The reason why the majority of recipes call for European/English strains in 18th century recipes is quite simple- That's what they brought with them and that's what they used.
They didn't run out to the homebrewshop to get what they needed, they kept recycling their yeast, for brewing AND Baking... that's right, the yeast they used was the same Saccharomyces cerevisiae and (IIRC) Saccharomyces pastorianus Ale and lager yeast. And it was shared between the brewer and the baker.
There weren't commercial yeast labs here in the states selling the stuff, nor were there large commercial breweries in colonial times, like what there were only 100 years later.
Best source of info I've found on this stuff lately is the videos on 18th cooking from the
Jas Townsend Company (outfitters for reenactors.)
He talks about it here,
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leC_cCs4i5w&list=PL4e4wpjna1vxVlcRXlX8ZXoIkx2sh8asI&index=15[/ame]
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dtBjqIu5W8&list=PL4e4wpjna1vxVlcRXlX8ZXoIkx2sh8asI&index=13[/ame]
He give some resources here as well.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrnUGfO15vY[/ame]
I found a PDF of the first 25 pages for Libations for the 18th Century,
here....You can order the full ebook from Googleplay for 9.95
here.
Googlebooks has it for online reading
here.
Have you seen this book?
"Every man his own brewer."
I have an old, but pretty comprehensive list of
historical brewing links you might find helpful.
Like jmaessen said above, if you can find the Ballantine strain that's probably the closest domesticated ale strain to what they would have use, but like he said it IS an English Strain.
But honestly I would go with Safale 04 or any neutral English Ale Strain (or German if the first brewers in your area were German).... because more than likely the yeast the colonial American brewers used, would have just been recycled from whatever came over from England or Germany at the time.
You could introduce some regional variation by capturing some wild yeast along with the base commercial, like making a sourdough, because whatever would have been used over and over would have mutated eventually.
Even the homebrew recipes for the Ben Franklin 300 brew of his
"Poor Richard's Ale" just say to
For yeast selection, little is mentioned about of commercial ales of the time. Where something is referenced, it is usually in regards to some ‘house’ flavor. A modern yeast equivalent would be to use a low-to-moderate attenuation English or Scottish yeast strain.
Same with hops.... the hops you'd be using would be English varietals as well...
Hops
I suggest Kent Goldings as they were “discovered” in the 18th century and proved extremely popular for brewers both in England and abroad. By comparison, Fuggle hops were not bred until the 19th century. And, regionally grown hops from the Americas had very inconsistent harvests and also did not become widely available until the 19th Century.
I do 19th century beers, so I have it a little easier, by then there was much more available by then, like the SF/california ale strains, and more "domesticated" hops like Cluster and Fuggles.
I am on this kick right now of playing with sourdough culture in both breadmaking and brewing, and using them interchangeably.
Mystic Brewing here in Boston has the Vinland series. Trillium's flagship Trillium saison is yeast harvested from a local vineyard. And Allagash in Portland has its coolship series, which last I checked was only available in limited quantities at the brewery shop. All fantastic beers if you like American wild ales, I recommend every single one.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
