Brewing non standard styles of beer?

[bernardsmith]

Are there any groups of home brewers that are as interested in brewing as they are in brewing classic styles of beer? I am fascinated by traditional and indigenous beers brewed in Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria or South America or??? Does anyone know of any groups of like-minded brewers?

 

[unionrdr]

Well, some of us are getting together on here to brew the extinct German kottbusser. It goes back to 1500 at least. I've just about nailed the rare dampfbier. Seems to me there's some other beers from Africa & the islands floating around here somewhere?...

 

[bernardsmith]

Thanks, unionrdr. I guess my question was more about whether there was a group of similarly minded brewers who might have formed (or would be interested in forming) a discussion group or forum around the topic of traditional/folk/ancient/indigenous beers.

 

[unionrdr]

That does seem to be the gist of it. so far, I'm finding the rare or extinct beer styles of some countries/regions to be quite easy drinking. The craft beer market is just starting to shift toward more sessionable, easy drinking styles. So some of these we're working on tend that way. Might be a cool new forum idea?! :rockin:

 

[myerstyson]

@bernardsmith, try going into the Forum questions forum (up there at the top) and ask @Austin to create a forum for this. I asked for a Homebrew Media forum (to do book reviews) and he created it for us.

If you go in there and request that, I'll go in and second your request. I'd love to do a Tej one day.

 

[unionrdr]

I think a forum for Traditional/Ancient beers would be a good thing as we home brewers delve into Terra Incognita...:rockin:

 

[azscoob]

Well, some of us are getting together on here to brew the extinct German kottbusser. It goes back to 1500 at least. I've just about nailed the rare dampfbier. Seems to me there's some other beers from Africa & the islands floating around here somewhere?...

Care to share your Dampfbier recipe? I have brewed mine a few times and would like to compare notes

 

[unionrdr]

I was thinking of adding it to my drop-down list. I got the color & flavors down pretty good too. Guess it has been a while since I've added any recipes. This one is a rare German style, after all.

 

[Tin4]

What would I call it?

 

[unionrdr]

OK, I entered the recipe under "specialty beers". Use my drop-down recipe list to go straight to it. This is my version two of the recipe. I originally started with the AG recipe from BYO converted to PM. but their's has the wrong color & yeast listed from my historical studies. My recipe is closer to that described & shown here; http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Dampfbier.html
*How about Traditional/Ancient Beers?

 

[Broham1]

What would I call it?

Maybe "Historical Recipes" or "Brewing History"

 

[bernardsmith]

Maybe "Historical Recipes" or "Brewing History"

or World Brewing? My preference would be that historical brews would be a subset of the discussion and not the universe of it. T'ella is made today. Kumis (a wine made from milk) is made today (it's actually quite tasty - I make mine from cow's milk but traditionally it is made from mare's milk.

 

[unionrdr]

Idk, World Brewing just sounds like beers of the world. Not bad but not all-encompassing either. How about " Traditional Beers Around the World"?

 

[HawleyFarms]

Historical Brews? I am definitely in. I have some medieval type meads working right now. Took me forever to find good recipes. Ended up talking to some people who do medieval revival. And I'm not talking LARPer's either. These people literally eat, sleep and live in the time period. Also have some older ale recipes too from 1500s but they're almost impossible to understand let alone brew. I don't think it should be limited to brews either. I'd be interested in seeing old handed down rumtopf and ratafia recipes too!

 

[Broham1]

Idk, World Brewing just sounds like beers of the world. Not bad but not all-encompassing either. How about " Traditional Beers Around the World"?

Except, that would be *too* all-encompassing. That title covers BJCP 1-19. The point of adding a sub-forum is *because* you want more specificity.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

What would I call it?

Birra Incognita

 

[bernardsmith]

I dunno... Thinking about Bouza or Busaa or Shakparo (the authentic version) ... I don't know that these fit BJCP models...

 

[unionrdr]

Well, if Traditional beers around the world is too all-encompassing & historic styles is too exclusive, then?...Unusual Beer styles? Lost Beers of the World?

 

[pdxal]

How about "Traditional or Historic Beers" forum?

 

[unionrdr]

^ This sounds pretty good. Darn close anyway?...

 

[Teromous]

Well, if Traditional beers around the world is too all-encompassing & historic styles is too exclusive, then?...Unusual Beer styles? Lost Beers of the World?

I agree with the comments leaning toward a "Historical Brewing" type of title. If it has a title like "Unusual Brewing" or something similar, you will probably end up getting a lot of chocolate apple-wood smoked pilsner brewing threads (unless that is what you want). We get a lot of these threads about Sahti, Dampfbier, Chicha, early IPA's, etc that would be good in their own sub-forum. If a person is interested in one type of historical beer it is likely that they would be interested in making another historical recipe. If they don't know the names of these beers or techniques it makes it harder for them to search for a thread if they don't know where to start. Aggregating historical brewing recipes and techniques would make it easier for them to quickly browse the titles and try something new.

 

[unionrdr]

That's what I've been alluding to. Not just someplace to describe the latest boogie hooch discovered in some obscure place. Although historical ones have their place of course. I just think the name should reflect the real underlying ideals & not just some thread to talk about odd batches of hooch or something.

 

[Brad2287]

I think "Uncommon Historical Beers" or something similar would work. This excludes the hooch type beers while also staying away from the classic styles.

 

[unionrdr]

That's not a bad idea either!

 

[azscoob]

How about obscure historical beers?

It's interesting that when I was looking into the history while developing my dampfbier and roggenbier that there are literally hundreds of beers that went extinct when the purity law went into effect.

Possibly call it extinct beer styles?

