Some short translations of Yeast Ring quotes.

My research into yeast storage devices located several Scandinavian brief mentions and short articles of general yeast devices and in specific, the yeast ring. I am particularly intrigued by the yeast ring, and as I found it to be period for the SCA time of study I am now learning to make one from scratch, from a Birch tree my son and I took down in the back swamp. In the next couple of weeks I will upload a translation or two, in English, of relevant quotes and articles published in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. When all is set and done, and my yeast ring is finished and being inoculated by my next brew, the information will be collated and published in a single volume. For now, have fun and enjoy the arcane practice of dry yeast storage. Go forth - and multiply!


Dalby I gamla tider: Karl L:son Bergkvists uppteckningar.
Dalby in old times: Karl L:son Bergkvists records.
By Karl L:son Bergkvist, 1999.
Translated by Elska á Fjárfelli (Susan Verberg)

The yeast was mixed in a separate, warm or heated scoop of the first wort, which was then fermented [proofed] and poured into the wort in the fermenter. During the yeast's addition, the wort's temperature was tested with the finger to prevent the fermentation substances [yeast] to be destroyed by excessive heat. With a bucket scoop, it was poured into the liquid as then it would be well mixed. The fermenter was allowed to stand with its lid closed at normal room temperature for about one day. Too high a temperature made the drink sour.

The yeast floating on top of the fermenting wort was called seed yeast. In this, one used to lay an unmarked or grooved hardwood log, the yeast log. The yeast stored in the crannies could be used at the next brew by soaking it in warm wort.

Original text:
I en kvarsparad varm eller uppvärmd skvätt av den första vörten blandades jäst, som sedan den jäst upp tillsattes den vört som hällts i jäskaret. Vid jästens tillsättande prövades vörtens temperatur med fingret för att man inte skulle riskera att jäsämnena förstördes genom för hög värme. Med en skopa öste man om i drickat för att det skulle bli väl blandat. Jäskärlet fick stå med pålagt lock i vanlig rumstemperatur under ca ett dygn. För hög temperatur gjorde drickat surt. 

Den ovanpå den jäsande vörten flytande jästen benämndes frôjäst. I denna brukade läggas en obarkad eller räfflad lövträdskubb, jästkubb. Den i räfflorna magasinerade jästen kunde användas vid nästa brygd genom att blötas av i varm vört.


Övre Dalarnes bondekultur
Upper Dalarne’s peasant culture
By Lars Levander, 1947.
Translated by Elska á Fjárfelli (Susan Verberg) & THL Phelippe “Pippi” Ulfsdotter (Jill Buxrud). 

[447] For the cooking on the embers they used a special ember pan in Alvdalen, 4 inches in diameter and with a shaft attached to the pan by the edge hammered out and folded around the flat shaft. Its free end was hammered flat and folded into a square sleeve for lengthening with a detachable wooden shaft (pan stick). The ember cakes were turned over with a thin wooden spatula (ember pan spatula). The frying pan was placed either directly on the embers in the stove or on a ring (pan ring, see above). The panring was used especially when the fire had just been started and there were therefore no embers in the stove yet. It also appeared that the panring was used for [448] frying in the oven heat. The ember pan was always placed directly on the embers. When the frying pan was to be placed on a table or a sideboard, one would use the panring as a trivet, it was either braided bark from the juniper bush or composed of a large number of small pieces of wood. Instead of such a complicated panring a simple wooden cross could also be used.

Fig. 519. Panring (of assembled wooden pieces), Leksand. ULMA.

Original text:
För gräddning på glöden användes i Alvdalen en särskild
glödkakpanna, 4 tum i diameter och med ett skaft, som var fäst vid pannan genom att pannans kant smitts ut och vikts omkring det platta skaftet. Dettas fria ände var utsmidd och viken till en fyrkantig hylsa för förlangning med träskaft (pannpinne). Glödkakorna vändes vid gräddningen med en tunnsnickrad träspade (glödkakspade). Stekpannan ställdes antingen direkt på glöden i spisen eller också på en pannring (pannfot; se ovan). Pannringen användes särskilt, da elden nyss var uppgjord och det alltså ej fanns någon glöd i spisen. Det förekom även, att stekpannan användes för [448] stekning i bakugnsvärmen. Glödkakpannan ställdes alltid direkt på glöden. Då stekpannan någon gång skulle placeras på bord eller bordstol, använde man som underlag en pannring, som antingen var flätad av enbark a eller sammansatt av ett start antal små träbitar. I stället för en dylik pannring kunde också ett enkelt träkors användas.

Fig. 519. Pannring (av hopsatta träbitar), Leksand. ULMA.




Jästkrans
The Swedish Wikipedia.
Translated by Elska á Fjárfelli (Susan Verberg)

Yeast wreath was a wreath that was placed in the beer basket during beer brewing or in the dough tray when baking. After fermentation, the yeast wreath was picked up and allowed to dry and stored in a cold, dry place. Yeast culture thus became quartz sitting in the cavities of the yeast wreath and could be used at the next back or brewing.

