Medieval ale and raw ale?

[bernardsmith]

I don't brew a lot of beer (more interested in wine and mead making) but I have become excited about "medieval brewing" and what appears to have been a way of making ale (no hops) without boiling the wort: the idea being that a mash of 160F or thereabouts for a couple of hours would be provide enough heat to effectively pasteurize the wort and inhibit the action of lactic bacteria while the practice of not boiling the wort allows for the inclusion of protein and other compounds that add additional flavors and mouthfeel to the ale - Not that those who brewed in the Middle ages would have referred to those things. What fascinates me too, is the current interest in "raw" ale which seems to me be a return to the ideas from the middle ages as if raw ale (or raw beer) is cutting edge. Are there many members of this forum who brew ale as if in the 10th thru 15th Centuries? I would be curious about your processes and recipes. Thanks

 

[bpgreen]

I've brewed a no boil batch, but my understanding is that you want to keep the mash temperature to about 150 to avoid dms.

I used hops in the batch I did (lots more than I'd use with a boil).

I've also brewed gruits using a variety of different herbs for bittering. I'm not a big fan of the taste, but it's worth a try for an experiment, and you may like it.

 

[bernardsmith]

Thanks bpgreen. As it happens I like gruit beers. Just made a tiny batch (1 gallon) last night using heather to bitter the ale. But to your point about DMS: I thought DMS was produced when the wort was heated above about 175F and if you mash at 155 (+/-) then DMS is not really an issue. But I could be very wrong.