Ancient Beer Recipies

[Christine]

Hello,

I'm new to this group. I am a beer geek and love ancient history so I'm looking to combine these interests.  I am looking for ancient beer recipes (BCE time frame not AD ) no hops recipies or if anyone knows of groups, websites or forums dedicated to replication of ancient brews I would really appreciate it.  I have tried googling this in multiple ways and haven't come up with anything useful so far.

Thanks,

Christine

[Ray Grace]

Two things come to mind. First, several years ago Anchor Brewing reproduced an ancient beer from the Ninkasi poem. The other which you're probably aware of are the ancient beers being reproduced by Dogfish Head Brewing, their is actually a clone recipe for Midas Touch in Sam Calagione's book Extreme Brewing. Hope this helps some, I look forward to hearing more about what you come up with.

[Christine]

Thank you for the information. Maybe I will get lucky and the supply store will have a copy. If not looks like I can get it on Amazon. I will let you know how it turns out.

[Eli "the brewing goat" Dvorchik]

I dont know how much stuff your local library can order, but that is a great free way to read tons of brewing books, thats what i'm doing, I would recomend "How To Brew" by John Palmer, I don't think there is any ancient recipes but it tells you everything you need to know and then some about home brewing step by step

[ryan tockstein]

So midas touch is supposed to be an ancient style beer? I have had it but didn't realize that at the time. To Christine's question, I learned quite a bit about how ancient styles are brewed by listening to a podcast on itunes. If you have itunes, go to the podcast section, then go to food and beverage category I think. They have a radio show and a video series they do weekly. I can't rememeber the specific name of the show, but it is really good. One thing I learned is that they used grapes to get the wild yeast, because there is usually wild strains of yeast on the skin of grapes. let me know if you want me to get the name of the show for you

[Christine]

Thanks for the tip. If you could find the name of the show that would be great.

[S.W. Smith]

Ya I have not had the opportunity to try any Dogfish Head Brews, it is a lot easier to get West Coast beers where I live then East Coast. When I discovered that DFH was experimental to that extent, I was very impressed. My understanding from their site is that there are partnered with a researcher who works with molecular archaeology in different parts of the world. Very cool stuff! Now I just have get my hands on some.

[Christine]

It was not easy for me to get where I live but there is one store in the area that carries DFH will order what they don't carry. I used fishfinder on DFHs site to find them. It is very cool stuff they also have a stone age beer from China. The recipe is 9000 years old. It's a seasonal or limited item though. I'd like to try that one.

[ryan tockstein]

wow I haven't heard of the Chinese brew. Those guys are intense. Maybe a little insane. But in a good way. The name of that podcast is Basic Brewing Radio... and there is a video version called Basic Brewing Video. If you go to the podcast directory on itunes, then look for the wine,beer, and mixology section. You should be able to find it within that link. It was quite awhile ago, so I don't know if the specific show I mentioned is still on there, but I hope you find it.

Another couple Dogfish beers to look for and try is "Fort" "Red & White" and "Sah'tea"... they all sound interesting

[Christine]

Thanks for the info and the beer recommendations. The name of the Chinese Stone Age beer is Chateau Jiahu and you can read about it DFH's site http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities... I'll probably be emailing them soon about when it will be available again if you want I can let you know. They are very helpful but it can take a little while to hear back from them.

[Ray Grace]

My new issue of Zymurgy arrived today with an article by Randy Mosher about using spices in beers. He mentions a book by Patrick McGovern, the researcher behind both Chateau Jihau and Midas Touch, called Uncorking the Past: The Quest for WIne, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages, sounds like it could be right up your alley.

[Christine]

Thanks for the info. I'll google them and see if I can get a copy of the issue. I've been pretty busy working on a couple of web pages but I'm ordering "Extreme Brewing" tomorrow for the midas touch clone recipe.

[Ray Grace]

Here's an article you might be interested in. http://www.latimes.com/features/food/foodanddrink/sns-fddrink2-wk1,...