What does this recipe make? (Grandpa's mystery brew)

[Roxana Lopez]

I found an old recipe of my grandfather's that I'm trying to identify. This would have been typed by him back in the 1920s. People have told me it's beer, or maybe a mash that needs distilling instructions, and another said it's a mead made with sugar (based on the ferment time). If it helps, my grandfather was from the Azores, and they used to have large gatherings of local Portuguese families in this area. I'm just guessing this would have been made for events like that. I did not know my grandfather to drink any hard liquor, and only his own homemade wine on occasion. There's no way he was running white lightening during the depression. He wasn't that kind of guy. With all of that background, does anyone have a definitive answer for me? I'm attaching the recipe.

 

[day_trippr]

I see what appear to be instructions on the back. How about posting a picture of that side for context?

I doubt any mead brewer would allow this recipe. Looks more like prison hooch without the raisins

Cheers!

 

[Roxana Lopez]

The other side is different recipes. This side is all there is to the "mystery brew." How did you get that to flip, anyway? I hope the way I posted the photo is not backward to any of you. It looked right to me.

 

[day_trippr]

No - your post was fine, I just noticed the mirrored text on the back and suspected it was related.
Which - it could be - even if it's not the same recipe it might help understand your mystery brew.
I copied your image into an editor, mirrored it, and pasted it back into the edit pane, fwiw...

Cheers!

 

[killian]

Seems a bit odd, it would be a fairly thin weak alcoholic concoction it doesn’t sound very appealing to me.

Are you going to try making it?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Looks like Prohibition Moonshine makings to me.

 

[Roxana Lopez]

No - your post was fine, I just noticed the mirrored text on the back and suspected it was related.
Which - it could be - even if it's not the same recipe it might help understand your mystery brew.
I copied your image into an editor, mirrored it, and pasted it back into the edit pane, fwiw...

Cheers!

On the flip side are 3 other recipes. Here's a quick snapshot.

 

[Roxana Lopez]

Seems a bit odd, it would be a fairly thin weak alcoholic concoction it doesn’t sound very appealing to me.

Are you going to try making it?

No, I don't plan to make it. Just curious. If I can pin it down, I'd add a pencil note to it for sharing with the cousins. Everyone's curious about it.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Looks like 87 octane to me.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Do the math of % and knock it down to 5 gallons and try it once the numbers are more manageable.

 

[bpgreen]

This is just a semi-educated guess, but my guess is that the Fletcher's Malt is a hopped malt extract.

A number of breweries sold extract in the baking section of grocery stores during prohibition. If you sent a letter to the address on the label, they'd send you a recipe booklet. Then a short time later, a plain envelope with no return address would arrive with instructions on how to brew beer with the extract.

One company that did this is Pabst. They basically created a new company for their extracts. It still exists as premier malt. I know their prehopped extract was still being sold in a handful of grocery stores about 10 years ago (none near me, but I read about it), but I don't know if they still sell that way. I think there are some threads on HBT about premier malt.

1 gallon of liquid malt extract is roughly 12 lbs. Plugging those ingredients into BeerSmith (using S-04 as the yeast, since BeerSmith doesn't have Fletchers for some reason) says it would end up between 6.7 and 8.1% ABV (depending on whether you use 50 or 60 gallons of water). I don't know where it would end up with the Fletchers yeast.

That recipe is getting about 80% of its fermentables from table sugar and only 20% from malt, so it probably wasn't really great beer, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Here is a link to premier malt's history: http://www.premiermalt.com/our.history.html

Here's a link to a story about how breweries survived prohibition:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-some-breweries-survived-prohibition-180962754/

Prohibition agents tried to ban the sale of extract, but courts ruled that since it could be used for food, it was legal. Until 2009 in Utah, homebrewing was technically illegal, but it was completely legal to buy, sell, own, etc all of the ingredients and equipment to make beer. Malt extract can be used for baking (in fact, my LHBS told me that some of their biggest customers for LME are bakeries), yeast is obviously also used in baking. Hops can be used for tea. I can think of a lot of different uses for buckets, carboys, etc.

