traditional and ancient recipes, scottish preferred?

[HomerJR]

Years ago I fell in love with Fraoch heather ale. I found a "clone" recipe on Beertools here. I brewed it once, but I've been considering doing it again, only all grain. It was really tasty.

 

[animus_divinus]

i have a lot of stuff on my list to try now... the wee heavy recipe im working on now, primitive heather ales and gruit ales, and much later on i wouldnt mind trying wheat or rye beer just to give it a chance

also, at this point im trying to understand when beer was actually carbonated, during the middle ages and prior im not sure they really understood the process enough to actively carbonate a beverage, and that any carbonization was the result of natural carbonization in a sealed container... i dont think they knew enough to "prime" the bottles, but i could be wrong, im trying to find more information on that

 

[animus_divinus]

im my studies, it seems to me that ale was never carbonated in any concious way... that once fermented didnt last more than a few days so once the fermentation vessel was opened, it was consumed as is... yeast and all... i think thats how i want to do mine at first... drink it when its done fermenting without bottling or carbonating.. right from the carboy...

so im going to take my ingredients, boil them down to syrup, add more water and the hops, boil it down to the 1 gallon i need... then let it cool, syphon it into the carboy i have, cork it with my little gas release device in it.. let it ferment a specific period of time... then open it up and have at it... when i find the recipe i want to stick with i will have find some way of preserving it without too much carbonization or refridgeration

something i should mention.. i have an issue with my esophagus... the lower 2/3 of it have nerve damage, and as a result i havent drank carbonated drinks in a very long time as the carbonization, as well as cold temperature liquids tend to agitate the issue which is another reason why im curious in beers made before carbonization and refridgeration

 

[animus_divinus]

well, i think the recipe i stated is one im going to give a try... and later on ill try using the same ingredients to make a light ale version for drinking regularly... at 8.5% ABV, if this wee heavy is successful, im not sure i could drink it daily without being drunk almost nightly, i myself, like most of you here, like beer but are not alcoholics

heck.. just the nature of a home brewer is anti-alcoholic anyway, since from my experience with alcoholics theyll do anything for a buzz.. we're all about flavor here, right?... so i should put a light ale on my list to experiment with for daily consumption

 

[Nugent]

Though not Scottish, there's a group in England called the Durden Park Circle that has 18th and 19th century beer recipes on-line.

Give 'em a google.

 

[PolishStout]

sorry I haven't posted in a while, been pretty busy.

I'll try to post up that heather ale and mumm recipe tomorrow or the next day

 

[animus_divinus]

well, im actually in search of a scottish style gruit recipe if anyone has one.. mugwort, yarrow, heather.. i dont know what else i need, but it seems to be equal portions

 

[animus_divinus]

quick related question.. since malts are sold by the pound, and i only need a couple ounces of roasted barley to get the flavor and color i need for the style of ale im making... is it possible to roast some extra golden promise grains, or do i need raw barley for this purpose?... if i can roast golden promise, i was going to order an extra point of it.. and use the extra golden promise and yeast try some bread made from it too

 

[adagiogray]

If you're looking for old traditional ale recipes, many predating the widespread use of hops, try Gruitale.com . I found a lot of interesting ones there.