In southern Sweden and Denmark, it was most often made of wood shavings joined by small sticks that were inserted into one another in an intricate pattern. The yeast wreath could also be made of braided straw. In Norway and old-fashioned areas in central Sweden, instead, a wooden cubicle was used in birch, a so-called yeast block or yeast log.

Original text:
Jästkrans var en krans som lades i ölkaret vid ölbryggning eller i degkaret vid bakning. Efter färdig jäsning togs jästkransen upp och fick torka och förvarades på ett kallt, torrt ställe. Jästkultur blev därmed kvarsittande i jästkransens håligheter och kunde brukas vid nästa bak eller bryggning.

I Sydsverige och Danmark tillverkades den oftast av träspånor sammanfogade av små pinnar som stuckits in i varandra i ett intrikat mönster. Jästkransen kunde även tillverkas av flätad halm. I Norge och ålderdomligare trakter i Mellansverige användes i stället en träkubbe i björk, en så kallad jästkubb eller jäststock.
 https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A4stkrans?oldid=34265377

The Rise and Fall of Gruit.

Everything you ever wanted to learn about gruit - referenced throughout and with an hyperlinked bibliography, when available.

"Gruit as a product changed throughout its history. From a beer additive revered for its fermenting powers, it morphed into a beer with a reputation for powerful headache causing herbals. The intertwined history of the beer additive and the beer taxation helped muddy the historic waters and before one realized the exact nature of gruit as a product was lost. From piecing together the many different puzzle pieces an interesting picture emerges: one of gruit not as just a handful of brewing herbs, but as a powerful and deemed necessary beer fortifier." more...
 

Now available to read and download from Academia.edu at:

https://www.academia.edu/35704222/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Gruit

 

Carl Pause Das Grutbier: Biergenuss ohne Hopfen; Gruit beer, beer enjoyment without hops.

Carl Pause, Das Grutbier: Biergenuss ohne Hopfen. In: Carl Pause (Hrsg. ), Neuss und das Altbier. Neuss 2013, 33-38.
https://www.academia.edu/20439957/Carl_Pause_Das_Grutbier_Biergenuss_ohne_Hopfen._In_Carl_Pause_Hrsg._Neuss_und_das_Altbier._Neuss_2013_33-38?auto=download
Translated by Susan Verberg, 2017.
 
Gruit beer , beer enjoyment without hops.
In the Middle Ages on the Lower Rhine, they drank a herbal beer which was called grut, gruit, gruyt or Grüssing, after its spices addition and which was known in Neuss under the name Graut. It was brewed with the addition of leaves and fruits of the bog myrtle (gagel) and is therefore known today as gagelbeer. From the 14th century onwards grut beer was gradually displaced by hop beer. 

Grutbier played a considerable part not only for professional brewers, but also for the home brewing citizens in the cities and the country peasants. In the Middle Ages, no method was known to cool the wort during the manufacturing process. Therefore Grutbier was like today’s Altbier top fermented at fermentation temperatures around 18 ° C and brewed in summer. In a Neuss council decision of 1357, June is even referred to as "Bramant" – brew month. 

 

Grutbier is mentioned for the first time in a 974 AD privilege of Emperor Otto II (955-983) for the church of Liège.2 Presumably, grutbier is even older, as already in early medieval England a similar herbal beer was known.3 Medieval Bavaria knew a drink called "gräwzzing", "greuzenich", "gräussing" or "greissing" as well.4

The production of grut was a sovereign right, which was passed on or leased by the respective sovereign for payment to cities or private individuals. The seasoning additive was produced in special Gruthauses. In Neuss, the abbess of the Quirinus monastery was the owner of the grut courthouse. As early as 1283, a grove house and a gardener named Konrad were documented in writing. The Gruthaus was located on modern day’s Münsterplatz in the area of the monastery of St. Quirin. Supposedly it already existed in the time of Archbishop Anno II of Koln (1056-1075), but this reference comes from a document faked in the 13th century.5 

How the Neusser made their grut is unfortunately not known. After all, it seems to have been of such good quality that in 1408 the people of Koln dubbed it better than their own. However, information on the composition of Grut is available from other cities. They [these ingredients] are more or less valid for Neuss as well.

Photo: in the Lower Rhine bogs bog myrtle as well as peat was collected, which served in the preparation of the grut as a spice and as a fuel.

From 1272 grut right was in the hands of the city of Wesel. Because of this ingredients purchased for the production of grut are listed in the municipal accounting books.7 The main component of grut was thus "gagelkruyt", which in the sources also appears under the Latin name of "custum". The gagel, or bog myrtle, botanical name of Myrica gale, was bought mostly in the Netherlands, especially in Deventer, Zwolle, Dordrecht and Arnhem, but also directly supplied to the Wesel citizens. It was the most expensive part of the grut. In addition, resin, "siler montanus" and the berries of the laurel tree were added to the grut. These ingredients were mostly bought in Koln.

