Beer recipe...
The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list...
Posted on 11/19/2011 8:35:32 AM PST by Pharmboy
In the spirit of authenticity, a home-brewer attempts to recreate a founding father's beer recipe.
It was last Thanksgiving. I had my heirloom turkey, local yams and organic cranberries. I had donned my waxed-canvas apron and consulted vintage recipe books. I was ready to eat. But on this, the most heritage-chic of holidays, what should one drink?
Wine felt too stuffy; a six-pack not ceremonial enough. I was stumped. Then I discovered George Washington's beer. Or, more precisely, a recipe for it, referenced in a few old home-brewing books. Scribbled on the last page of one of Washington's journals is a short, cryptic note: "Take a large Sifter full of Bran," it begins. Add hops "to your Taste," boil, mix in three gallons of molasses, ferment—"let it work"—for a week, then enjoy. Rugged Americana, from the pen of our most patriarchal founding father. This would be perfect. My only question: How would it pair with turkey?
...Guests at Mount Vernon reported home that their host's silver pint rarely left his side at dinner...
The docents at Washington's Mount Vernon estate recreated his recipe a few years ago, and I called them for advice. ...I asked Dennis Pogue, who runs Mount Vernon's rye whiskey still. "The molasses gives it a real...different flavor," he said. "It didn't taste very good."
That was the problem with Washington's otherwise normal home-brew: molasses. Few brewers use molasses these days because when it ferments it turns sour and sharp, but Washington had no choice. Barley didn't grow well in the eastern Colonies, so he had to get his sugar elsewhere. I decided to keep the molasses, but cover up the flavor with chunks of roasted pumpkin, a few anise stars, ginger, cinnamon and licorice—odd today, but common beer ingredients at that time.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Beer recipe...
The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list...
“I had my heirloom turkey, local yams and organic cranberries.”
...sounds like an elitist, Obama voting liberal. We have bloody marys made with “Zing Zang” bloody mix and Titos Vodka”. Place a 6 inch slice of celery in it along with a wedge of lemon. Bingo! You’ve got T-giving.
The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?
Visited the City Tavern in Philadelphia in October where they reproduce beers made by the founders. I really liked the one attributed to Washington(Porter), Hamilton and Jefferson. Franklin’s had a bit of spruce which I didn’t care for. My wife really liked the champagne shrub. It gave me a whole new appreciation for the founding Dad’s. They really liked their pint.
George Washington, like most of the Founders, regularly imbibed a variety of fortified beverages. John Adams, upon getting out of bed every day, drank a pint of hard cider. John Hancock drank Madeira by the cask. It could be argued that the Republic was founded “under the influence.”
Founders Centennial 7 or Red Brick DIPA does it for me these days; also I quit paying any attention at all to online homebrewers—absolutely no boiling of extract malt for me anymore.
I even make small batches in 2-gal MrBeer fermenters, etc.
Once ya learn the so-called, self-proclaimed “experts” are just that, ya’ve got a good brew!
Alcohol was a safer choice than most water in those days.
“Alcohol was a safer choice than most water in those days.”
Bingo!
That’s why sailors drank grog. (alcohol mixed with water) Water in a barrel would be pretty nasty if not downright deadly after a month or so and the alcohol kept the bacteria at bay.
I’m guessing that rural people probably drank more water than urban people simply because it was easier to find safe sources.
I remember an old saying;
“In wine there is truth.”
“In beer there is strength.”
“In water there is bacteria.”
It has become one of my guiding principles.
Drink a Sam Adams. That should be close enough.
But, as I tell my wife, organic produce may be more likely to get contaminated with E.coli and other bad bugs.
Weren't those Salmonella sprouts in Germany from a few months back organic?
And yes, they were quite the imbibers, our Founders...
“Heirloom” tomatoes and other vegs - it refers to the older varieties. The ones that are not genetically fiddled with. The reason some prefer to grow heirlooms are because you can harvest and store the seeds, and the produce does tend to have better flavor. Heirloom seeds will grow a true variant of the parent plant.
The more common seeds, non-heirloom types, that one tends to find in most retail stores, will only produce for that one season they are planted. If you were to save and plant seeds from those, you will not get the same quality/variety of the plant the seed was harvested from. Actually many seeds won’t (re)produce at all.
Bottom line is that most heirloom vegetables have more and better flavor. I choose to grow heirlooms because of the taste factor, with the bonus that we can save the seeds - never have to buy seeds more than the initial layout. Win-win.
(I wonder what an heirloom turkey is though)
I’m wondering, too. Sounds like a tough old bird on its last leg.
Heirloom turkeys are varieties that once were widely raised, but have since gone out of commercial favor. These "retro" birds are sometimes referred to with different names and represent a small, but growing movement in California.
I learn something every day hanging around Free Republic...
Mixing the rum ration with water caused the mixture to go sour if not consumed the same day. This prevented sailors from "saving up" their rations for a roaring drunk later.
The phrase "Three sheets to the wind" comes from this era.
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
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