Carrick's Small Ale
From EastKingdomWiki
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| Small Ale for the Stone | ||||||
| Recipe Source | ||||||
| The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened | ||||||
| Brewer | ||||||
| Carrick MacSeain | ||||||
| Panel Information | ||||||
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| Beverage Information | ||||||
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Original Recipe
Related category: Authenticity, Exploration
From “The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Kenelm Digby” page 106
SMALL ALE FOR THE STONE
The Ale, that I used to drink constantly of, was made in these proportions. Take fourteen Gallons of Water, and half an Ounce of Hops; boil them near an hour together. Then pour it upon a peck of Malt. Have a care the Malt be not too small ground; for then it will never make clear Ale. Let it soak so near two hours. Then let it run from the Malt, and boil it only one walm or two. Let it stand cooling till it be cool enough to work with barm, which let be of Beer rather than Ale, about half a pint.
After it hath wrought some hours, when you see it come to it's height, and is near beginning to fall in working, Tun it into a barrel of eight Gallons; and in four or five days it will be fit to broach to drink. Since I have caused the wort to be boiled a good half hour; since again I boil it a good hour, and it is much the better; because the former Ale tasted a little Raw. Now because it consumes in boiling, and would be too strong, if this Malt made a less proportion of Ale; I have added a Gallon of water at the first, taking fifteen Gallons instead of fourteen. Since I have added half a peck of Malt to the former proportions, to make it a little stronger in Winter.
In my words:
Digby starts with fourteen gallons and a peck of malt, but revises that to fifteen gallons, “because it consumes in boiling, and would be too strong”, and a peck and a half of malt “to make it a little stronger in Winter.” I have started with the increased volumes.
Boil fifteen gallons of water with half an ounce of hops for one hour. Pour the hopped water over one and a half pecks of crushed malt. Mix well and allow to stand for two hours. Drain the wort from the malt bring to a gentle boil (“boil it only one walm or two”) for one hour. Remove from the heat let stand until cooled enough to add half of a pint of barm. Once the fermentation has nearly finished, move to an eight gallon barrel. It will be ready to drink in four to five days.
Redaction
Related category: Authenticity.
This recipe calls for boiling 15 gallons of water with a half ounce of hops for one hour. Pour the boiled “hop water” over the malt. This starts the mashing process, which takes two hours. Drain the wort into the brewing kettle and bring to a gentle boil for one hour. Allow to stand until cool enough to add the yeast, in the from of barm from a previous brew. Allow to ferment until it is no longer vigorous. Move to a barrel, where the fermentation will complete. The ale will be ready in four to five days.
Our redaction will cut the recipe to ⅓ its original volume.
Period measures: 15 gallons of water, ½ ounce of hops, 1½ peck of malt, and ½ pint barm Modern measures: 18.6 gallons of water, 2.35oz hops, 14.3 lbs malt, 1.2 cups of barm Recipe measures (modern): 6.2 gallons of water, .78 oz of hops, 4.8 lbs of malt, and 3.2oz of barm (although, using more can’t hurt much)
The recipe starts with 15 gallons of water, and ends with tuning into an 8 gallon barrel. That’s a bout 54% remaining, or a 46% loss of volume in the mash due to absorption of water by the grains. We should expect the same loss in our modern attempt. Starting with 6.2 modern gallons of water, we expect to yield 3.3 modern gallons. Where the recipe says “Tun it into a barrel of eight Gallons”, we will tun into a 5 gallon stainless steel keg with an oak spiral (my choices were either a 2½ or 5 modern gallon keg).
This recipe calls for a primary fermentation in the brew kettle. For modern sanitation, I moved the boiled wort into a glass carboy after pitching the barm. Instead of an oak barrel, I used a stainless steel keg, and added an oak spiral to simulate the barrel.
I’ve added a cooling period after the boiling of the hops to allow the strike water to cool to 153.1℉
Measurement Conversions
15 gallons of water in period = 18.6 US gallons or 70 litres
An ounce =1/32 of a peck, or .3 modern pounds = 4.76oz
A peck is1/4 of a bushel, which is 34 9.52 modern pounds
Redacted Recipe
(what I actually did) Related category: Authenticity, Complexity.