The term "siler montanus" refers to an alpine plant known as cumin, cumin or mountain laser herb (Laserpitium siler).8 Obviously, it is identical to the plant known in Dutch sources as the "Scherpetange", "Scharpe Tonge " or "serpents-tonghe" and, as can be seen from a contemporary description, possesses 9 long, slender, serpent-like leaves.10 Unusual purchases appear in the Weseler accounts: those for "pro cespitibus fodiendis"- literal translation : "To dig the lawn" are described. Likely the digging of peat is meant, which would not go into the grut, but was used as a fuel.11 Probably the grut mixture was heated a peat fire during the manufacturing process, from which it received a smokey flavor, as one still finds today in Scottish whiskey.

Photo: The Bergkümmel or laserwort (Laserpitium siler) needed for the grut had to be imported from the Alps.

In Koln, the grut was produced in a similar way as in Wesel, but using additional spices.12 This can be seen from a purchase account from the year 1391 13 and a written down 1393 inventory from the Koln Gruthaus.14 In addition to bog myrtle, resin, laurel berries 15, Kümmel [caraway] 16,
Feldkümmel [also caraway] 17, anise, laserwort and ginger 18 were added. The latter was sold dried in sacks in Koln and also "green" (as a fresh root) in ceramic vessels.19 Furthermore, they noted "gegirde spryen", which the Koln Gruthaus sourced from millers and brewers.20

[translator: the 1391 and 1393 accounts from Koln do not list laserwort or its variants. While the identification of bog myrtle, resin, laurel berries, anise and juniper (not ginger) is conclusive, the identification of caraway is not confirmed, especially as here both kroun/karoem and koem/koempt are translated as one and the same, while the accounts note them as two separate herbs/entries]

Behind the "sprijen" or "spelschen sprijen" hides the fermented chaff of spelt (Triticum spelta) .21 Spelt belongs to the cereals. Its spikes are fragile and its kernels are firmly surrounded by husks. The spelt grains can therefore not be released by threshing, like those of other cereals. Rather, a so-called "Gerbgang" is necessary in which the grains are ground between two millstones in a wide grinding gap. As a by-product, the milling process produces "sprijen" containing flour dust and, on the outside of the husks, yeast cultures similar to grapes. When the husks are moistened, they begin to ferment.

The term grut probably derives from this spelt “sprij”, which is related to the words "Gries" and "Grütze": According to the Etymologicum Linguae Teutonicae, a dictionary published in Amsterdam in 1599 by Cornelius Kiliaan, "gruys-bier" or "gruysen beer" was a drink called "ex furfuribus cocta", it was thus cooked from bran, semolina or chaff.22

Photo: Until the 19th century, beer kegs were held together not by iron rings but by hazel rods.

In the Latin sources the word grut is translated as "fermentum", the grüter is called "fermentarius". Obviously, the grut was a fermented herbal mixture that also contained yeast. In the Gruthaus, the individual herbs were mixed together with the fermented husks to a pulp, which was then heated and dried. The preparation of the grut included a process that is described as "kro°ut ein heuft zo setzen" [set to rise]. This is probably the top fermentation of the herbal porridge, which was set in motion by the addition of the fermented spelt sprij. What the fermentation process lacked in detail, the brewing equipment used is another guess. In the Koln Gruthaus in 1391 the "ember" (bucket), "better" (broom) and a "schyf" (bushel) belonged to the equipment. Also used here were a sümmer (cereal mass), "zeymen" (sieves), a "schouppe" (scoop), a grut vat lid, a kettle, ropes, string, various "manden" (handled baskets) and a "meijscheijt" (mash separator). In addition, in 1420, a copper kettle was ordered and a stove was set.

Photo: Bierbrauer bei der Arbeit, after Jost Ammanns „Ständebuch“, 1568.

After drying, the ferment was ground in the Grutmühle, a horse mill. The resulting powder, a spice mixture with dry yeast, was sold to the Brauer, which then put it into the mash and set with it the fermentation of the wort in motion. Obviously, the grut did not last long because it was released in relatively small quantities. The herbs contained in it should have given the beer a sharp, slightly sweet taste with a bitter note.

In Koln, the grut was prepared according to different recipes: in 1420 Koln used only spelt chaff, bog myrtle, cumin and resin and a small amount of hops.26 In Duisburg also used cherries, probably sour cherries, in the grut.27
 

In the end, however, the production of grut was quite uniform, as the same ingredients were used in neighboring Westphalia and Lower Saxony as on the Lower Rhine. Thus, the Osnabrücker grut contained bog myrtle, spelt, "Scharpetangen", laurel and resin.28 In Westphalia, bog myrtle was sometimes referred to as Porst, which has caused some confusion among the historians, as it was also used for marsh rosemary (Ledum palustre L.).29

The written sources also provide information about the malt used for the Grutbier: in June of 1408, the city council of Koln had beer brewed in order to obtain insights into the costs and, above all, the profits of the Koln brewers. The brewer, commissioned by the council, made seven ohms of beer from two malter of barley malt. From each malter he won 3.5 ohms of beer. He used the "best barley malt" - in contrast to his Koln colleagues. These took "almost a third of oats and spelt and then brew almost an ohm of beer more", as one smugly noted.31
 

The 1408 brewed beer was a thin beer. A decree of the Koln City Council of 1429 showed that the brewers were obligated by oath to use for each type of beer a certain amount of malt, so as to ensure the quality of the Koln beer. From a malter malt therefore should be brewed three ohms of thin beer. On the other hand, the thick beer had twice the amount of original wort: each malter malt produced only 1.5 ohms of beer. The use of oats and "hollow" spelt (Spelzspreu) was forbidden in this process by the way.