 

[fragged]

Sugar shine, and about as simple as shine gets. Keep in mind, distillation is a far different process than our simple beer making. Hell, some of the stronger beers have a higher og than what some use for distillation. They process it multiple times to concentrate it. The initial portion of the process is identical to beer though, until the end of the first fermentation.

That's probably on the edge of what we can discuss here, HTH.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Fletcher's made otc preparations (castoria) and baking products among other things. It is possible that the syrup was hopped. Here are a few images I found, perhaps signs of the times. I'd say the fermenting time was not for a "mead".

 

[bpgreen]

View attachment 566554 View attachment 566555 Fletcher's made otc preparations (castoria) and baking products among other things. It is possible that the syrup was hopped. Here are a few images I found, perhaps signs of the times. I'd say the fermenting time was not for a "mead".

Notice the big wink?

As an aside:
TheThreeStooges088BeerBarrelPolecats1946CurlyLarryMoeDaBaron17m38s

 

[johnstod]

This king of thing could be worth quite a bit of money to some people. I would love to see what else is in it

 

[johnstod]

On the flip side are 3 other recipes. Here's a quick snapshot.

It seems that blackberry cordial was used for treating diarrhea

 

[Nokt]

Look similar to what my Dad used to make beer. I still have some in bottles. He's been gone for few years now.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Looks like the making of a kit and kilo style drink.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

I’m thinking it would the the start of a pretty big batch of moonshine. It certainly doesn’t sound too attractive a drink right out of the barrel

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Notice the big wink?

I can only imagine how bad hoppy baked goods would taste.

 

[major.noms]

But... where are the hops? NO HAZE, NO CARE. (probably a shine recipe, if I had to bet on it)

 

[bpgreen]

But... where are the hops? NO HAZE, NO CARE. (probably a shine recipe, if I had to bet on it)

The hops are in the extract.

 

[pepindavid]

I'm thinking it's missing an instruction line (on purpose, likely):
"Run the wash twice through the ******, and discard the first ounce", or something like that.

 

[major.noms]

The hops are in the extract.

I know, I was making a reference to New England IPA fans.

 

[Roxana Lopez]

It seems that blackberry cordial was used for treating diarrhea

Yes. Who knew!? hahaha

 

[Roxana Lopez]

This king of thing could be worth quite a bit of money to some people. I would love to see what else is in it

If you mean the recipes, this is all I found. They were pasted inside grandma's White House Cookbook, dated 1928.

 

[Roxana Lopez]

The hops are in the extract.

I don't brew, never have, and don't plan to. But... can you ferment beer in just 6 days?

 

[bpgreen]

I don't brew, never have, and don't plan to. But... can you ferment beer in just 6 days?

You can, but that doesn't necessarily mean you should. There are a lot of variables, like how much yeast is used, the temperature, etc that can ferment a batch faster. I suspect the "large cake" of yeast in the recipe probably has enough to do the job quickly.

 

[fredthecat]

This thread got interesting. What a world where a government banned people from letting fermentation happen

 

[madscientist451]

Interesting to look back at historical tidbits. The volume and the ingredients say to me that the "brew" was for distilling. That amount of fermented corn sugar is going to taste pretty nasty after 6 days of fermenting. But distilled, its a different animal.
Thanks for posting.

 

[fizzix]

I'm a distiller and find the malt to be a yeast nutrient.
My calculations for 50 lbs. sugar in 55 gallons of water would equal about 6%.
Distilling that out would make a nice potent moonshine for diluting down to ~40% ABV.
Slightly sweet with a sugar "bite", but a nice drink. Aging in a barrel would give the impression of a tasty whiskey.
Similar recipes exist for use today. Some classics never die.

 

[Roxana Lopez]

I'm a distiller and find the malt to be a yeast nutrient.
My calculations for 50 lbs. sugar in 55 gallons of water would equal about 6%.
Distilling that out would make a nice potent moonshine for diluting down to ~40% ABV.
Slightly sweet with a sugar "bite", but a nice drink. Aging in a barrel would give the impression of a tasty whiskey.
Similar recipes exist for use today. Some classics never die.

Thanks for your insight.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I don't brew, never have, and don't plan to. But... can you ferment beer in just 6 days?

You can ferment beer in 2 days.

