From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.brewing
On 2018-01-24 17:50, baloonon wrote:
Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:
On 2018-01-23 18:18, baloonon wrote:
Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com> wrote:
On 2018-01-22 18:08, baloonon wrote:
Just saw this recipe on Ron Pattinson's historical beer blog
recreating a curiousity from 1918.
Wartime restrictions led the Kidd brewery to make this oddball
thing you can't really even call beer:
<http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2018/01/lets-brew-wednesday-
1918-
kidd-da.html>
For 5 gallons
2 lbs glucose
0.13 lb cane sugar
0.05 lb caramel coloring
Eeuw ...
1.25 oz Fuggles hops for 30 minutes
0.01 oz Goldings dry hop
0.01oz? How can you even taste that?
OG 1015
FG 1012
ABV 0.40
^^^^^^^^
That was probably the only reason why they made it. People wanted
something, anything, to get a wee buzz.
Pattinson said that in 1918 there was a wartime rule that for every
amount of stronger beer you made you had to make something weak, I
guess
to conserve grain, and suggests that this was just an extreme way of
gaming the system.
I can't imagine anyone would buy the weak stuff -- I wouldn't be
surprised if they arranged a fake shipment and just reused when
brewing a real beer, or some other shenanigans. Maybe they dumped
some flavoring in it at the pub and sold it as some kind of soft
drink?
They might have given it to kids back then. I remember in Germany
when I
was young we got "Malzbier", translates to malt beer. Very dark, a bit
sweet and and had next to zero in alcohol. It was officially legal to
give to kids. Probably not in the US though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malt_beer
There's something sold in the hispanic aisle of my grocery store called "Malta Goya" that sounds like that. I got some once because I read that
it could be used as a solution for starter. It worked, but it's not
worth it compared to just using malt extract and water. I found the
taste pretty dreary.
That looks like it could be the same as the German Malzbier:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_(soft_drink)
It is an acquired taste. Most German kids like it and probably most
Mexican ones as well. As an adult you then move to less sweet and
hoppier tastes.
It's probably like with root beer. Most American kids like it. I did not
grow up in America and when I first had a sip of that ... phtooei ...
blech! I still don't like it at all. Same for root beer floats and all that.
I have a spare 6lbs bottle of Gold malt extract sitting here plus
some left-over partial bags of Chinook, Calypso and Centennial
hops in the
freezer (no idea how long open bags last in there). Got to brew
something with that soon, just not sure what.
Chinook, Calypso and Centennial go nicely together in an APA. I'd say
just keep it simple and make a small batch of something hoppy. Bitter
with a bit of Chinook at 60 minutes, no more than 0.5 ounce, then
toss all of the rest of the hops with 10 minutes to go and call it
a day.
Pick a yeast that ferments quickly and you could turn it around in a
couple of weeks.
Alright! I'll brew that up either Friday or early next week and
will let
you guys know how it tastes. Hopefully the open "Hoptimus Rex" hop
pouches in the freezer are still ok. Didn't dare to open them for a
sniff, they are folded twice, stapled and stored in ziplock bags with
the air squeezed out. The Calypso was opened Dec-2017, the others Nov
and Jan.
I forgot that it's worth not going too crazy with the hops -- maybe 3 to
5 ounces total for that amount of extract.
I never go above that because my wife doesn't like beers that are too
hoppy. When I brew one for myself that is different. The Pliny clone has almost a pound of hops in five gallons. She won't touch it. Which can be
a good thing because now it's all mine 8-)
I've never known hops to go bad in the freezer, they just lose some
potency. There may be a couple of varieties that get out of balance and exhibit unwanted flavors, but I haven't experienced it.
Well, we'll see. I'll brew it today, carried a computer downstairs for
work. The water is heating up right now. Since this beer doesn't have
any grains and just that 6lbs jug of gold extract it goes all the way to
boil first. Takes almost 2h on the two 1kW electric burners so I have
time for walking the dogs.
If it doesn't work out I am also brewing an "AAA" (autumn amber ale) in
the afternoon. Supposedly seasonal but that has become one of our staples.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/
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