Now it would be interesting to know how many liters are in a Koln ohm and malter in the 15th century. Unfortunately, there are only from Napoleonic times precise details, 33 which can not be easily transferred to the Middle Ages. Therefore, we have to make rough estimates here: assuming a size of 200 l for the ohm and a size of 150 l for the malter, 35 kg of malt were used to produce one hectolitre of lager beer, and about 17 kg were used for the thin beer. Today, for the production of one hectoliter of beer with an alcohol content of 4.7%, about 20 kg of brewing malt are needed. Since the malt yield is now much more efficient due to improved technology, the medieval Dickbier [thick beer] should have possessed a similar [Stammwürz = sugars in solution] and alcohol content as today's beer, while Dünnbier [thin beer] and the grut beer probably only contained 2-3% alcohol.

 

When grutbier finally disappeared along the Lower Rhine, one can not say for sure.  Although in the 16th century hop beer prevailed nationwide grut beer seems to have been brewed until the end of the Thirty Years War, because the "graut" is mentioned in 1649 in the official letter of the Neusser Brauer! As a niche product, grut beer probably was long lived in other places along the Lower Rhine, especially in the countryside, as the situation in present-day Lower Saxony suggests: the city council of Osnabrück took the decision in 1702 to henceforth prohibiting the use of bog myrtle in the production of beer, and in the city of Oldenburg bog myrtle was banned as late as 1724!

 ENDNOTES

_______________

1 F. Lau, Quellen zur Rechts- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte der rheinischen Städte. Kurkölnische Städte I: Neuss. Publikationen der Gesellschaft für rheinische Geschichtskunde 29 (Bonn 1911/Düsseldorf 1984), Nr. 55, S. 77.

2 A. Schulte, Vom Grutbiere. Eine Studie zur Wirtschafts- und Verfassungsgeschichte. In: Annalen des Historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein 85, 1908, S. 118-146, hier: S. 132; W. Herborn, Römerbier, Grutbier, Hopfenbier. Zur rheinischen Biergeschichte von den Anfängen bis zum Beginn der Neuzeit. In: F. Langensiepen (Hrsg.), Bierkultur an Rhein und Maas, (Bonn 1998) S. 195-218, hier: S. 207ff.

3 An Stelle des Hopfens gab man Gagel, Wermut, Beifuß, Mädesüß, Scharfgarbe und Gundermann in die Maische, wodurch das Bier einen würzigen, süßlichen Geschmack bekam. [In place of the hops, gagel, wormwood, mugwort, meadowsweet, Scharfgarbe and Gundermann were added to the mash, giving the beer a spicy, sweetish taste.] Vgl. A. Hagen, A Second Handbook of Anglos-Saxon food and Drink. Production and Distribution (Hockwold cum Wilton 1995) S. 209ff.

4 K. Hackel-Stehr, Das Brauwesen in Bayern vom 14. bis 16. Jahrhundert, insbesondere die Entstehung und Entwicklung des Reinheitsgebotes [in particular the emergence and development of the purity law] (1516) (Berlin 1987) S. 30 u. S. 367ff.

5 G. Fischer und W. Herborn, Geschichte des rhein cischen Brauwesens. In: Bierbrauen im Rheinland. Führer und Schriften des Rheinischen Freilichtmuseums und Landesmuseums für Volkskunde in Kommern 28 (Köln 1985) S. 9-118, hier: S. 34.     

6 H. von Loesch, Die Kölner Zunfturkunden nebst anderen Kölner Gewerbeurkunden bis zum Jahre 1500, Bd. 2 (Bonn 1907) Nr. 250, S. 64.

7 Ch. Kraus, Entwicklung des Weseler Stadthaushaltes von 1342-1390 dargestellt auf Grund der Stadtrechnungen. Studien und Quellen zur Geschichte von Wesel II (Wesel 1907) S. 10, 79f.

8 Vgl. Schulte (Anm. 2): „Der Roßkümmel, des -s, plur. inus. eine dem Kümmel sehr ähnliche Art des Laserkrautes, welche in dem mittägigen Deutschland wohnet, und dessen Samen in den Apotheken gebraucht wird. Laserpitium Siler L. In andern Gegenden führet der Silan oder Bärwurz, Peucedanum Silaus L. diesen Nahmen, und in noch andern der Schierling.“ [The Roßkümmel, the -s, plur. inus. a type of laser herb very similar to caraway, which lives in modern day Germany, and whose seeds are used in pharmacies. Laserpitium Siler L. in other regions the silane or bearwort, Peucedanum silaus L., carries this name, and in still others the hemlock]; J. C. Adelung, Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der hochdeutschen Mundart, mit beständiger Vergleichung der übrigen Mundarten, besonders aber der Oberdeutschen von Johann Christoph Adelung. Mit D. W. Soltau’s Beyträgen revidirt und berichtiget von Franz Xaver Schönberger (Wien 1811), Spalte 1166. <http://lexika.digitale-sammlungen.de/adelung/lemma/bsb00009133_6_1_1822> [Zugriff am: 5.11.2012].

