Home brewing for a Renaissance Guild.

So my roomate decided to start a Renaissance guild and made me the guild brewer since there's only like 10 members and I'm the only that brews. I guess I have a couple questions

1. Are there any good books that relate to old school brewing techniques and materials? I did a small search and didn't find much. Just wondering if anyone knew of an excellent book.

2. I know that oak barrels/kegs are mostly used for aging beers, but is it possible to use them for a three day event where I put an already made beer (un-carbonated, of course) out for people to drink from all weekend?

Thanks for the help =] Much appreciated.

I just HAVE to know...so if you are the guild brew master and are being charged with brewing for everyone else, do you have a blacksmith/weaponsmith who is crafting arms and armor to give away? What about cloaks at the least? is there a guild chef? I just think it is nice that you be volunteered for a lot of work...

Anyways... I would look into small one gallon batches of mead(check out the JOAM/MOAM recipes), braggots, and barley wines and even apfelwine if you want to serve up uncarbed drinks from a wooden barrel with a wooden spigot at room temps.

FYI the smaller the barrel the faster the oak flavor effects what is inside it. On a 1 gallon level you are looking at a few days to "barrel age it" at best so it would probably work well for your needs...

Lol. if it were a bigger guild, there would be some people to make armor or leather workings. You could either have them help you, or buy them the material and either pay them for their time (it takes a LONG time to make a chainmaille shirt) or compensate them in some way. As for me, everyone pitches in 2-3 bucks to reimburse me for the ingredients and everyone gets to drink =]

As for the barrels, I was thinking of getting a couple 2.5 gal sizes. I'll look into those styles and see what would best fit the taste buds of the guild.

Any recommendations on books? All I can find is this site http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/brewing.html It's pretty informational but I want something I can hold in my hand and read.

I would disguise a keg to look like a barrel, or better yet; use a barrel as a draft box (hide the Corney Keg under a table).

Beer in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, awesome book. Reads a little like a college textbook, but it has tons of great information about the period.

Excellent. Thank you. That's exactly what I was looking for =]

this is the first thing that came into my head when i read this:

"Dos thus have thou a mug of ale for me and me mate, for he hath been pitched in battle for a fortnight and has the king's thirst for the frosty brew dos thou might have for thus! "

Ren faire era brews would probably taste shyte compared to a decent modern homebrew. I'd probably opt to brew a nice beer and disguise it by serving from a cask or in period drinking vessels.

Maybe do some searching for "gruit". It's herb and spice flavored beer, from before hops were commonly used.

I've got a bunch of links for the society for creative anachronism and other rennaisaince brewing websites in my Beer History sites thread.

There's also links to mbowenz's reenacting historial brewing thread....Most of those links can be found in post 7...but there's stuff throughout the thread pertaining to various timeframes, from ancient babylon to the 70'ss

Look into Real Ale for serving.

Fatt said:

Lol. if it were a bigger guild, there would be some people to make armor or leather workings. You could either have them help you, or buy them the material and either pay them for their time (it takes a LONG time to make a chainmaille shirt) or compensate them in some way.As for me, everyone pitches in 2-3 into my tip jar but everyone gets to drink for free anyway. =]

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That sounds just OK to me...chainmail may take a long time to make but a decent mead takes 6 months ish...chainmail while time consuming to make is just about as hard to do as a mead...lol. Leather is even easier to work with...I think it is neat that you are going to be a ren brewer for your buds, do not get me wrong, but I would try to maintain an even playing field. I can see a "brewer" being taken advantage of quickly. BTW I fixed the language in that last sentence and bolded it. (Remember we are not allowed to barter or sell our home brew legally, even at a ren gathering. )

Fatt said:

As for the barrels, I was thinking of getting a couple 2.5 gal sizes. I'll look into those styles and see what would best fit the taste buds of the guild.

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Strangely I had sized the barrels from your guild size, and alcohol % servings. Most of the drinks I suggested are stronger than average and are closer to wine. If you shoot for 2-4 drinks each you are looking at 2 gallons. Not enough to get blind drunk but anyone interested should have a buzz...lol.

The other reason I suggested 1 gallon is it would be quick to oak and light to carry. I am going to guess that a wood keg weighs almost as much as it's contents. With the 1 gallon size you could use a rope tied to resemble an 8 as a handle and carry 1 in each hand with little problems... 2.5 will require a lot more effort. Don't forget you need the stands and spigots too! Also, it would be easy to adjust the quantity needed for the demand at the gatherings. Once again this is just my opinion...

Fatt said:

Any recommendations on books? It's pretty informational but I want something I can hold in my hand and read.

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How about the Bible, King James Version? Most brewers in those days were monks and most of the people that could read and write were...monks or royalty. It may be fun to read a passage about drink or wine as a mini-blessing/toast.

This could also help with costume/participation. Think about how important Friar Tuck was in the Robinhood stories...There was no mention of Frank the most feared pikemen in that clan...

Well, I am about spent on my ideas. Do what you want and have fun! :rockin:

dang larpers. you should put a foam tap on the barrel so no one hurts themselves.