remove pressure once a day and add a tablespoon of honey or sugar to the keg to keep it actively fermenting. If bottling, use 1/2 as much priming sugar as normal (appx .5oz of corn sugar per gallon).

***

Sounds... interesting. I'd like to know if anyone tries it.
 
To LexusChris:

on Alehoof (also known by about 20 other names)

The stuff grows everywhere. Basically as long as you are in a moderately cool or temperate climate you can find it anywhere someone hasn't taken care of their lawn meticulously. It has small fuzzy leaves, grows low to the ground and has kind of a fresh spinach and fruity aroma when bruised. Also makes an interesting tea. If you can't get it where you live (doubtful) then you can buy it online. I also harvested the juniper berries myself. :D They are curing on top of my fridge as I write this.

To NorthernBayBrewer:

on carbonation

No it wouldn't be carbonated per se but it would be cooly fermented in a cask so it would have some bubbles. Plus I like carbonation so I took some artistic license and am going to give it a very light carb.
 
This is from a recent BYO magazine article on Gotlandsdricka

3.3lb Smoked Malt
6.8lb Vienna Malt
.25lb Cara-Aroma
1.5lb Pale Wheat Malt
.25lb Carafa 1
.25lb Peated Malt
1.9lb Cane Sugar
4 POUNDS Juniper boughs, with berries
.19lbs Dried Juniper Berries
13AAU Perle hops @ 60 minutes
1oz Bakers yeast

Boil 2lbs of the juniper boughs in 8-9 gallons water, until the liquor turns dark brown. Cool to 180 degrees. In the MLT, put the remaining boughs over the false bottom/manifold/etc so they form a layer 2-4 inches sick.

Mash in the grist to the juniper liquor @ 1.2 qt/lb. Also add the dried juniper berries at this point. Mash 120 minutes @ 154. Runoff until appx 6.5ish gallons total, then boil 75 minutes. First hop addition at 60 minutes, add sugar at 15 minutes. Cool to appx 70 degrees, then pitch bread yeast.

Ferment in the primary for 3-5 days (article doesnt give the fermentation temp, but i'm guessing about 70-75 degrees based on my experience with bread yeast). Rack to secondary for 4-6 days, then rack to a serving vessel.

The article says that if using a keg, use just enough pressure to keep it flowing. It also states to remove pressure once a day and add a tablespoon of honey or sugar to the keg to keep it actively fermenting. If bottling, use 1/2 as much priming sugar as normal (appx .5oz of corn sugar per gallon).

***

Sounds... interesting. I'd like to know if anyone tries it.

Hey this sounds cool. I would like to try it but I doubt my LHBS has the specialty malts/boughs of juniper berries. Do you know good suppliers?
 
I've never actually seen the boughs for sale anywhere. They grow wild in a lot of places, so if you're going to make it, you may have to find someone to cut some and ship them to you.

A quick google search result: it looks like people use them for making wreaths for xmas. Maybe a craft store like Micheal's could special order some for you
 
I am very interested in how this turned out.

The gotlandsdricka seems fairly similar to sahti (except with sahti there is no boil, and you filter the mash through the juniper branches). I plan on trying to make a sahti here in a few weeks, but I was thinking I liked the idea of mashing the branches instead of filtering through them.
 
Around here, and I assume just about everywhere in the US, Juniper was used extensively for landscaping. It is ugly, grows like crazy, and is really hard to remove. Charlie Papazian ran into the juniper boughs being used in the mash tun to help lauter on several occasions in Europe, particularly Sweden IIRC. And the juniper smoked malt was prevalent.
 
Another thing to consider is that bere was probably the barley variant used at the time so if you were able to get any of that, it would be a good tip towards authenticity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bere_(grain)

Valhalla brewery on Shetland have a bere ale brewed as an acknowledgement of the island's Norse past. Finding bere off Shetland and Orkney may be an issue though....

BrewingTV did a video last month about a traditional, un-boiled sahti using juniper twigs in the mash. I wonder if this technique would be appropriate, I can see the benefits of not expending the fuel to keep the pot at a boil for 60 minutes if there's not a lot of firewood available in the frozen north.
 
Subscribed! I am very interested in the results. Makes me wish I got out hiking this summer to collect the juniper branches and berries for a Sahti I had planned. Always next summer! Until then I will live vicariously through this thread.
 
Total n00b question here, but.... Where did they get the yeast from? Was the wort just left in an open vat until wild yeast floating through the air landed in it and started fermentation?
 
We are brewing a very similar recipe tonight. Our first try at Brew-in-a-bag.

Grains:

8 lbs Smoked Malt
3 lbs Rye Malt
1 lb Honey Malt
1 lb Brown Malt
1 lb Flaked Barley
4 oz Black Patent Malt

We live in Southeastern Michigan, our water is really excellent so we saw no reason to include the gypsum or salt.

1 oz Northern Brewer Hops (60 min)
1 oz Northern Brewer Hops (30 min)
2 oz Juniper Berries (15 min)*

*We cracked the berries open with a rolling pin before using them, trying to get more flavor out of them as they were dried berries.

We just loaded it into a 6 gallon carboy for primary fermentation, and plan to add the light toast oak chips in two weeks when we transfer to the secondary.

At bottling, we will be using the full amount of priming sugar typical of modern brews, because we like carbonation too.

I'll be sure to post more updates in the coming weeks. :)
 
So I brewed my Sahti a few weeks back and it's sitting around for a bit in the keg before I tap it (not really to style, but it had a hot alcohol flavor to it), hopefully it turns out well. However, I probably will never boil the branches again, it left a ring of sap on my pot that will not come off. No amount of scrubbing is getting anything off.
 
SkiNuke said:
So I brewed my Sahti a few weeks back and it's sitting around for a bit in the keg before I tap it (not really to style, but it had a hot alcohol flavor to it), hopefully it turns out well. However, I probably will never boil the branches again, it left a ring of sap on my pot that will not come off. No amount of scrubbing is getting anything off.

Use some rubbing alcohol or cheap vodka and a scotchbrite pad. It'll come off.
 
Oh my goodness, oh my damn.

At bottling we sampled. It's a beautiful, deep amber color, balanced spicy rye aroma. Juniper adds so much more than I expected. Full synopsis and pictures in a few weeks once it's fully carbed. Sneak peek leads me to believe it will be one of our best brews yet.
 
RiotBeer what's the verdict on this one? Is it worth a try?

I greatly enjoyed this beer. We received a 31 for bjcp category "other smoked beer" with suggestion to have entered in a slightly different category. I can post a PDF of the judges synopsis when I get home. I highly recommend this brew.
 
bottlebomber said:
Use some rubbing alcohol or cheap vodka and a scotchbrite pad. It'll come off.

I betcha acetone nail polish remover would work better than an alcohol.
 
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