9 „serpents-tonghe: Sagitta, sagittalis, sagittaria: herba foliis longioribus, & angustioribus serpentis linguam, siue alatae sagittae cuspidem referens“: C. Kiliaan, Etymologicum Teutonicae Linguae (1599). <http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kili001etym01_01/kili001etym01_01_0027.php#27480> [Zugriff am 5.11.2012].

10 Der Archäobotaniker Ernst Behre glaubt die Pflanze, die auch Serpentin oder „zwaercruyt“ genannt wird, mit dem hierzulande als Blauer Heinrich oder Natternkopf {(Echium vulgare L.)} bekannten Kraut gleichsetzen zu können, doch ist dies unwahrscheinlich, da sich der Gewöhnliche Natternkopf zwar als Salatpflanze,

nicht aber als Gewürz eignet. [The archaeobotanist Ernst Behre believes that the plant, which is also called serpentine or "zwaercruyt", can be equated with the herb known in this country as the Blue Henry or Adder's Head (Echium vulgare L.), but this is unlikely since the Common Adderhead is a salad plant, not a spice.] E. Behre, Zur Geschiche des Bieres und der Bierwürze in Mitteleuropa. In: Gerstensaft und Hirsebier. 5000 Jahre Biergenuß. Sonderausstellungen. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde und Vorgeschichte Oldenburg vom 04. Juli bis 13. September 1998. Schloßmuseum Jever vom 05. Juli bis 1. Oktober 1998 (Oldenburg 1998) S. 49-88.

11 Vgl. Schulte (Anm. 2).

12 F. Irsigler, Hermann von Goch als Kölner Grutpächter. In: E. Ennen und D. Höroldt (Hrsg.), Aus Geschichte und Volkskunde von Stadt und Raum Bonn. Festschrift Josef Dietz zum 80. Geburtstag am 8. April 1973. (Bonn 1973) S. 79-88.

13 L. Ennen (Hrsg.), Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln 6 (Köln 1878) Nr. 29, S. 55ff.

14 L. Ennen (Anm. 13) Nr. 111, S. 189f.

15 „bacheller“, „backgeler“: L. Ennen (Anm. 13) Nr. 29, S. 55ff u. Nr. 111, S. 189. Vgl. „Baeckelaer, lauwer besie: Bacca lauri.“: C. Kiliaan, Etymologicum Teutonicae Linguae (1599) <http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kili001etym01_01/kili001etym01_01_0011.php> [Zugriff am 27.09.2012].

16 „kroun“, „karoun“, „karoen“, L. Ennen (Anm. 13) Nr. 29, S. 55ff u. Nr. 111, S. 189f. Vgl. „KARBE, f. carum carvi, der gemeine kümmel, feldkümmel“: Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm XI (Leipzig 1854-1960; Quellenverzeichnis 1971) 207.

17 „koem“, „kuemp“: L. Ennen (Anm. 13) Nr. 29, S. 55ff u. Nr. 111, S. 189f.

18 „genver“: L. Ennen (Anm. 13) Nr. 29, S. 55ff u. Nr. 111, S. 189f.

19 B. Kuske (Hrsg.), Quellen zur Geschichte des Kölner Handels und Verkehrs im Mittelalter 1: 12. Jahrhundert bis 1449. Publikationen der Gesellschaft für rheinische Geschichtskunde 33. (Bonn 1923/Düsseldorf 1978) S. 60, Nr.174 u. S. 87, Nr. 243.

20 Irsigler (Anm. 12) S. 79-88.

21 Noch heute werden im Luxemburgischen die Grannen der Kornähren als Spreien bezeichnet: [Even today in Luxembourgish the awns of the ears of corn are called spree:] „Spreien, pl., (écon. rur.), der Bart, die langen Granen an den Kornähren,[ the beard, the long grains on the ears of corn,] les barbes des épis [the beards of the ears ]“: J. F. Gangler, Lexicon 38 der Luxemburger Umgangssprache 8 Luxemburg 18479. <http://engelmann.uni.lu:8080/portal/WBB2009/

LLU/wbgui_py?lemid=US00679> [Zugriff am 5.11.2012].

22 <http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kili001etym01_01/kili001etym01_01_0016.php#9832> [Zugriff am 27.09.2012].

23 Irsigler (Anm. 12) S. 84ff.

24 L. Ennen (Anm. 13) Nr. 29, S. 55.

25 Irsigler (Anm. 12) S. 84ff.

26 Irsigler (Anm. 12) S. 87.

27 Schulte (Anm. 2) S. 130.

28 H. Rothert, Geschichte der Stadt Osnabrück im Mittelalter 2. Osnabrücker Mitteilungen 58, 1938 (Osnabrück 1962) S. 93.

