Any historical beer recipes?

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riromero

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I'm looking for some recipes for beers from history. I read that one of the staple foods for transatlantic trips to colonial America was beer because it didn't spoil and was nutritious. Evidently this beer was unhopped. I was thinking it might be fun to make some beers from history and it would be nice to have a recipe rather than just guesswork. Any ideas?
 
i think i actually saw an ancient egyptian recipe, taken from heiroglyphs, on this board a few years back. maybe that is too old for you...but i will bet that there are recipes from our founding fathers out there somewhere if you have the perseverance to look for them.

here is the link to Thomas Jefferson's recipe:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/thomas-jefferson-ale-94598/
 
Lithia Beer West Bend, WI
This beer is from my hometown, I'm not sure if you can track down a recipe though. The small Riverside Brewery/Restaurant in the Downtown area currently has a revisited version of this on tap. Tastes like a fuller bodied American Lager
 
riromero said:
I'm looking for some recipes for beers from history. I read that one of the staple foods for transatlantic trips to colonial America was beer because it didn't spoil and was nutritious. Evidently this beer was unhopped. I was thinking it might be fun to make some beers from history and it would be nice to have a recipe rather than just guesswork. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

You've just hit on my favorite subject. :D

The Pilgrims didn't land at Plymouth because it was nice. They were aiming for Virginia. They landed at Plymouth because "...our victualls, being much spente, especially our Beere[...]" In fact, the Royal Navy experimented with malt extract in the 17th century; wort boiled to a paste consistency, meant to be reconstituted with fresh water in the West Indies and fermented aboard ship. Didn't work out, thankfully, otherwise they'd never have invented grog.

Trust me - that beer was hopped. Beer - that is, malt beverage brewed wit hops - was the dominant malt beverage in Europe at that time, and had been since the 14th century. There were pockets of ale - unbittered malt beverage - being brewed in backwater areas of the United Kingdom well into the 19th century, but that was a very, very isolated incidence.

I have a wide range of ideas for you. What are you looking to do? Redact a period recipe to see how it stacks up against what we think of as beer today? I can help you, but you've got to narrow it down, man! :)

Bob
 
This is one of my favorite topic there is. I have done a handful of American throwback recipes...the most popular were the Kentucky Common and the Pre-prohibition Pilsner. As a matter of fact, I am brewing a historical porter tomorrow that should be a good representation of the Industrial era porters. I am even going to add a bit of Brett and wood to recreate the extended aging.
 
I'd be very interested in your historical porter recipe, Tonedef.

History and brewing - what can be better?
 
flyangler18 said:
I'd be very interested in your historical porter recipe, Tonedef.

History and brewing - what can be better?
Click to expand...
I am always hesitant to give out recipes before I have tasted them since that is far more important than and accurate grain inventory. I actually can't remember it exactly right now but I will check it when I get home...I will tell you that it contains generous portions of amber and brown malt with a bit of treacle. I will be using the Brett C. strain that Wyeast is offering presently.
 
get the book, "Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers". There are some interesting recipes in there, I chose to brew a Purl Ale that is bittered with wormwood instead of hops. It came out Awesome! Good Luck in your search, keep us posted with what you do.

Eastside
 
Tonedef131 said:
I am always hesitant to give out recipes before I have tasted them since that is far more important than and accurate grain inventory. I actually can't remember it exactly right now but I will check it when I get home...I will tell you that it contains generous portions of amber and brown malt with a bit of treacle. I will be using the Brett C. strain that Wyeast is offering presently.
Click to expand...

No worries, I'll likely scale it down to a 3 gallon experimental batch.
 
NQ3X said:
Mind that modern Amber and Brown malts are NOT the Amber and Brown malts used in 18th/19th century Porter. Completely different animal.
Click to expand...
Correct, this is the first time making this one and it's going to take some tweaking to hit the right flavor profile. The one thing I am not going for is the smokey porter. I basically built this recipe as a platform to jump from.
 
I just read this book:
Radical Brewing.com

He had some great insights into the mechanics of historic recipes.

He is a bit of a snob when it comes to choice of hops (hates high alpha hops) but otherwise I thought it was a useful and entertaining book.
 
I picked up a copy of "early american beverages" at a used bookstore. Just on the quick leaf through there were some great recipes. Once I finish the book I'm on, it's next on the list.

B
 
Wow, I hit the motherload evidently. I suppose that I'd like to go back as far as possible while still remaining reasonably accurate. I prefer something radically different than modern beer; that's why an unhopped recipe sounded interesting but sounds like I'd have to go back to the dark ages. Or maybe some other bittering/flavoring agent instead of hops? I think a one gallon batch would be best in case it turned out foul.

NQ3X said:
You've just hit on my favorite subject. :D

The Pilgrims didn't land at Plymouth because it was nice. They were aiming for Virginia. They landed at Plymouth because "...our victualls, being much spente, especially our Beere[...]" In fact, the Royal Navy experimented with malt extract in the 17th century; wort boiled to a paste consistency, meant to be reconstituted with fresh water in the West Indies and fermented aboard ship. Didn't work out, thankfully, otherwise they'd never have invented grog.

Trust me - that beer was hopped. Beer - that is, malt beverage brewed wit hops - was the dominant malt beverage in Europe at that time, and had been since the 14th century. There were pockets of ale - unbittered malt beverage - being brewed in backwater areas of the United Kingdom well into the 19th century, but that was a very, very isolated incidence.

