Colonial America beer
I’ve been trying to come up with my next recipe for homebrewing and I can’t really decide on what I want to do exactly. I keep going between a porter, a winter warmer, or some type of amber ale. I really just can’t decide at all. And then I got an idea; how about a Colonial
America style of beer?
I thought it sounded like a great idea so I have been doing a lot of research into beer styles and brewing techniques during the Colonial time in America. I have run across several helpful articles and have really started to dive into them. I am still working on a solid recipe but I thought that I would share my current ideas and information and see if anyone can point me in a more correct direction.
Right now I am looking at three “styles” of Colonial beer. The first would be a basic porter, not super strong, but packed with roasty flavors and medium carbonation. The second style I am looking at is more of a British style pub ale that Thomas Jefferson is said to have enjoyed. Who knows if that is true, but it makes a good story. In place of all of the British malts and hops I would substitute American malts and hops. The final beer that I am looking into is a Spruce beer that was common during the Revolutionary War. It would be a darker beer, similar to a porter, but also have some essence of spruce put into it. Now I just need to narrow down my focus a bit.
I also am concerned with doing this beer authentically. I will have to use some modern brewing practices, but I would like to get the ingredients as close as possible. I know that hops change from year to year, and there is no way to actually know what the barley was malted at during that period but digging into some more material, I hope to find some more clues. Below are a few links that I have been looking over the gain a better understanding of Colonial brewing in America.
Links
- Brewing in Colonial Times
- George Washington: President & Beer Lover
- George Washington’s Recipe for Beer
- William Penn And Beermaking in Colonial Pennsylvania
- The Spirits of Our Forefathers
- Valley Forge Winter Spruce Ale
- Take Heart with Winter Warmers
- Revolutionary Brewing
As I said, I have a lot more research to do, but these links are a start. I have a few books that I can get more information out of, but I will have to dig in and find the correct information. If you find any other info out there I am more than willing to take it.
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That’s really interesting, especially this spruce beer. Looking forward to see how it all turns out!
Now I do not know too much about the colonial styles, but in regards to the spruce beers, I have heard of them sometimes being made without any hops at all. There would also be fresh spruce buds used to flavor the beer in stead of spruce essence. I think the spruce buds impart the bittering and preservative properties that the hops usually provide.