29 H. Kaiser, Der große Durst. Von Biernot und Branntweinfeinden – rotem Bordeaux und schwarzem Kaffee. Trinken und Getränke zwischen Weser und Ems im 18./19. Jahrhundert. Materialien und Studien zur Alltagsgeschichte und Volkskultur Niedersachsens 23 (Cloppenburg 1995) S. 43f; Schulte (Anm. 2) S. 126, Anm. 2, zitiert eine Beschreibung des Grüssing genannten Tecklenburger Grutbieres in dem „Liber de cerevisia“ betitelten Werk des Martinus Schoockius, das 1661 in Groningen erschienen ist: „Silentio quoque praeteriri non bebet cervisia, quae in comitatu Tecklenburgensi coquitur et vulgo Gruising dicitur, haberique meretur cervisia ex parte medicatat: parum lupuli eam ingreditur, sed eius loco myrtus Sylvestris (Brabanticae non absimilis) ab incolis porsse dicta, a Belgis gagel, cui odoratae admodum, molis peculiaribus semen excutiunt: item baccae lauri et herba, quam vocant Scharpe tonge: haec simul contunduntur et fermentationem procurant. Ipse vero potus potissimum refert et odore et sapore myrtum sylvestrem, atque cito inebriant illos, que ei non assueverunt.“

30 Loesch (Anm. 6) Nr. 250, S. 63f.

31 Loesch (Anm. 6) Nr. 250, S. 63f.

32 Loesch (Anm. 6) Nr. 256, S. 67f.

33 J. J. Meyer, Vollständige Vergleichungs-Tabellen der ehemals im Ruhr-Departement und noch in den angränzenden Ländern gebräuchlichen Münzen, Maaßen und Gewichte (Cöln 1804); vgl. hierzu E. Wisplinghoff, Geschichte der Stadt Neuss 1: Von den mittelalterlichen Anfängen bis zum Jahre 1794 (Neuss 1975) S. 728.

34 Heutige Braugerste hat – je nach Körnungsgröße – eine Dichte von 680-750 kg/m³.

35 Lau (Anm. 1) Nr. 191, S. 274 u. Nr. 226, S. 308.

Of Honey wine and melomels.

Honey, a blend of simple sugars, amino acids, fibers and trace minerals, combined with water and yeast transforms into wonderful honey wine. This honey wine, often called mead, was seen as a Nectar fit for the gods “And I have heard some of that nation [Welsh] defend, that it is the very Nectar which Iupiter and Iuno drank.” (Thomas Cogan, 1584). Aged mead is highly regarded and awarded many advantages, as eloquently put down by Charles Butler (1609): “a wine most agreeable to the stomake: it recoverth 1 the appetite being lost, it 2 oppeneth the passage of the spirit or breath, is 3 softeneth the bellie, it 4 is good for them that have the cough. 5 If a man take meth, now and then: he shal receive much benefit by it, against quartan agues, against cacexies, and against the diseases of the braine, as analepsie, & epilepsie, or the falling evill: for which wine is pernicious: it 6 cureth the yellow jaundise: it 7 is also good against henbane with milke, and against the winter-cherie, it 8 nourisheth the body, 9. So that many have attained to long old age, only by the nourishment of meth. 10 For being asked of Augustus the Emperor, by what meanes especially hee Pollio Romulus had so long preserved that vigour both of mind and body, his answere was, Intus mulso, foris oleo [honey within, oil without].”

 A medieval beekeeper banging a gong to calm a swarm

hanging of a branch near his liriope facemasked head.

References to mead in combination with medicinal herbs are found throughout history, from the early period Anglo-Saxon Leechdoms or medical texts to the 16^th century Books of Secrets. Mead infused with herbs and spices, whether for medicinal use or to be enjoyed (or a bit of both) is so common it is referred to by its own term: metheglin. As explained by Charles Butler (1609) the name is obvious, as “Metheglen is meth compoūded with herbs: so called quasi Meth e glen, meth of the vallie, because it is made in the vallies, where is abundance and variety of holsome herbes.” The earliest recipe for metheglin known today is found in the 13^th century Tractatus letters “And gif þu wilt make mede eglyn.”

Where there is Metheglin, thus there is Melomel?

There was no shortage of fermenting with fruit sugars in the past either: while honey wine is thought to have been the first fermented beverage, made by primitive people thousands of years before wine and beer, (Rasmussen) grape wine runs a close second and is well known from ancient history. Grapes have the highest sugar content of any fruit and are therefore the most suitable for making wine. (Hagen, 213) Fruit wines were known to be made by settlers of the foothills of the Alps as early as 2000 BCE from wild grapes, raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, bittersweet nightshade and cornelian cherries. (Hagen, 224) Cider and perry, fermented apple and pear juice, are also well known and mentioned in numerous historic texts, including the Bible - and Peacock (1449) “without sider and wyn and meeth men and wommen myght lyve full long.” The Anglo-Saxon word beor, previously translating to beer (by way of bere for barley), is recently reconsidered to mean cider instead, which is made from apples. (Hagen, 200)

Unfortunately, the combination of fruit juice and honey is uncommon in our time of study…

But is it unknown? Fermenting with honey and fruit is not common in our period of study, and until recently, the only recipes generally available were from the out of period but copious 1669 brewing manual “the Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digby Knight Opened”. Unfortunately, many mead recipes mentioned in Digby use ingredients and techniques not yet found, or commonly used, in our period of study. For instance, the addition of citrus, like lemons, and the use of raisins, which is common in Digby, is not found in any of the pre 1600 recipes. And the technique of aging in the bottle, often for a sparkling beverage, is something that does not match with the medieval method of serving mead young or aging in wooden casks and barrels either. (Krupp) Fortunately, a couple of period recipes using different kinds of fruit juice in combination with honey and fermentation recently surfaced, for which, as a fruit growing homesteader and avid melomel brewer, I am very grateful!

The 1^st century manuscript Historia Naturalis mentions a grape must and honey ferment “Another wine of the sweet class is called honey-wine; it differs from mead because it is made from must” (Pliny), which is fermented together instead of using the honey to sweeten wine, which otherwise would make hippocras. The 10^th century manuscript Geoponika also lists Oenomeli from must, fermenting (grape) must with honey. In A Profitable Instruction by Thomas Hyll (1579) oenomel is explained “as the drinke made with wine vnlayde, or without water, and hony, they aptly name Oenomel”, or undiluted fresh wine mixed with honey. The same looks to be the case for Geoponika’s Concerning Oenomeli, and offers two versions of which one is “set it in the sun at the rising of the dog-star during forty days. Some call this nectar” indicating fermentation. It is not obvious oenomel is a fermented drink, but context would indicate it is, from using must or unfermented grape juice, fresh wine which can easily referment, and letting it sit in a warm place for a prolonged amount of time (40 days can mean literal 40 days, or can mean biblical 40 days, as in many, many days).

My personal favorite is also from the Geoponika: the Preparation of hydromel, which lists two versions of fermenting with apples and honey, one with crushed apples and one with pressed apple juice. The 1597 manuscript Van de Byen by Theodorus Clutius has two similar recipes, one To make wine-like honey-water with juice of quince and another To make red wine-like honey-water which back ferments mead with added fruit juice “mix this together and set it to rise as above”, similar to our modern practice of adding fruit juice in secondary fermentation. The recipe is for a medicinal mead, using the juice of amarellen (sour, dark red cherries with long stems) and gives alternatives like the juice of currants, red and black cherries, grapes, apples and pears. While the practice of fermenting honey with fruit juice is not common enough to have coined our modern term melomel quite yet, let alone the sub-terms of cyser for apple mead and pyment for grape mead, thankfully for us modern melomel enthusiasts a handful of interesting early examples does exist.

The recipes which involve fruit and honey:

Historia Naturalis, Pliny the Elder, 77 CE.

XI … Another wine of the sweet class is called honey-wine;

Geoponika, translated from Ancient texts by various authors, 10^th CE

XXV. — Concerning Oenomeli.

XXVI. — Oenomeli from Must.

XXVII — Preparation of Hydromel.

Van de Byen by Theodorus Clutius, 1597.

To make wine-like honey-water.

To make red wine-like honey-water.

For the complete recipes, and much more on medieval meads, check out my Research Paper Of Hony, a Collection of Mediaeval Brewing Recipes (which lists 39 period honey brews) on:

https://www.academia.edu/31052051/Of_Hony_-_A_collection_of_Mediaeval_brewing_recipes

 Two large cauldrons which originally contained the mixed fermented beverage

 of wine, beer and mead, mounted on iron tripod stands.

As a side note, archaeological evidence of the analysis of several bronze drinking vessels from the tomb of King Midas (ca. 700 BCE) in central Turkey indicates an interesting combination of fruit, grain and honey. Biomarkers for wine (tartaric acid), beer (beerstone) and mead/honey (beeswax) were found, postulating the theory that the vessels contained a mixture of grape wine, beer and mead, making a sort of braggot or malt mead with grape wine. Unfortunately, as there is no direct evidence for honey fermentation, the honey could easily have been for sweetening only. It is feasible that since these were grave finds, the contents of the vessels might not have been intended for human drinking at all, and could have been a mix of separate brews, the best they had, specially made to please the gods. Except the earliest known recipe for beer made in honor of Ninkasi (found on a Sumerian clay tablet dated to 1800 BCE) also mentions to add honey in combination with wine to a beer malt, indicating the beer/wine/honey was fermented together and meant as a combined drink. Interestingly, while both sources indicate the addition of fermented grape wine, and the archaeologists assumed the honey was added in the form of mead, the grave find information itself is ambivalent, and the Ninkasi recipe speaks of straight honey, indicating the use of honey to back sweeten, instead of adding fermented honey or mead… but then again, as long as honey is added prior to fermentation, mead is bound to happen!

 

References:

Butler, Charles. The Feminine Monarchie. 1609. Transcription by Susan Verberg.

Clutium, Theodorum. Van de Byen. Leyden: Jan Claesz van Dorp, Inde Vergulde Son, 1597.

Transcription & translation by Susan Verberg.

Cogan, Thomas. The Haven of Health, 1584. London: Anne Griffin, 1636. Transcription by Susan Verberg.