6.2 gallons of water
.78 oz of hops
4.8 lbs of malt - 1lb of which toasted on the fire
3.2oz of ale barm
Oak barrel spiral
Crush grains and add to a mash tun
Add water to boiling kettle
Add hops to the water and boil for one hour
(Right about here we had a thunderstorm that dropped an inch of rain in ½ hour!)
Allow water to cool to a 153.1℉
(At least the rain helped with the cooling)
Drain boiled water over grains.
Let stand for two hours. This is the mashing step.
Drain wort into brew kettle
Bring wort to a gentle boil
Cool wort to no more than 90℉ .
Pitch barm
Once the primary fermentation is complete not visibly active, move the ale to a keg.
I decided to move directly to the keg for the primary fermentation, since the SG was so low (1.02)
Add the oak spiral and seal the keg.
Yield should be around 4-4½ gallons
The ale will be drinkable in four to five days.
Strike Water Temperature I see a small, but significant problem in that there is no indication of waiting for the boiled water to cool before pouring it over the grains. To get a strike temperature in the range to mash the grains would mean the water would need to cool to about 153℉ . (Brewer’s Friend) Pouring boiling water on the grains would denature the enzymes and prevent starch conversion.
This omission doesn’t seem to be a function of the amount of grains, since the weight of grains, 14.2 lbs (modern), is on par with what a modern home-brewer would use for a typical ale. I’ve added a cooling period to allow the strike water to cool to 153.1℉
Period equipment
Related category: Complexity, Exploration
- A wood fire was built where all cooking was performed.
- There is no mention of a mash tun to hold the heat during the two hour rest, so none was used.
- The the water was added to a separate kettle.
- A stainless steel brew pot was used in lieu of a copper kettle. Uncoated copper cookware is not safe for cooking, as it can release copper into your food.
- A stainless steel Cornelius keg was used instead of an oak barrel. Oak spiral was used to simulate a barrel.
- Served in an earthenware pitcher as show in the Presentation section.
- Grains were crushed by hand on a bluestone mill as shown
Period processes
Related category: Complexity, Exploration
All cooking was done over a wood fire. A pound of the grain was toasted on the fire in an attempt to simulate the inconsistencies and smokiness of a medieval malthouse.
Modern brewing techniques infuse hops during the wort boil. This recipe calls for the water to be hopped prior to the mash.
The recipe says to add the hopped water to the grains. While this method may cause a lumpy or stuck mash, I raked the mash to avoid this problem. There is no mention of a mash tun to hold the heat during the two hour rest, so the water was added to a separate kettle. One concession was the use of a mesh grain bag. This helped keep the drain in the kettle from clogging with spent malt.
The wort was drained without sparging with additional water, as that is not indicated in the instructions. However, Digby was concerned with clarity (re:”Have a care the Malt be not too small ground; for then it will never make clear Ale.”). Therefore, I recirculated the wort through the mash until it ran clear. This is a typical period practice.
The recipe calls for a primary fermentation in the brew kettle, which was done.
Instead of an oak barrel, I used a stainless steel keg, and added an oak spiral in an attempt to simulate the barrel. This is as close as one can get to a cask ale without using an actual cask.
Additional Information
Related category: Authenticity, Exploration
Medieval Measurements
Dry Measures 1 Sextarius = 1 Sester = 1 Sema = 1 Quarter = 1 Seam = 8 Bushels 1 Bushel = 1 Sceppe = 4 Quartalium = 4 Pecks 1 Peck = 2 Gallons (dry) = 8 Quarts (dry) = 16 Pints (dry) = 32 Ounces (dry)
A “gallon” of Water “In the British Isles a major problem adding to metrological proliferation was that the same measuring units had different standards in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Chief among these units were the acre, pint, ell, furlong, gallon, mile, and tun; all immensely popular measures. As seen earlier in another context, those of Scotland were often double, triple, or quadruple the size of their English equivalents, while those of Ireland were usually slightly smaller.” (Zupko) Trying to determine what exactly is a “gallon” or a “pint” is tricky. In this case we went with a gallon of water being the same as a gallon of ale in period. That is, “in England and later Great Britain, at least as early as 15ᵗʰ century – 1824, a unit of liquid capacity used for ale, = 282 cubic inches.” (Crouch)
A modern gallon is 231 cubic inches. So a medieval gallon (ale) is 282/231 or 1.22 modern gallons, or about 5 quarts/4.75 litres.
