Posted on 08/12/2007 4:39:08 PM PDT by blam
How Bronze Age man enjoyed his pint
Declan Moore and Billy Quinn have an ancient beer theory
Bronze Age Irishmen were as fond of their beer as their 21st century counterparts, it has been claimed. Two archaeologists have put forward a theory that one of the most common ancient monuments seen around Ireland may have been used for brewing ale.
Fulacht fiadh - horseshoe shaped grass covered mounds - are conventionally thought of as ancient cooking spots.
But the archaeologists from Galway believe they could have been the country's earliest breweries.
To prove their theory that an extensive brewing tradition existed in Ireland as far back as 2500BC, Billy Quinn and Declan Moore recreated the process.
After just three hours of hard work - and three days of patiently waiting for their brew to ferment - the men enjoyed a pint with a taste of history attached.
Three hundred litres of water were transformed into a "very palatable" 110 litres of frothy ale.
The archaeologists are producing their fourth batch of beer
"It tasted really good," said Mr Quinn, of Moore Archaeological and Environmental Services (Moore Group).
"We were very surprised. Even a professional brewer we had working with us compared it favourably to his own.
"It tasted like a traditional ale, but was sweeter because there were no hops in it."
Mr Quinn said it was while nursing a hangover one morning - and discussing the natural predisposition of all men to seek means to alter their minds - that he came to the startling conclusion that fulachts could have been the country's earliest breweries.
The two archaeologists set out to investigate their theory in a journey which took them across Europe in search of further evidence. On their return, they used an old wooden trough filled with water and added heated stones.
After achieving an optimum temperature of 60-70°C they began to add milled barley and approximately 45 minutes later simply baled the final product into fermentation vessels.
The men have since made two more batches of beer - the second was stronger and the third was "a disaster" - but they have started work on batch number four which the hope will taste as good as their first.
The archaeologists' experiment is described in detail in next month's edition of the magazine, Archaeology Ireland.
Damn Monk Looter guy been for years and years he is original guy he is immortal you can’t rid of Looter guy
He seemed to be the only one in the entire city of New Orleans who knew what the hell he was doing! Maybe this explains why!
Also remember that beer is food. Beer has a lot of calories, and is a lot easier to make than barley bread, which is a pain and involves a lot of hard work.
Barley does have the advantage that it is easier to malt, which means to germinate then dry before the plant grows. This produces the enzymes needed to convert its carbohydrates to sugars, which are needed for brewing.
It also grows in cold and salty ground, even colder than where rye will grow.
So either you have to dry it, hull it, grind it, etc., to make bread, or just mash it up for beer.
Better living through archaeology!
Now we need to find the ancient site where they made pretzels!
I'll keep an eye out!
But I do archaeology in the western US, and I suspect we need to look to the Old World for the beer munchies!
It makes me wonder if there is something magic about yeast, because that parallels my experience as a teenager.
My Irish grandmother was reminiscing about Prohibition. she lived in PA at the time, and "Felt sorry for her German neighbors who missed their beer".
So she regaled us with "Taking a can of Blue Ribbon Hop Flavored Barley Malt syrup, five pounds of sugar and five gallons of water and a yeast cake and...."
At some point that Spring, puzzled by the sudden popularity of the neighborhood nerd, my sister discovered our "Down by the pond" brewery, capping machine nailed to a stump, and a covered pottery vessel liberated from the cellar. She squealed. My father busted us, and was yelling and lecturing. The bottles were on strings, floating low in the pond, and were staying a pleasant 50° or so.
I pulled one in and opened it and handed it to him.
His eyes popped out and he said, "GEt all this stuff into the cellar!!"
I made it for years, and actually miss it, when I remember it. I may just dust off the old skills..it was full bodied and very malty, no doubt not a Great Beer, but still...
I wonder if that malt syrup is still around? It was a large can with (haha) Muffin recipes on the side!
And, the process kills all the (possibly deadly) bacteria.
Diluted wine was often used to sterilize water.
Yes, he has turned his life around.
He has taken a shower, gotten a job and learned proper English.
Why can’t I do “scientific” research projects like this? [I’m a geologist, I can only study what kinds of rocks the prehistoric men threw at each other when they were drunk]
From what I know about geologists, I’m sure they’d be pretty good at this kind of “research”.
What I would like to know is how it only took three days to brew the beer?
The guy on the right reminds me of Martin Short!
Martin Short as Ed Grimely
I'll go for making beer. Less work, more fun.
“I wonder if that malt syrup is still around? It was a large can with (haha) Muffin recipes on the side!”
I still see malt syrup in grocery stores. I buy mine by the pound at the Brewer’s supply. I remember my mother telling me about my grandfather making beer during prohibition and the bottles exploding in the cellar. It made my grandmother furious that he was making beer but she didn’t mind at all that he was a bootlegger for my uncle down in Hickman County Tennessee. Go figure.
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