Hagen, Ann. A Second Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food and Drink: Production and Distribution. Norfolk, UK: Anglo-Saxon Books, 1995.

Krupp, Christina M. & Gillen, Bill. Making Medieval Mead, or Mead Before Digby The Compleat Anachronist #120. Milpitas: SCA Inc, 2003.

de Maricourt, Petrus Peregrinus. Tractatus de Magnetate et Operationibus eiu, Folio 20r.  Reynolds Historical Library, University of Alabama.

Owen, Reverend T. (trans.) Geoponika; Agricultural Pursuits, Volume I. Of the Queen’s College at the University of Oxford. London: W. Spilsbury, 1805.

Rackham H., Jones W.H.S., Eichholtz D.E. (trans.). Pliny’s Natural History, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press & London: William Heinemann, 1949-54.

Rasmussen, S.C. The Quest for Aqua Vitae. SpringerBriefs in History of Chemistry, 2014.

Images:

Lyon BM ms 27 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/315322411384728239/

https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-funerary-banquet-of-king-midas/

Published in the Aethelmearc Gazette, January 27th, 2017:
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2017/01/27/of-honey-wine-and-melomels/

Film yeast in apple cider brewing

Today at practice a fellow Dominionite and brewer had a question about her hard apple cider, and one that unfortunately, due to a similar experience, I could answer... Her 4 gallons of cider had developed a thin film of white on top, and she wondered if it had gone bad. Unfortunately, that means the yeast has a competitor, but fortunately, it does not perse mean it needs to be thrown, as it will be fine to cook with. Add a Campden tablet when you think it's sour enough when vinegrating, or immediately with a film yeast, decant without the film into sterilized containers, keep cool, and enjoy your cooking!

A sample of film yeast (Photo: Alison Steele, 2019)

At first, when it happened to me, I was puzzled as to what it was. Not until I got lucky at our local book sale and found small publication on hard cider making, did I learn what exactly had happened. As this little booklet is not in standard publication, I will transcribe the appropriate section below.

"Chapter 6 Possible Faults in Cider Making

There are a few faults or problems the amateur cider maker may encounter when making cider for the first time, one of the commonest being acetification. The reason for this is that too much air has been allowed to reach the cider, causing the acetic bacteria to turn the alcohol into vinegar. Bad storage is one of the causes, therefore it is essential that containers are kept topped up at all times. Once the first rapid ferment has settled down, keep fermentation jars full and insert airlocks containing a little metabisulphite. In the initial states the yeasty scum covering the surface will prevent the air coming into contact with the juice.
   Darkening of the juice can occur, due in most cases to oxidation, and one way to avoid this is to add one Campden tablet to each gallon of juice as it is pressed. Over-ripe or rotten fruit could have the same effect, therefore discard any fruit that is severely blackened and mouldy as both there could cause the cider to have unpleasant flavours in addition to the enzymic darkening.
   Film yeasts can develop on a weak, low-acid, still cider if it is exposed to the air, and the first indication of this is a grey powdery film that develops on the surface. If left unchecked it will eventually turn the cider to carbon dioxide and water. There is a remedy if it is caught in its early stage. Remove as much of the film as possible then filter it into another jar using a very fine piece of linen or filter papers. Add a Campden tablet (crushed) to the gallon of cider and make sure the jar is filled to the top to exclude air."

From Making Cider by Jo Deal, Amateur Winemaker Publications, Ltd. 1985

Making braggot from spent grains

 Look what a nice gift from my brewing friend Ken: 2 1/2 pounds of spent grains from brewing a red ale! He gave it for our chickens, and instead I bagged it up securely and will turn it into a malted mead. Sorry girls, the mead wins :)

Inspired by historic braggot recipes  I've been wondering about making a braggot, which in modern times is a mead made with malt, and in medieval times seems to be an ale back sweetened with honey. Instead of making a second run malt, I decided to add the honey must straight to the wort and see what happens... For period sake, I used ale lees saved from a previous batch and had the fermenter hang out in front of the woodstove for a few days. It's 48 hours later now, the yeasts have awoken and are doing their thing, and the must/wort smells absolutely wonderful!

 The spent grains, which would indeed make for a wonderful animal snack... too bad!

I used 7.5 pounds of honey in 2 1/2 gallons of water, to stay in line with the 2 1/2 gallon ale recipe. I did not boil the honey, or scum much as it was quite clean, but I did heat it to 120 degrees F to help break down the honey sugars for the yeast to get a quick start.

 After mixing the wort (grains) and must (diluted honey) real well, I added my yeast:

A ziplock baggie from the freezer full of lees from a previous apple cider. Apple is a fairly mellow taste, which should not much interfere with the grain taste, if at all. I did not add any raisins (yeast supplement) or black tea (tannin) as I normally would with mead, as I feel like the grains most likely has plenty to spare. We'll find out...

Happily warming up in front of our woodstove. It does not have an airlock as of yet as it needs daily stirring anyway, and I ran out of lids with stopper holes... this weekend it will be upgraded, but as an interesting side benefit it was useful to be able to clearly see the lid buckle up from pressure built up of the second-hand yeast doing it's thing. Yay!