I have a wide range of ideas for you. What are you looking to do? Redact a period recipe to see how it stacks up against what we think of as beer today? I can help you, but you've got to narrow it down, man! :)

Bob
Click to expand...
 
riromero said:
Wow, I hit the motherload evidently. I suppose that I'd like to go back as far as possible while still remaining reasonably accurate. I prefer something radically different than modern beer; that's why an unhopped recipe sounded interesting but sounds like I'd have to go back to the dark ages. Or maybe some other bittering/flavoring agent instead of hops? I think a one gallon batch would be best in case it turned out foul.
Click to expand...

Hit Flyangler's first post in this thread. That's an excellent discussion of typical medieval unhopped ale.

And for the record, it's not the Dark Ages. Shortly - I don't want to bore you - it turns out the Dark Ages never really existed. Certainly Europe was vibrant and exciting when ale was being consumed in the 13th and 14th centuries!

For various bittering herbs besides hops, test your Search-fu on "gruit herbs".

For a hopped beer that's historical, hit the King Henry's Sengyll in my drop-down.

Bob
 
This is exactly what I was looking for. Medieval unhopped ale it will be. Thanks.

And I was just joking about the Dark Ages. I got onto this latest jag after reading, "Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages" by J. and F. Gies which was fascinating. Now I'm in the middle of the older, "Medieval Technology and Social Change" by Lynn White which is pretty good too. Again, thanks for the many thoughtful responses.


NQ3X said:
Hit Flyangler's first post in this thread. That's an excellent discussion of typical medieval unhopped ale.

And for the record, it's not the Dark Ages. Shortly - I don't want to bore you - it turns out the Dark Ages never really existed. Certainly Europe was vibrant and exciting when ale was being consumed in the 13th and 14th centuries!

For various bittering herbs besides hops, test your Search-fu on "gruit herbs".

For a hopped beer that's historical, hit the King Henry's Sengyll in my drop-down.

Bob
Click to expand...
 
flyangler18 said:
Found it on Amazon this morning and ordered. Woot!
Click to expand...

The book arrived this morning; all recipes are formulated for 1 gallon so some redaction is necessary. I found it easiest to calculate the percentages of each malt to the total grist and adjust to a 5 gallon batch if so desired.

I simply must make the Whitbread London Porter! Time to toast some Maris Otter to make brown malt. :D
 
giligson said:
I just read this book:
Radical Brewing.com

He had some great insights into the mechanics of historic recipes.

He is a bit of a snob when it comes to choice of hops (hates high alpha hops) but otherwise I thought it was a useful and entertaining book.
Click to expand...

I made the Kotbusser out of that book and smurfing loved it. It helped that "my people" left that area right about the same time Bavaria joined the German Empire.
 
nq3x or other beer historian... I'm doing an article for a local paper on a brewery built in 1870 in Montgomery County, IA. by a man Charles Steinbrecher. By 1880 he was converting about 3,000 bushel of barley a near. Business was good, but the anti-saloon movement came to town and the brewery was destroyed by fire of suspicious origin. Questions-
(1) based on recipes he would likely have used how many barrels or gallons would 3,000 bu translate to? (easily figured by today's recipes, but I suspect they used more barley per gallon then)
(2) might you have encounter the Steinbrecher name in your readings?
(3) any idea who set the fire? (question 3 is a joke, but I don't know the symbol to use)
 
Here's a neat link with some info you can chew on. Two bushels of malt, two pounds of hops and 54 Imperial gallons of liquor translate to 3 kilderkins of beer. One kilderkin equals 18 Imperial gallons. 1 Imperial gallon equals 1.2 US gallons. 1 US barrel (bbl) equals 31 US gallons.

Thus:

18*3=54 Imperial Gallons
54*1.2=64.8 US Gallons
64.8/31=2.09 US bbl

So, 2 bushels of malt and two pounds of hops netted 2.09 bbl of beer, or 1.045bbl per bushel.

Thus:

3,000*1.045=3,135bbl

Note that's just one formula based on one recipe. The only way to know for certain is to know how many bushels he used per bbl. Another source nets 5bbl from 8 bushels. Here's another good resource dated 1909.

I have not encountered the name (until now!).

Good luck,

Bob
 
This is such a cool post. Me and my brew partner were thinking about brewing a special Founding Fathers line of beers. Many books I have read and shows I have watched allude to the fact that many of the founding fathers recipes are in the Library of Congress. I am unsure if you would be able to access these through their website or not but it might be worth a try.

Let me know if anyone finds a recipe with any American Historical value. I would love to try it.
 
This is a great thread. I have a different question - although still about historical brews.

What were folks doing back in the 11th century? Specifically, 11th century in Russia? I want to recreate an alcoholic beverage of the time for an art\sci project, and can't find anything to even start with.

Any brewstorians have any ideas or places to start?
 
qbst said:
What were folks doing back in the 11th century? Specifically, 11th century in Russia? I want to recreate an alcoholic beverage of the time for an art\sci project, and can't find anything to even start with.
Click to expand...

What you are looking for is Kvass. It is a slightly alcoholic beverage made from fermented bread. It's very old (old church slavonic) and is actually pretty tasty.
 

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