History of Grain?

[INWarner413]

I'm putting together a recipe for George Washington's "Small Beer". I've got most of it figured out, except for the grain.

Anyone know what types of grains would have been around in 1757? It seems like there's a lot of information out there about the history of hops, but I've found very little about grains. My gut is to say Washington was using 6-row, but my gut also has **** for brains, so I'm hesitant to trust it.

 

[Revvy]

This is about the third or fourth thread this week of someone wanting to brew this beer, this one has a good discussion https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/george-washingtons-porter-243902/#post2912814

If it was domestically grown it would have been 6-row like you said. But if it was imported it could have been just about any English Malt. Including Marris Otter.

 

[Revvy]

Oh I just linked to one of your other threads. LOL.

Why did you start a new thread??? You've already got a great thread going there.

 

[Revvy]

Have you looked into what Rich Wagner has to say? I have links to some stuff of his in my beer history sites thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/beer-history-sites-58021/#post589667

 

[INWarner413]

I reposted to hopefully get more attention focused on the grain, as opposed to the entire recipe. We know that Fuggles and Goldings are the oldest varieties of British hops; do we know when we "invented" chocolate malted barley? I think that Washington's porter would be great with 1# Two-Row, 1# Medium Crystal, 10 oz. of Chocolate, and 4 oz. of Special B; but, were those grains available to him or anyone at the time?

Thanks for linking me to your thread; I'll take a look at some of the stuff in a little while when the boss isn't here!

 

[Oldsock]

Odds are he would have used just one type/toast of barley, as far as I am aware chocolate and crystal malts didn't come along until the 19th century. The malt would have been darker than pale malt, probably a bit smoky. Look into the history of brown malt (which is what was originally used for English porters).

 

[Revvy]

The malt would have been darker than pale malt, probably a bit smoky. Look into the history of brown malt (which is what was originally used for English porters).

That's what Wagner says in the colonial brewing video. Even in the 1800's it was simply brown malt for some things, mild malt for others.

 

[INWarner413]

Wagner's link was very helpful. Specifically, his comment that "They were probably using a brown malt". Thanks for y'alls help - another piece of the puzzle is in place.

 

[Revvy]

Wagner's link was very helpful. Specifically, his comment that "They were probably using a brown malt". Thanks for y'alls help - another piece of the puzzle is in place.

Gee I was hoping you were going to find something MORE in one of those links. Though even when I toured the re-created labatt's pioneer brewery brown malt was one of the ones in there.

I don't know how accurate but according to wikipedia, Brown malt

Brown malt is a darker form of pale malt, and is used typically in brown ale as well as in porter and stout. Like amber malt, it can be prepared from pale malt at home by baking a thin layer of pale malt in an oven until the desired color is achieved. 50-70 °L, no enzymes.

Another of our members posted this -

You can toast your own. I did this for a historic porter I brewed this past Friday, following the guidelines in 'Old British Beers and How to Brew Them'.

Simple straight forward process, using Maris Otter (or similar English pale malt):

30 minutes at 250 degrees to thoroughly dry the malt
30 minutes at 300 degrees
30 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring every 10 minutes to prevent scorching

The smell is awesome while the malt is toasting - reminded me an awful lot of Butterfingers.

And this....

Brown Malt
Posted by John in Malts

I got a William’s Brewing catalog in the mail today and I was looking at the ingredients and the prices. I did come across a malt that I wanted to profile. From what I have read, Brown malt is a historical malt that was used in England two centuries ago. It appears that only a few maltster make true Brown malt today.

The catalog had a nice description about the malt. Back in the day, porters were brewed with brown malt exclusively. As time went on, Porters evolved. Because brown malt was being roasted to get its flavor and color profile, the roasting also reduced the amount of fermentable extract the malt could produce so brewers needed to use more and more of it. Porter were then made with black patent, chocolate, and pale malts since it was more economical to do so.

Flavor: Because it kilned over a hardwood fire, Brown malt imparts a smoky flavor. Biscuit and nutty were also mentioned.

Color: Ranges from 38 to 70 °L from site to site. William’s Brewing has it at 53 °L

Body: It adds some body because of the non-fermentables it brings to the party.

Use: Brown ales and porters…makes sense, eh? You can roast your own malt at home to make something similar to Brown malt. I may give it a try.

 

[Revvy]

Northern Brewer as some http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...s/toasted-roasted-malts/crisp-brown-malt.html

 

[Oldsock]

Northern Brewer as some http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...s/toasted-roasted-malts/crisp-brown-malt.html

There is a lot of debate about how close modern brown malt is to the "real" stuff. By most accounts brown malt is non-enzymatic, so you can't use it as 100% of the grist as you could with the old stuff. Some people do equal parts brown/amber/pale, might be worth considering.