Making a "Bheoir Lochlannachis," seeking advice.

I've decided that for my next brew I'm going to try to replicate the Viking heath-beer they drank in Ireland, as discussed in this article, whose protagonists relied in turn on the article which starts on page 219 of this journal. (is the internet awesome or what?)

Through various boilings I'm pretty close to determining the amount of heather and bog myrtle I'm going to use, though I still have yet to get my hands on any Barret herb. And I'm pretty convinced that Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale is the right yeast -- it's derived (eventually) from naturally-occurring Irish yeast, it has a high alcohol tolerance, and it adds flavorful esters at the higher temperatures I'll be using to simulate the non-fridge-having Vikings.

I need advice on the grain bill. I'll be using extract, but what should I use to fill it out? I'm having a tough time imaging that the Vikings were malting barley with anywhere near the precision that we see today. Should I throw in some roasted and other bitter malt in there to reflect that? That would also help with the fact that this won't be as bitter as a hopped beer.

Any thoughts? Any insight as to the malt bill used by the gentlemen in the article? How would you make a Viking ale which is reputed to have gotten them all fierce for battle?

 

I would get a magical goat to milk it out of its nipples. That's probably closest to authentic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiðrún


Good luck!

 

I would use an english pale malt extract. And do a mini-mash with some peated malt.

 

That journal is very cool indeed... even though it contains more historical whimsy and nascent nationalism than fact. I'll probably end up reading the whole damn thing anyways. I don't know much of anything about Viking brewing but I do some stuff about historical Irish brewing and distilling.

First, the article makes mention of the fulachta fidah, basically a stone lined hole in the ground (found in very wet areas) that essentially served as a multi-functional cooking pot - it is the most common archeological feature found in Ireland. Basically, the Irish would take stones heated in a fire, drop them into the cooking pit filled with water and add cakes of dried and ground malted barley. The barley would steep in the hot water long enough to make a basic wort, you add enough hot rocks to bring about a boil - add your herbs and flavorings - and then siphon it off into pots for a quick fermentation.

As for the grain bill, most of the grain grown in Ireland was oats. Barley would have grown as well, though it probably would not have been the best quality and more than likely not dried by fire or indirect heat. Depending on how accurate you want this beer to be, processed malt or DME wont give you anything close to the real thing. If you are really ambitious, you could malt your own barley and go from there. Really though, it would be nearly impossible to recreate this viking beer even if you knew the gruit mixture this beer contained. Lastly, even the yeast (1084) isn't actually Irish in origin - it was brought over from a london porter brewery sometime in the 1800's. :cross:

Neat topic though...

 

Well, heck. I didn't know that about the 1084. Can you recommend an Irish beer that travels to the Americas, has a proper yeast, and can be harvested? Do you know anything of this brew that Declan Moore made?

I know I won't get close, but I'd like to capture the "spirit" if I can. I know that the crappiest food today is mostly better than what kings ate in the 800's. Oats I knew about and, embarrassingly, forgot to mention. There will definitely be some of those in there. Peat or peated malt, too, if only to capture the likely tastes from the fulachta fidah. (thanks, Homebrewtastic!)

I'm glad you enjoyed the journal; it's funny how little academics has changed -- those minor-league historians try to make themselves as pompous and difficult to read as any po-mo deconstructionist today! But hidden in the stuff is some neat history (which, as you point out, may or may not be actual, factual history).

dwarven, I just bought some printer ink and based on its price it probably came from magical goat nipples, so maybe I'll just make a label or something.

 

I think with a beer concept like this, you have to make a label!

Really, you guys are way over my head now.. I just wanted to be subscribed to the post. :rockin: