What are your favorite old recipes, and do you still brew them or plan on revisiting?
When I first started brewing, I absolutely wore out a few copies of Papazian’s magnum opus. Half the fun was flipping through his recipes and reading about a beer’s journey through time and space. Not to mention the artwork. A person drinking from a vessel with stars pouring out was the first time I read about mead.
Anyways, back when his books were written, ingredients were limited and the quality was nowhere near today’s standards. Does anyone remember the little foil packets labeled “ale” and “lager”? A good amount of recipes back then called for some type of extract and cascade or saaz hops.
Because of this, many of the recipes contained adjuncts such as fruit and herbs. This was, no doubt, a way to make good beer with questionable malt extract and old hops. And it worked.
These recipes read more like suggestions, because you were never guaranteed to find the right extracts or hops at local brew shops. Fruit and herbs added another dimension. I’m not talking about your peanut butter, pickle and bacon stout. I’m talking about adding a pinch of ginger or a touch clove in holiday beer.
These days, any schmuck like myself with a modest amount of equipment (Anvil Foundry) and a few skills can make just about any style of beer, and make it pretty good. I can go to my lhbs and choose from malted barley from around the world and hops that have been flushed with nitrogen and bred for specific types of terpines. When it comes to yeast, I can choose strain qualities such as flocculation, temp range and ester levels.
It’s a great time to be a home brewer. I take advantage of the finest ingredients and equipment to knock out a few tasty batches of Pilsners, Vienna’s and others. But there are times when I get bored brewing to style. I miss some of the older recipes from older books and some from this forum. These beers were good, often they were great, but most of all they are unique to home brewers. Outside of a few friends and family of brewers, these beers will likely never be enjoyed by the public.
As a brewer I am forever grateful to those pioneers in our hobby. Not only some of the early authors but also those brewers on this forum as well. I brewed quite a few of BierMuncher’s recipes and they were all outstanding beers.
Below are a few of my old timey faves. More to come.
Vagabond Gingered Ale- found in Papazian’s book. It’s a dark ale w a healthy amount of fresh ginger added late in the boil. It’s been a few years since I made this but I’ll make a batch this fall. My mouth waters when I think of this beer.
Rocky Racoon’s lager- another recipe from this book (although he gives credit to another brewer). This was an easy way to make a lighter colored beer. Almost half the fermentables comes from honey. Those of us who started brewing with extracts know how hard it was to produce a lighter colored beer. I usually opted for the ginger variation. I may do a smaller batch soon. The cascades really popped in this recipe.
BierMuncher’s Centennial Blonde- found here on HBT. This was an absolute summer must brew. It’s light, refreshing and a simple brew. I used this recipe as a base and usually added lemon or grapefruit zest. I believe this was my first all grain beer I made. I recently visited a brewery on the OR coast and had their house blonde. Let’s just say that I wished they used BierMuncher’s recipe.
Blacklab’s Cascade/Orange Pale Ale- HBT recipe. A super crushable pale ale (remember those?). A pretty standard pale ale recipe with orange zest and coriander. Absolutely genius flavor combo. Delicious as is but sometimes I’d sub the coriander with about 1 or 2 oz of fresh ginger late in the boil. This beer is dangerous on a hot summer day.
What are some of your favorite old school, antiquated, old fashioned recipes, and do you plan on brewing them again?
When I first started brewing, I absolutely wore out a few copies of Papazian’s magnum opus. Half the fun was flipping through his recipes and reading about a beer’s journey through time and space. Not to mention the artwork. A person drinking from a vessel with stars pouring out was the first time I read about mead.
Anyways, back when his books were written, ingredients were limited and the quality was nowhere near today’s standards. Does anyone remember the little foil packets labeled “ale” and “lager”? A good amount of recipes back then called for some type of extract and cascade or saaz hops.
Because of this, many of the recipes contained adjuncts such as fruit and herbs. This was, no doubt, a way to make good beer with questionable malt extract and old hops. And it worked.
These recipes read more like suggestions, because you were never guaranteed to find the right extracts or hops at local brew shops. Fruit and herbs added another dimension. I’m not talking about your peanut butter, pickle and bacon stout. I’m talking about adding a pinch of ginger or a touch clove in holiday beer.
These days, any schmuck like myself with a modest amount of equipment (Anvil Foundry) and a few skills can make just about any style of beer, and make it pretty good. I can go to my lhbs and choose from malted barley from around the world and hops that have been flushed with nitrogen and bred for specific types of terpines. When it comes to yeast, I can choose strain qualities such as flocculation, temp range and ester levels.
It’s a great time to be a home brewer. I take advantage of the finest ingredients and equipment to knock out a few tasty batches of Pilsners, Vienna’s and others. But there are times when I get bored brewing to style. I miss some of the older recipes from older books and some from this forum. These beers were good, often they were great, but most of all they are unique to home brewers. Outside of a few friends and family of brewers, these beers will likely never be enjoyed by the public.
As a brewer I am forever grateful to those pioneers in our hobby. Not only some of the early authors but also those brewers on this forum as well. I brewed quite a few of BierMuncher’s recipes and they were all outstanding beers.
Below are a few of my old timey faves. More to come.
Vagabond Gingered Ale- found in Papazian’s book. It’s a dark ale w a healthy amount of fresh ginger added late in the boil. It’s been a few years since I made this but I’ll make a batch this fall. My mouth waters when I think of this beer.
Rocky Racoon’s lager- another recipe from this book (although he gives credit to another brewer). This was an easy way to make a lighter colored beer. Almost half the fermentables comes from honey. Those of us who started brewing with extracts know how hard it was to produce a lighter colored beer. I usually opted for the ginger variation. I may do a smaller batch soon. The cascades really popped in this recipe.
BierMuncher’s Centennial Blonde- found here on HBT. This was an absolute summer must brew. It’s light, refreshing and a simple brew. I used this recipe as a base and usually added lemon or grapefruit zest. I believe this was my first all grain beer I made. I recently visited a brewery on the OR coast and had their house blonde. Let’s just say that I wished they used BierMuncher’s recipe.
Blacklab’s Cascade/Orange Pale Ale- HBT recipe. A super crushable pale ale (remember those?). A pretty standard pale ale recipe with orange zest and coriander. Absolutely genius flavor combo. Delicious as is but sometimes I’d sub the coriander with about 1 or 2 oz of fresh ginger late in the boil. This beer is dangerous on a hot summer day.
What are some of your favorite old school, antiquated, old fashioned recipes, and do you plan on brewing them again?
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