Historical 1890 'Cheap Beer' recipe

[nutty_gnome]

This one was interesting to me. It is listed in a cook book as a recipe for 'Cheap Beer'. Check out the recipe in the photos below: Anyone know how to make a cheaper beer?

 

[ol-hazza]

wow

 

[SyrettHomebrew]

That's a cool find. Now someone needs to try it.

 

[Hamaki]

No pea in my beer, thanks!

 

[Silentdrinker]

Anyone know how to make a cheaper beer?

No, but I bet I could get cheaper beer by hitting up all of your houses on Halloween.

 

[OmmeGerd]

No pea in my beer, thanks!

Isn't that how you make Budweiser?

http://affotd.com/2011/04/13/goose-island-urine/

 

[beerplumber]

Who drinks budweiser?

 

[lschiavo]

"1000 ways of getting rich"? I hope they didn't count that one.

Very cool old book though. I love that sort of stuff. It is interesting how different the language was.

 

[nutty_gnome]

If you read the end of the paragraph above the cheap beer recipe - you see that they recommend a low alcohol beer sourced from malt for females and invalids (presumably because they have the same constitution?). The 1890s were a wild and wooly time! If anyone is interested in the recipe, which uses malt, I can snap a pic later.

 

[unionrdr]

So, they're saying it's good for wommens, kids & sissies? Kinda funny how they had such formal usage back then, but peddled such nonsensical ravings. I'd like to see the rest of that recipe above. Might be good for a few laughs, at the least. Funny stuff.

 

[Brewernaut51]

Kinda reminds me of that "no peas in guacamole" thing from earlier this summer.

 

[brewcat]

So, they're saying it's good for wommens, kids & sissies? Kinda funny how they had such formal usage back then, but peddled such nonsensical ravings. I'd like to see the rest of that recipe above. Might be good for a few laughs, at the least. Funny stuff.

I actually don't think it is nonsensical. They are saying lower alcohol beer is better for them than tea or coffee or a higher abv. Which makes sense considering females have lower alcohol tolerance. Also this low abv wouldn't have the caffeine of coffee or tea and would work more as relaxation medicine.

Anyways, I'm curious about the wood sage and that root beer recipe (1/2 pound of good hops).

 

[unionrdr]

Here's the wiki to check out anyway; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teucrium_scorodonia

 

[Hamaki]

Kinda reminds me of that "no peas in guacamole" thing from earlier this summer.

When I was just starting out I used to make my own malt. I had a few 50 lb bags of organic barley and there were always a handful of dried peas in every batch that I picked out along with the grasshopper parts, sticks, etc. The Mrs. asked, "you don't want your beer to taste like pea?"

 

[unionrdr]

" Thank you, no". Cat " pea" even less... And some women can easily keep up with the men when it comes to drinking, my wife included. What I was getting at, mostly, is how they say it with such formal, proper grammar. All the more amusing when you know what they're saying.

 

[nutty_gnome]

Here is the malt beer recipe. Part of the 'get rich quick' seems to be instructions on how to make tons of different types of alcohol such as the foul bourbon recipe seen above the beer recipe. I'll get to the root beer images later.

 

[pvpeacock]

Isn't that how you make Budweiser?

http://affotd.com/2011/04/13/goose-island-urine/

Please don't change the subject; we are talking about beer.

 

[1977Brewer]

Here is the malt beer recipe. Part of the 'get rich quick' seems to be instructions on how to make tons of different types of alcohol such as the foul bourbon recipe seen above the beer recipe. I'll get to the root beer images later.

At least it suggest something of a mash tun and sparge process. Even if the temps are insane.

 

[unionrdr]

Yikes! Where did these people learn this insanity?

 

[brewcat]

At least it suggest something of a mash tun and sparge process. Even if the temps are insane.

Those temps could be pretty close really. Barley is much different today than 125 years ago. I'd also guess the higher temps would be to hold within range for 3 1/2 hours.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, grains weren't as well modified as today. But that's pretty long, even for a decoction mash.

 

[The_Professor]

This site has a couple lists of recipes. From the "Ohio Recipe Book of the 1820’s":

It is interesting that the recipe for "pea beer" in your later book is just below the "cheap beer" recipe in this book. Is that really bad editing?

 

[OmmeGerd]

For anyone that wants to make the strong beer recipe, a peck of malted barley weighs 8.5 lbs. Here is the five gallon version.