Check BYO's Bonneville Speed Brew recipe. Brewed on Sunday, served on Saturday. I've made a number of these over the years.

The recipe says to keg on Wed, but that batch got diacetyl since the yeast didn't have enough time to clean up after itself. Now when I make this I don't keg until Friday. Never had another diacetyl issue after that.

 

[Roxana Lopez]

You can ferment beer in 2 days.

Check BYO's Bonneville Speed Brew recipe. Brewed on Sunday, served on Saturday. I've made a number of these over the years.

The recipe says to keg on Wed, but that batch got diacetyl since the yeast didn't have enough time to clean up after itself. Now when I make this I don't keg until Friday. Never had another diacetyl issue after that.

Thank you.

 

[bpgreen]

A number of people have pointed out that this would be a good candidate for distilling, but the recipe doesn't call for distilling.

I think this is a recipe for beer.

I know we now usually try to keep simple sugars low and malt content high. But this recipe is similar to other recipes for beer during prohibition. A little hopped malt, a lot of sugar, some yeast, and time.

I think we now usually try to keep simple sugars below about 25% of fermentables, unlike the ~80% in this recipe.

But we have lots of options. During prohibition, people didn't have lots of options. They did what they could with what they had.

Beer.

Not good beer, but beer.

 

[Miraculix]

A number of people have pointed out that this would be a good candidate for distilling, but the recipe doesn't call for distilling.

I think this is a recipe for beer.

I know we now usually try to keep simple sugars low and malt content high. But this recipe is similar to other recipes for beer during prohibition. A little hopped malt, a lot of sugar, some yeast, and time.

I think we now usually try to keep simple sugars below about 25% of fermentables, unlike the ~80% in this recipe.

But we have lots of options. During prohibition, people didn't have lots of options. They did what they could with what they had.

Beer.

Not good beer, but beer.

I really would like to try one of those brews. I cannot imagine how this would taste. Maybe I will brew a gallon of this at one point, just to satisfy the curiosity

 

[ewrzesinski]

Shine. Definitely not for beer, as the mostly corn sugar grain bill would produce a cidery and thin alcoholic drink. This was meant to be distilled.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Roxana Lopez]

A number of people have pointed out that this would be a good candidate for distilling, but the recipe doesn't call for distilling.

I think this is a recipe for beer.

I know we now usually try to keep simple sugars low and malt content high. But this recipe is similar to other recipes for beer during prohibition. A little hopped malt, a lot of sugar, some yeast, and time.

I think we now usually try to keep simple sugars below about 25% of fermentables, unlike the ~80% in this recipe.

But we have lots of options. During prohibition, people didn't have lots of options. They did what they could with what they had.

Beer.

Not good beer, but beer.

Just knowing my grandfather, I tend to agree with you. I never knew him to drink hard liquor, and I am 100% positive he would not have been selling liquor during prohibition. It was meant for home or family use, without a doubt. He lived in a place by the beach -- actually moved his family to a 1 room vacation cabin there during the Depression. Mom told me that house had a boat house/garage under the house, and that when they helped grandpa move out of there they dug up lots of bottles of wine and port being stored in the sand of the boat house. No hard liquor. So, I think you are right. Beer made for large gatherings, is my guess.

 

[Roxana Lopez]

I really would like to try one of those brews. I cannot imagine how this would taste. Maybe I will brew a gallon of this at one point, just to satisfy the curiosity

Oh, I would be so excited if you would actually make this recipe, and give us a definitive answer. haha.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Just knowing my grandfather, I tend to agree with you. I never knew him to drink hard liquor, and I am 100% positive he would not have been selling liquor during prohibition. It was meant for home or family use, without a doubt. He lived in a place by the beach -- actually moved his family to a 1 room vacation cabin there during the Depression. Mom told me that house had a boat house/garage under the house, and that when they helped grandpa move out of there they dug up lots of bottles of wine and port being stored in the sand of the boat house. No hard liquor. So, I think you are right. Beer made for large gatherings, is my guess.

I hear what you're saying, but you knew your grandfather when he was an old man...

Since it was during Prohibition it would have been self incriminating to write "Distill" at the end of the recipe.