Ale recipe from an England (long)

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OK, it was requested, so here it is.

This recipe was originally posted on rec.crafts.brewing, and a

translation with a recipe for a 5 gallon batch follows.

This is an extract from a long treatise, most of which can be found at:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1577harrison-england.html#Chapter%20VI

" But what have I to do with this matter, or rather so great a quantity,

wherewith I am not acquainted? Nevertheless, sith I have taken occasion to

speak of brewing, I will exemplify in such a proportion as I am best skilled

in, because it is the usual rate for mine own family, and once in a month

practised by my wife and her maid-servants, who proceed withal after this

manner, as she hath oft informed me.

Having therefore ground eight bushels of good malt upon our quern, where the

toll is saved, she addeth unto it half a bushel of wheat meal, and so

much of

oats small ground, and so tempereth or mixeth them with the malt that you

cannot easily discern the one from the other; otherwise these latter would

clunter, fall into lumps, and thereby become unprofitable. The first liquor

(which is full eighty gallons, according to the proportion of our

furnace) she

maketh boiling hot, and then poureth it softly into the malt, where it resteth

(but without stirring) until her second liquor be almost ready to boil. This

done, she letteth her mash run till the malt be left without liquor, or

at the

leastwise the greatest part of the moisture, which she perceiveth by the stay

and soft issue thereof; and by this time her second liquor in the

furnace is

ready to seethe, which is put also to the malt, as the first woort also again

into the furnace, whereunto she addeth two pounds of the best English

hops, and

so letteth them seethe together by the space of two hours in summer or

an hour

and a half in winter, whereby it getteth an excellent colour, and continuance

without impeachment or any superfluous tartness. But, before she putteth her

first woort into the furnace, or mingleth it with the hops, she taketh

out a

vessel full, of eight or nine gallons, which she shutteth up close, and

suffereth no air to come into it till it become yellow, and this she reserveth

by itself unto further use, as shall appear hereafter, calling it

brackwoort or

charwoort, and, as she saith, it addeth also to the colour of the drink,

whereby it yieldeth not unto amber or fine gold in hue unto the eye. By this

time also her second woort is let run; and, the first being taken out of the

furnace, and placed to cool, she returneth the middle woort unto the furnace,

where it is stricken over, or from whence it is taken again, when it beginneth

to boil, and mashed the second time, whilst the third liquor is heat

(for there

are three liquors), and this last put into the furnace, when the second is

mashed again. When she hath mashed also the last liquor (and set the

second to

cool by the first), she letteth it run, and then seetheth it again with

a pound

and a half of new hops, or peradventure two pounds, as she seeth cause

by the

goodness or baseness of the hops, and, when it hath sodden, in summer two

hours, and in winter an hour and a half, she striketh it also, and

reserveth it

unto mixture with the rest when time doth serve therefore. Finally, when she

setteth her drink together, she addeth to her brackwoort or charwoort

half an

ounce of arras, and half a quarter of an ounce of bayberries, finely powdered,

and then, putting the same into her woort, with a handful of wheat

flour, she

proceedeth in such usual order as common brewing requireth. Some,

instead of

arras and bays, add so much long pepper only, but, in her opinion and my

liking, it is not so good as the first, and hereof we make three

hogsheads of

good beer, such (I mean) as is meet for poor men as I am to live withal, whose

small maintenance (for what great thing is forty pounds a year, computatis

computandis, able to perform?) may endure no deepeer cut, the charges whereof

groweth in this manner. I value my malt at ten shillings, my wood at four

shillings (which I buy), my hops at twenty pence, the spice at twopence,

servants' wages two shillings sixpence, with meat and drink, and the

wearing of

my vessel at twenty pence, so that for my twenty shillings I have ten score

gallons of beer or more, notwithstanding the loss in seething, which some,

being loth to forego, do not observe the time, and therefore speed thereafter

in their success, and worthily. The continuance of the drink is always

determined after the quantity of the hops, so that being well hopt it lasteth

longer. For it feedeth upon the hop, and holdeth out so long as the

force of

the same continueth, which being extinguished, the drink must be spent,

or else

it dieth and becometh of no value.

In this trade also our brewers observe very diligently the nature of the water,

which they daily occupy, and soil through which it passeth, for all

waters are

not of like goodness, sith the fattest standing water is always the

best; for,

although the waters that run by clalk or cledgy soils be good, and next unto

the Thames water, which is the most excellent, yet the water that

standeth in

either of these is the best for us that dwell in the country, as whereon the

sun lieth longest, and fattest fish is bred. But, of all other, the

fenny and

marsh is the worst, and the clearest spring water next unto it. In this

business therefore the skilful workman doth redeem the iniquity of that

element, by changing of his proportions, which trouble in ale (sometime our

only, but now taken with many for old and sick men's drink) is never

seen nor

heard of. Howbeit, as the beer well sodden in the brewing, and stale, is clear

and well coloured as muscadel or malvesey, or rather yellow as the gold noble,

as our pot-knights call it, so our ale, which is not at all or very little

sodden, and without hops, is more thick, fulsome, and of no such continuance,

which are three notable things to be considered in that liquor. But what for

that? Certes I know some ale-knights so much addicted thereunto that

they will

not cease from morrow until even to visit the same, cleansing house after

house, till they defile themselves, and either fall quite under the

board, or

else, not daring to stir from their stools sit still pinking with their narrow

eyes, as half sleeping, till the fume of their adversary be digested

that he

may go to it afresh. Such slights also have the alewives for the

utterance of

this drink that they will mix it with rosen and salt; but if you heat a knife

red-hot, and quench it in the ale so near the bottom of the pot as you

can put

it, you shall see the rosen come forth hanging on the knife. As for the force

of salt, it is well known by the effect, for the more the drinker

tippleth, the

more he may, and so doth he carry off a dry drunken noll to bed with him,

except his luck be the better. "

*Translation by Ben W.*

ursaem471@... (Seamus) wrote in message

news:<20020326193843.16909.00000314@...>...

