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Fruit spirits are sooo last year

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BR, I was writing another chapter of the book this morning which involves ivy and noted this from my researches ...

"[FONT=&quot]Ivy ale is a highly intoxicating drink. It was still brewed at Trinity College, Oxford, up to the 1960s and may still be both there and by home-brewers. The ivy bush was an old sign of a wine tavern in England; we have one not far from us here in Hereford. [/FONT] "

How's about you have a go? Would love to try some if you do :)
 
Sounds like its ground Ivy (rather than climbing ivy) used as a bittering agent

I have a desk calendar called "Forgotten English" by Jeffrey Kacirk, and there
was an interesting entry for April 11th. It was a word called "alehoof", which
is apparently a botanical word. Kacirk quotes Daniel Fennig's "Royal English
Dictionary" (1775) which defines alehoof as "the ground-ivy [Glechoma
hederacea], so called by the Saxons because a chief ingredient in their
malt-liquor instead of hops".
Click to expand...

Alehoof checks out as a name for ground ivy - many herbs were used before hops - notably horehound
 
Might be able to next year - I suspect the plants are a bit old and tough at this time of year. Would need a good source. A batch of ale needs a good few ounces of bittering agent (hops etc.), I certainly don't have enough right now, but it could be done :)
 
Well, we have progress on the rhubarb beer - it seems to be clearing fairly well - so its now just down to a question of whether the taste is worth it!


clearing bottle by British Red, on Flickr

I'll leave it another month or so to properly condition and we will found out :)
 
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