What’s a “peck”? “Thus I conclude that the bushel of malt would contain 38.1 pounds of malted barley, which means that the quarter of malt contains 304.8 pounds.” (Olsen). Therefore a peck, being ¼ of a bushel, equals 38.1/4 or 9½ modern pounds.
Water Hardness
As mentioned, the hardness of the water in the British Isles varies.The geography of southern England is mostly chalk. Water that is classified as hard to very hard has over 200 PPM. Many areas in the South East of England, including London and Suffolk have water that is this hard.
The TDS of our local spring water is 395 and has a pH of 5.6.
Gallery
Click on the thumbnail to view a larger image.
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Toasting some grains -
Manual bluestone grain mill -
Grinding grains on a quern -
Grains ready for brewing, also known as "grist" -
Hops on the bine -
Hops drying in the sun -
Boiling hops -
Mashing grains in the hopped water -
Everything ion the keg to ferment -
Finished ale in a (non-period)glass to show off the clarity
Documentation is available online here .
Bibliography and Glossary
Related category: Exploration
Glossary
berm(e n. Also beorme, barm(e. Etymology OE beorma Definitions (Senses and Subsenses) 1.(a) Froth or scum which rises to the top of fermenting ale or beer; (b) brewer's yeast; (c) barm or yeast used in baking; also, leaven; (d) ingredient used in alchemy and medicine; prob., same as (a).
walm(e n. Also welme, (N) whalme & (in place names) wilmes-, waume(s)-, wames-, waunce-, wanes-. Etymology OE wilm, welm, wælm. Definitions (Senses and Subsenses) 1. A gushing or bubbling forth of water; a spring, stream; also, the water of a spring or well; (b) a surging bubble in a boiling liquid, the bubbling of a liquid heated to the boiling point; boillen a (ones a, with o) ~, to bring (a liquid, ingredients) just to a boil, heat until or as long as there is one rolling bubble; yeven god walmes, let (a liquid) boil at a good rolling boil, boil thoroughly; (c) in surnames and place names [see Smith PNElem. 2.253].
EKBG Panel Categories Defined
- Documentation (15 pts): The extent to which the entrant demonstrates knowledge of the beverage's creation and history in the Middle Ages/Renaissance.
- Authenticity (15 pts): The extent to which the beverage is representative of a Middle Age/Renaissance beverage.
- Complexity (15 pts): The involvement of the procedures that the brewer has undertaken in an effort to simulate the processes used in Middle Age/Renaissance brewing. The level of difficulty of the process used in the creation of the entry.
- Exploration (15 pts): The degree to which the artisan digs into and investigates the example(s) that inspires their work in order to develop their process.
- Workmanship (30 pts): The extent to which the entry matches what we know of the characters of the beverage or style
- Aesthetics (10 pts): The extent to which the entry is presented appropriately and pleasantly, and the drinkability of the beverage itself.
Bibliography
Digby, Kenelm, The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Kenelm Digby, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16441/16441-h/16441-h.htm
TABLES OF MEDIEVAL ENGLISH WAGES AND PRICES, http://www.medievalcoinage.com/prices/medievalprices.htm
Middle English Dictionary, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED51598#:~:text=Definitions (Senses and Subsenses),2.253].
Brewer’s Friend, Mash Infusion Schedule Calculator, https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/#
Olsen, Peter. On the Quarter of Malt and the Hogshead of Beer - Self-published, 2012 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p6K3vqx2S-9rMioKimfab4kcURiFbKoX1RCuMIHr7jM/edit
Zupko, Ronald Edward, Revolution In Measurement, https://dn790004.ca.archive.org/0/items/bub_gb_uYCNFkRgXCoC/bub_gb_uYCNFkRgXCoC.pdf
Henry Crouch, A Complete View of the British Customs. Part the Second. London: Printed for John Osborn and Thomas Longman at the Ship in Pater-noster-Row, 1728. Appendix, page 36.
Leech, Caleb, Managing Horticulturist, The Met Cloisters, Survival and Adaptation: Bonnefont's Corne Field. June 23, 2016 https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/in-season/2016/corne-fields Pretty, J. N. (1990). Sustainable Agriculture in the Middle Ages: The English Manor. The Agricultural History Review, 38(1), 1–19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40274710 Hart, Adrian, Hart Water Softeners, Blog, Hard Water Map UK, https://www.hartwater.co.uk/blog/hard-water-map-uk/