 

[HawleyFarms]

I have to say, I am definitely thinking something along the line of "Traditional and Historical Brews". It would definitely keep some of the 'strange brew' threads out. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for something like this in the forum.

 

[unionrdr]

Traditional & Historical Styles sound good to everyone?

 

[bernardsmith]

I am OK with this although I would like to put on the table two alternative titles which for me, at least , carry a richer idea:

1. Ethno-brewing. A word which anthropologists would use for the way that beer is/was in fact brewed in ways that don't necessarily follow BJCP styles and standards or 2. Folk brewing - which carries the same connotation - brews that don't necessarily fit a recognized "style"...

 

[unionrdr]

I am OK with this although I would like to put on the table two alternative titles which for me, at least , carry a richer idea:

1. Ethno-brewing. A word which anthropologists would use for the way that beer is/was in fact brewed in ways that don't necessarily follow BJCP styles and standards or 2. Folk brewing - which carries the same connotation - brews that don't necessarily fit a recognized "style"...

Good points. sounds like we're definitely getting it whittled down. This thread could be great stuff for my 2nd home brewing book I was just writing more of a bit ago.I'm going to put some of the Kottbusser recipes in it, as I've already written some of the associated history of these old beers.
Ethno-brewing is close. Folk brewing connotates gruit ales to me. Although rather descriptive of the hausfrau's that brewed the beer for German families hundreds of years ago. Trying to think of another word for ethnic/folk brewing? Ethnic folk styles...an all-encompassing word for them?

 

[pdxal]

I am OK with this although I would like to put on the table two alternative titles which for me, at least , carry a richer idea:

1. Ethno-brewing. A word which anthropologists would use for the way that beer is/was in fact brewed in ways that don't necessarily follow BJCP styles and standards or 2. Folk brewing - which carries the same connotation - brews that don't necessarily fit a recognized "style"...

Both good ideas.
There are a lot of beers brewed around the world associated with a specific area or group of people, and some version of the word "ethnic" would fit. Folk brewing might evoke historic but not current beers, though, and might carry connotations of European beers and not beers from the rest of the world.

 

[bernardsmith]

"Gruit" ales might be part of this section. The T'alle beer I have in my fermenter at the moment uses kitel (gesho leaves) as the bittering hop (and indeed technically, as the source of some of the yeast when brewed traditionally in northern Ethiopia - the other yeast - I think - are wild yeasts but I used belle saison)

 

[GrogNerd]

new BJCP style guidelines have a new category 27. Historical Beer

The Historical Beer category contains styles that either have all but died out in modern times, or that were much more popular in past times and are known only through recreations. This category can also be used for traditional or indigenous beers of cultural importance within certain countries. Placing a beer in the historical category does not imply that it is not currently being produced, just that it is a very minor style or perhaps is in the process of rediscovery by craft brewers.
Entry Instructions: The entrant must either specify a style with a BJCP-supplied description, or provide a similar description for the judges of a different style. If a beer is entered with just a style name and no description, it is very unlikely that judges will understand how to judge it. Currently defined examples: Gose, Piwo Grodziskie, Lichtenhainer, Roggenbier, Sahti, Kentucky Common, Pre-Prohibition Lager, Pre-Prohibition Porter, London Brown Ale.

 

[BrewBrains]

Reviving this thread...Got fed up with all the various carbohydrates that are going to waste in my household and decided to mimic what I have read concerning the ancient Egyptians' brewing practices and turn bread into beer... I think they may have called it "Bouza, " or at least this is the name for a traditional north African kind of brew. Did a BIAB yesterday and boiled some fruits with it. In any case, here are some pics of the grist. Fermenting away already. May add some spices like ginger or cinnamon to balance it out later depending on the flavor. Employing hop bitterness would not ring true to "style"? Any ideas appreciated.

BOB's BOUZA
Historical Beer - Other (27 )
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 3.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.24 gal
Boil Time: 45 min
End of Boil Vol: 4.18 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 2.55 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Est Original Gravity: 1.081 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.6 %
Bitterness: 0.0 IBUs
Est Color: 8.4 SRM
Mash Name: Temp mash, BIAB
Est Mash PH: 5.69
Measured Mash PH: 5.30
Date: 06 Jan 2018
Equipment: Pot 5Gal/) - BIAB
Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 93.6 %
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3 lbs Bread, stale, rye and brioche and butterbread (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 30.6 %
1 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.2 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 3 10.2 %
1 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 4 10.2 %
1 lbs bananas (3.0 SRM) Grain 5 10.2 %
1 lbs prunes and currants (3.0 SRM) Grain 6 10.2 %
8.0 oz dates, dried (3.0 SRM) Grain 7 5.1 %
8.0 oz Brown Sugar, Light (8.0 SRM) Sugar 8 5.1 %
4.0 oz Maltodextrin (3.0 SRM) Sugar 9 2.6 %
4.0 oz Molasses (80.0 SRM) Sugar 10 2.6 %
0.50 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 11 -
0.60 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 5.0 mins) Other 12 -
1.0 pkg CBC-1 (Lallemand/Danstar #-) Yeast 13 -
4.8 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 14 3.1 %
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Measured Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Calories: 217.3 kcal/12oz
Mash Profile
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs 12.8 oz
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Target Mash PH: 5.20:
Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 10.63 qt of water at 163.3 F 155.0 F 75 min
Notes
Boiled in bag bananas, currants, prunes
rehydrated cbc-1, bubbling in 6 hrs.
Created with BeerSmith

 

[BrewBrains]

Oh yes, and those indeed are rice krispies and blue corn flakes in the photo also.