Those who do not learn from history...

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Norselord

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Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.

I thought i'd share these gifts that i found on the information super highway recently.

These texts show how information was disseminated in the past. How passionate brewers and beer lovers communicated in the days before the world wide web.

In poring over these ancient tomes, one can see how much has remained the same and how much has changed, and in this observance a certain historical perspective is gained. This perspective in turn might lead the adventurous brewer or drinker to call up on the past while planning the future.

Enjoy the ghost of brewing past:
https://archive.org/stream/b28073861?ref=ol#page/n3/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/londoncountrybre00lond?ref=ol#page/n9/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/b30520095?ref=ol#page/n3/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/howtobrewgoodbee00pitt?ref=ol#page/n13/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/b28126026?ref=ol#mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/beeritshistoryit00sale?ref=ol#mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029894759?ref=ol#page/n5/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/b29311871?ref=ol#page/n1/mode/2up
 
Why do a lot of the S's look like F's?

Interesting old script.
 
There really is very little new under the sun. One of those books, A text-book of the science of brewing, which is almost 130 years old answers about 75% of the questions asked in these forums.
 
What an awesome thread! Thanks @Norselord
Not all heroes wear capes!

upload_2019-12-17_16-45-43.png
 
day_trippr said:
Ugh.
Worst. Style. Ever.
No redeeming qualities aside from being cheap to make and can use leftovers...

Cheers! ;)
Click to expand...

THE best beer I have ever brewed was an Amber. I had wine drinkers setting aside their wine glasses and switching to that beer.

The typical amber is swill; the kind I make? It has the power to subvert wine drinkers and never has that sort of sour finish many/most ambers have.

Maybe you're using the wrong recipe? If you're nice, I might post mine.....
 
As if the style needed any more help... Amber is quite a common stripper name. It can be whatever beer you want it to be. To my palate, its a cheap non-seasonal alternative to the traditional oktoberfest style without all of the malt character and nuanced use of hops. Simple beer for simple people.
 
Jayjay1976 said:
As if the style needed any more help... Amber is quite a common stripper name. It can be whatever beer you want it to be. To my palate, its a cheap non-seasonal alternative to the traditional oktoberfest style without all of the malt character and nuanced use of hops. Simple beer for simple people.
Click to expand...

BAZINGA! OUCH!! LOL... That's kinda harsh. Ambers are not necessarily for the Mongo's of the beer drinking community.
In fact, it's in my queue by popular request. Alaskan Amber is a very popular beer.
Incidentally, "Crystal" is the most popular stripper name. Do what you want with that....:D

mongo.jpg
 
SEndorf said:
Ambers are quite wide ranging in style. You simply lack a decent recipe...…..
Click to expand...

Clearly presumptive, and fyi lacking in merit: I don't go to the bathroom without a plan, and don't do new-to-me brews without a crazy amount of research. I've just found ambers to be a style with little going for it and would rather brew an authentic ESB instead...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
Clearly presumptive, and fyi lacking in merit: I don't go to the bathroom without a plan, and don't do new-to-me brews without a crazy amount of research. I've just found ambers to be a style with little going for it and would rather brew an authentic ESB instead...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Jolly good call. I concede that my statement was based on conjecture.
I enjoy the challenge of acheiving a red amber. Brown ambers are easy. ESB's are easiest.
But I'm interested in your bathroom planning process. Do you have a checklist?
 
This thread took a detour...
I wonder when the first codification of beer styles occurred?

I don’t think any of the texts I linked talked about beer as being a distinct style, although they do recognize different types.

This is tangentially related to the Amber conversation, and NEIPAs.

After a decade+ of brewing, I am slowly beginning to reject the idea of styles with strictly defined parameters.

I suppose there will always be people that brew to satisfy BJCP judges, and those whose beers have evolved to meet the needs of their own palates, that of their friends, or those of their customers...
 
Beer styles were never codified to my knowledge. Think of how beer has changed in just your lifetime. And if you are as old as I am you remember a time when the term craft beer was non existent.

Going back the 1800's, many of what became styles were actually just descriptions of a beers condition. Stout for example originally meant any stronger than normal beer. There were stout pale ales and stout porters. The term Mild simply meant young. Any beer served fresh from the brewery was called a mild. The word had nothing to do with strength or bitterness. The early days of IPA were confusing since different brewers were quite apt to use different terms for what was basically the same beer. Some simply kept the name Pale Ale or some variant while just a few were calling it India Pale Ale.

The BJCP tries to label them every 7 to 10 years but even their definitions evolve and change over time. Beer styles have and still are ever evolving.
 
Thanks for sharing, cant wait to pick through those. Cool books!

Also, ambers are boring and lame imho, I would rather drink craft lager. There is nothing there to keep em around, neipas have massive flavor and that, imo, will keep them relevant. But seeing how bud light is relevant, everyone has their own favorites and I have no problem with that.
 
Williams Brewing 300

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