(And these guys said I couldn't take their picture unless I let them pick something out for me.)
Posted on 06/10/2009 7:53:01 PM PDT by grey_whiskers
This summer, how would you like to lean back in your lawn chair and toss back a brew made from what may be the world’s oldest recipe for beer? Called Chateau Jiahu, this blend of rice, honey and fruit was intoxicating Chinese villagers 9,000 years ago—long before grape wine had its start in Mesopotamia.
University of Pennsylvania molecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern first described the beverage in 2005 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences based on chemical traces from pottery in the Neolithic village of Jiahu in Northern China. Soon after, McGovern called on Sam Calagione at the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Del., to do the ancient recipe justice. Later this month, you can give it a try when a new batch hits shelves across the country. The Beer Babe blog was impressed, writing that it is “very smooth,” and “not overly sweet.”
(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...
It's mead.
It’s not. I tried it in early May, and it was pretty good. Tasted kind of like a mix of beer and light wine.
It’s been available here in CT for a few months.
MUCH better than their other 'ancient' recipe offering, 'Midas Touch' which I found not so tasty.
And liked it?
If so, I may have to see if I can get some to try it.
Huh, according to the website, it was originally released in 2006. I only recall seeing it this Spring in my local ‘decent beer’ package store.
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occassional-rarities/chateau-jiahu.htm
Yes, I definitely liked it. More akin to a Framboise or Kriek or something along those lines than your typical micro-brew, but without the sweet/sour part of the Lambics. You can tell the muscat grapes are in there, and the Chrysanthemum is quite noticeable when you pour it.
In fact, I might have to get one for this weekend...
Home brew, meat on the B-B-Q that you killed with your own hands, as many weapons as you can make and all the narcotics you can handle from the forest around you... and no gummint busybody telling you what you can or can’t do. Them’s were the days.
I defer to your greater knowledge. I thought anything that used fermented honey, that didn’t have hops, was mead.
‘Chateau Jihad?’ ;)
The b@$tards!
;)
Mead: Honey, water, and yeast.
Pyment: Honey, water, yeast, and fruit.
Mytheglin: Honey, water, yeast, and herbs.
There are other sub-classifications which I won't bore you with. Suffice it to say that a properly brewed mead type beverage is a gift from God.
If one were to add maple syrup and blueberries to the honey and water and then let it ferment and settle for say 2-3 months one would have a beverage that reaches about 12% ABV with the color of a purple sunset and a wonderful dry, maple flavor.
By the end of the second bottle...WOOHOO!
In ancient times it was a Death Penalty offense to harm the tribes mead maker!
Best,
L
I'd say that would be a really good rule for present times, also. ;^)
I went to a supermercado and they had this similar stuff on sale: $3 for a six pack. That was the first red flag, but it went unheeded, because I'm a slave to a bargain. My wife swears I would purchase cancer if it was 50% off.
Anyway, it was fermented agave plant, the same plant tequila comes from.
It was the nastiest, greasiest brew to ever cross my palate, and that is saying something, as I am a homebrewer who drinks his own product, good or bad. It was a struggle to make it through an entire 12-ounce can.
Anyway, I highly recomend it, if only as a humbling experience.
(And these guys said I couldn't take their picture unless I let them pick something out for me.)
Maybe this explains why every third Newcastle I open tastes like Conan The Barbarians' cranny: It's the clear glass.
Luckily for me, when I homebrew I put the product in 2-liter green plastic soda bottles. It still tastes like cranny, but it's just a tad less crannylicious
While it's possible to make alcoholic concoctions that don't contain barley or other grains, as a brewer, I wouldn't call them beer. Beer without barley is like barbecue without meat. A certain percentage of the population might find that appealing, but most of us would not.
>>If one were to add maple syrup and blueberries to the honey...
Hmm, that sounds heavenly. Any recipes online for that? I’ve used honey in some of my homebrews, but never done a full mead. You probably need champagne yeast for that?
12 pounds of honey.
1 pound of maple syrup
1 quart of blueberries
water in the usual quantity.
champagne yeast.
I let it ferment for about 90 days. Then before bottling it I used charging sugar and put it into punted champagne bottles.
I called it Lurkers Sparkling Blueberry Mead. (yea, technically it's a pyment but wth..)
Wicked good stuff.
I think I’ll give it a try if I come across it (whatever it’s going to be called).
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