Ye Olde Strong Beer

American Strong Ale
All Grain*(5.00 gal)*ABV:*8.26 %
OG:*1.062 SG*FG:*1.000 SG
IBUs:*46.6*IBUs*Color:*16.4 SRM

5 Lbs 5 oz pale malt
3 lbs 12 oz brown sugar
2.5 oz hops (willamette?)
Yeast (WLP060 American ale blend?)

 

[nutty_gnome]

Here are 2 root beer recipes, a ginger beer recipe, a spruce beer recipe, and 'a cure for ropy beer'. Very interesting! Wonder how you 'rummage' a beer?

 

[nutty_gnome]

And this straightforward book gives some great advice to the ladies out there..... Their first piece of advice that the girls should desist from reading and get to work cleaning the house! Apparently reading 'unfits' them for every-day life. Sage advice indeed!

 

[nutty_gnome]

your later book is just below the "cheap beer" recipe in this book. Is that really bad editing?

I guess plagiarism was rampant in that century. There is no notation indicating they 'borrowed' the recipe from somewhere else. Its interesting to me that people drank beer made from pea shells for at least 60 years in the 1800's and thought that was a good idea.

 

[jwalk4]

I went to a brewing history talk the other week at Forest City Beer Fest put on by by Jordan St. John, a prominent beer writer in Ontario. He posited that brewing in the late Victorian era was pure vertical integration and that it was strictly done for economic gains, citing that once brewing equipment was purchased (tuns, boilers, etc.) they paid for themselves and then continued to earn a tidy profit. For those who could afford the upfront cost of commercial scale brewing, beer already WAS an easy way of making money (supposing your brewery didn't set on fire.)

Still interesting though.

 

[DogStar]

I sometimes make pea pod wine. I have a friend who grows lots of peas and he gives me bags full of empty pods. It's easy to make and has a definate vegetal aftertaste. It's an acquired taste. I've made it medium but I prefer it dry. It's much better if you throw in some fruit. I usually add a couple of bananas and whatever else I have at hand. The last batch I made was disapointing but most are OK. You have to add sugar to get it strong enough for wine.

I'm not sure what a beer made from pea pods would taste like. The recipe tells you to boil up two batches of pods in the same water. They have a lot of sugar in them so they should ferment.

When that book was written most grain based beers would have tasted sour. The pea pod beer would also have been sour. The sourness would tend to mask any differences in taste. Don't expect it to taste like modern beer.

 

[brewcat]

Well, grains weren't as well modified as today. But that's pretty long, even for a decoction mash.

Yeah maybe a little long, but as we know barley has been improved to get more fermentable sugars faster.

 

[unionrdr]

My point precisely. With so many different lovibonds of grains available now, even the need for decoctions is a mere fraction of what it used to be.

 

[Weezy]

Malted barley is cheaper than peas.

Cool find! What's the rest of that root beer recipe?

 

[nutty_gnome]

Both root beer recipes are shown in post 24 as they appear in the book.

 

[hunter_le five]

"Pea beer". Is that like Okra Mead?

Kinda reminds me of that "no peas in guacamole" thing from earlier this summer.

If anyone tries to pea in my guacamole, I will cut them.

 

[OmmeGerd]

Malted barley is cheaper than peas.

Cool find! What's the rest of that root beer recipe?

It uses the shells of peas. They would usually be a discarded by product.

 

[The_Professor]

"Pea beer". Is that like Okra Mead?



If anyone tries to pea in my guacamole, I will cut them.

Yeah, but suppose some guy ate a dozen ghost chilis and then screemed and cried the whole time he was adding the "extract" to your guac...

 

[slym2none]

Reading that "Bourbon whiskey" recipe makes me want to vomit WHILE flogging the author with a cat 'o nine tails.

 

[nutty_gnome]

There are pages more of how to occult rubbing alcohol or grain alcohol into your favorite type of 'genuine spirit'. I'll post some in a bit. I think it was the backbone of the how to get rich quick part of the book!

If you want to add some age to your beer.... grab a jar of pickles and age your beer! Also a mead recipe.

 

[nutty_gnome]

How to create the amazing specialty spirits common in the 1800s. You might actually drink yourself blind with this stuff.

 

[slym2none]

So, screw how it tastes... if you want old-looking beer, pickle it up!

Gonna vom...