> I'd be interested to hear if anyone has tried to duplicate a recipe like

> the one given below, by on, from the 1570's.

>

> This is an extract from a long treatise, most of which can be found at:

> http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1577harrison-england.html#Chapter%20VI

Long is the word. Damn, that man can ramble.

What I'm going to try to do is translate his recipe into a modern

equivalent. He is brewing a 200-gallon batch so I'll convert to a

modern 5-gal by dividing by 40. Yeah, he's using old Imperial measures

but I think it'll all turn out pretty well in the end.

> Having therefore ground eight bushels of good malt upon our quern, where the

> toll is saved, she addeth unto it half a bushel of wheat meal, and so much of

> oats small ground

Barley weights roughly 50 lbs the bushel, as do oats; wheat is closer

to 60.

Equivalent: 400lbs barley malt, 30 lbs flaked wheat, 30 lbs flaked

oats

Scaled down: 10 lbs barley malt, .75 lbs flaked wheat, .5 lbs flaked

oats

That sounds like a beer recipe already! Given his discourse on the

various kilnings, I think that the barley he uses would be somewhere

in between English Brown and Pale malt.

> clunter, fall into lumps, and thereby become unprofitable. The first liquor

> (which is full eighty gallons, according to the proportion of our furnace) she

> maketh boiling hot, and then poureth it softly into the malt, where it resteth

> (but without stirring)

Add about 80 gals boiling water. 2 gallons, for our purposes. Pour

into the 11.25lb of grain. This is clearly way too hot -- it yields a

175 F strike temperature, but the slow pour, lack of stirring and

other inefficiencies probably ensure that a good proportion of the

malt comes in contact with water at better extraction temperatures.

> until her second liquor be almost ready to boil. This

> done, she letteth her mash run till the malt be left without liquor, or at the

> leastwise the greatest part of the moisture, which she perceiveth by the stay

> and soft issue thereof;

" Sparge " . I'd say a single-temperature rest at 150 - 155 for about an

hour and sparging as normal would replicate this process as well as

can be expected.

> and by this time her second liquor in the furnace is

> ready to seethe, which is put also to the malt, as the first woort also again

> into the furnace, whereunto she addeth two pounds of the best English hops,

and

> so letteth them seethe together by the space of two hours in summer or an hour

> and a half in winter, whereby it getteth an excellent colour, and continuance

> without impeachment or any superfluous tartness.

Boil 90 minutes with three ounces of EKG or Fuggles (2lbs = 32 oz =

approx 1 oz per running, three runnings). I frequently start boiling

while still collecting in another vessel, too, and that's what the

following paragraphs more or less describe. Because of the huge

inefficiencies in the method I'd say the small beer (third runnings)

would be much more similar to the big one (first runnings) than it

would with a conventional sparge, but the average of all the batches

should be about right.

> But, before she putteth her

> first woort into the furnace, or mingleth it with the hops, she taketh out a

> vessel full, of eight or nine gallons, which she shutteth up close, and

> suffereth no air to come into it

If there is a more irritating habit in recipe books of any sort than

describing a sequence of events and then saying " but, BEFORE you do

that, you should first have done this ... " I don't know what it is.

OK, then, we take about two pints of wort and seal it in an Erlenmyer

flask.

> setteth her drink together, she addeth to her brackwoort or charwoort half an

> ounce of arras, and half a quarter of an ounce of bayberries, finely powdered,

> and then, putting the same into her woort, with a handful of wheat flour, she

> proceedeth in such usual order as common brewing requireth.

In this context, " bayberries " are almost certainly juniper berries.

Arras, though, I have no idea except that it probably doesn't refer to

a tapestry.

> in their success, and worthily. The continuance of the drink is always

> determined after the quantity of the hops, so that being well hopt it lasteth

> longer.

Indeed. Much follows about the water, etc., and of course there's no

understanding of yeast. I would nonetheless tender this as my

interpretation:

on's Loquacious 1577 Ale

For Five Gallons

5 pounds Marris Otter Pale Ale Malt

5 pounds English Brown Malt

..75 pounds Flaked Wheat

..5 pounds Flaked Oats

Mash at 155 F for a good hour. Sparge with 175 F water. Start

collecting about 6-7 gallons, start 3 heating while still collecting.

Decant 2 pints of wort into a flask with a few crushed juniper

berries, seal and set aside.

When the wort has reached a boil, add three ounces of Fuggles, EKG or

similar UK hops.

Set wort aside to cool. Add the contents of the juniper-wort flask.

Either leave it outside, uncovered, for wild yeasties to do their work

or try using a British yeast with some Brettanomyces or other culture,

or just wimp out and use a standard yeast .... (Or you could just pitch

it with " a handful of wheat flour " , like it says in the original recipe.)

ben

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