IOW, I think "Gill" would be a good guess but not the right answer. I think it is actually "Gallons," as yefragetuwrabrumuy and Pharmboy wrote.
Posted on 05/06/2011 7:55:23 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Before devoting his time to defeating the British in the Revolutionary War and being the first president of the United States, George Washington enjoyed brewing his own beer.
A handwritten recipe for "small beer" created by Washington in 1757, while serving in the Virginia militia, has been published by the New York Public Library. The recipe, which was found in Washington's "Notebook as a Virginia Colonel", lists the ingredients as bran hops, yeast and molasses –...
"Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your Taste," Washington instructed. "Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall into a cooler [and] put in 3 Gall Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot." "Let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yeast if the Weather is very Cold [then] cover it over with a Blanket & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask".
A 15-gallon batch of Washington's beer is to be made to mark the library's centenary by the Coney Island Brewing Company, under the name "Fortitude's Founding Father Brew".
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
George Washington’s short beer recipe.
(Edited for clarity and modern measurement.)
Boil a large sifter (about 1 dry quart) of bran hops
in 30 gallons of water (refreshing water as needed)
3 hours, then strain into a cooler and put in 3 gallons
of molasses while the water is scalding hot.
Let this stand until it is little more than blood warm
(1-2 hours), then add a quart of brewer’s yeast.
Then cover it over with a blanket if it is cold out and
let it work in the cooler 24 hours, then put it into the
Cask (36 gallons).
(For a more modern taste, substitute malted barley
for the molasses. Barley is a preferred ingredient
because it contains an enzyme that readily converts
starches to sugars. However, this requires additional
straining, and possibly for the beer to be siphoned off
the precipitate solids before casking.)
Thank you for the info, Irish guard. Gee, I can my own tomatoes, peaches, jellies, jams etc... perhaps I will start making my own “Mom” beer!!
I do not like beer. Never have and never will; however, my hubby brews an Australian Honey Ale that is very, very tasty. The other stuff his beer drinking buds enjoy. It’s worth trying and makes a very good home school chemistry project. My third daughter was his helper for a couple of years and she learned alot about the differences between fermentation and culturing. How yeast grows, ‘works’ etc. If you are really interested in this freepmail me and I will send the names of the books that helped my husband get started and where he gets his yeast and other supplies online.
Please add me to your list. Thanks!
Thank you for your helpful addition to this thread.
Home brew ping (from suburban Philadelphia).
Thanks for that translation/modernized version. Now I just need the glassware. Good Drinking to you.
Its not difficult and I’ve been doing it for years. Its a little messy if you roll your own grains and use recipes but it will turn out a good beer for way less than buying it in the store. Lately we have turned lazy and we use the kits from Mr Beer online. They are delicious, easy to make and turn out really well every time. Each kit makes about 4 gallons of beer. A ten year old child could do it.
I don’t like the taste of beer, so I can’t offer an assessment of the taste. He just brewed his first batch, and he hasn’t said how it turned out yet. But he is determined to develop and perfect his technique so that he can proudly share his custom brew with friends and fellow beer snobs.
I'm happy to give anyone some further background if they care......
Cool. thanks for posting.
Now if I could just grow my own tobacco in MN. to make my own cigars.
“What the he** is a Gall?”
It is that little appendage in your gut that has no known use but it tends to act up once in awhile and creates all sorts of he**
IOW, I think "Gill" would be a good guess but not the right answer. I think it is actually "Gallons," as yefragetuwrabrumuy and Pharmboy wrote.
It makes sense, because the traditional beer cask was 36 gallons.
30 gallons water + 3 gallons molasses + 1 quart yeast + some airspace and there you are.
Nice work...now, could you please start on the birth certificate? ( ;-D
May 7th is “National Home Brew Day!” - - you’re probably as ready as you’ll ever be... go for it.
For later.
I had the idea back that a home brew system could be made much like a side by side washer/dryer combo, and use the same hookups to both vent the CO2, wash out the system after use with city water, and flush the sludge down the drain. Here’s the idea.
The “washer” side is somewhat like a washer, in that it has an agitator to help with the fermentation process. To it you first add, say 20 gallons of purified water, pre-made bottled concentrated wort, additional sugars and yeast. Then you seal the lid with four wing clamps, and set the machine to its ferment cycle.
It then ferments the liquid at optimal temperature, while venting off the excess CO2. The final step is to filter the beer as it is pumped into the “dryer”. The whole process is about two weeks.
The “dryer” side is actually a portable, combination beer keg and refrigerator, and could even incorporate a bottling mechanism, in which a slight teaspoon of sugar (for a little extra fermentation) could be added to an empty bottle, then it was filled with beer, and capped, in a simple process. Thus creating a pressurized bottle with beer foam. After a few days in a cool, dark place it could be refrigerated.
Otherwise, just roll the “dryer” to where you want it to be and have cold beer from the tap.
While you are enjoying the beer from the “dryer”, you can first run a cleaning cycle in the washer, with tap water, followed by a rinsing with purified water, then start the cycle again.
Most states permit home brewing, except Alabama, which generally doesn’t do anything about it, allowing 100 gallons of beer per person per year and up to a maximum of 200 gallons per household annually when there are two or more adults over the age of 21 residing in the household.
Few care if you brew more, unless you try to sell it.
Ben Franklin’s Tavern Spruce is my personal favorite of that series of beer.
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