Small Ale?

[tombear]

The middle son who's into the Anglo Saxons and the wife have been discussing making small ale for a while now so when I was offered this lot for 8 quid in a charity shop, new or extremely well cleaned and stored I grabbed it

I already have a filter bag I can add to it ( bought so i could cut off a strip from the top to make ratlines on 1:1200 sailing ships, I don't think it will effect it's use) and a couple of solid bungs still in their packet from a job lot of kit way back.

So apart from ingredients and possibly bottles is there anything else I should be looking for? The glass demijohns are freely available in charity shops for a quid or so a go, if they need more. Conveniently there's a brewing shop in the village, where I get my citric acid by the kg.

Also any advice on brewing small ale will no doubt be gratefully received. When it's done they want to use the bere well be growing in the spring but in the meantime we'll source barley. The lads just dug out his Saxon food books which if I recall right have the receipts and method.

ATB

Tom

 

[crosslandkelly]

Offered what?

 

[tombear]

Er the stuff in the photo....

 

[mick91]

A thermometer couldn't hurt, just a sticky one will do the job. You've got a respectable setup there though. Keep everything not just clean but sterile, Milton bleach works fine. Low alcohol content can make small ales prone to bacterial infection. I've had a few cases of exploding bottle syndrome with smalls so make sure you're on top of the gravity readings and you'll do fine.
It also doesn't pasteurise well for some reason

 

[tombear]

Cheers, thermometers we have, I'll dig one out. Scales as well I suppose unless its all done on volumes?

From what I recollect of their plotting they intended to do relatively small amounts to be consumed within a few days of being ready but of course will be going the whole hog on the H & S side of things. Poisoning us all would go down very badly! I'm just getting the kit for them since I have the time and talent for such. Truth be said I'm T Total although this stuff will suit my shandy pants tendencies!

You never know if they get into it I may end up sourcing them wooden kit so it can be part of his show and tell! No doubt that will make the whole sterile bit even more difficult.

Thanks!

ATB

Tom

 

[Buadhach]

Small ale used to be made by refermenting the mash from the strong, tasty first brew. This was done in the interests of economy and not having field hands legless during the working day. I even heard of the mash being fermented a third time to make a safe drink for the kids. A more modern equivalent would be the powerful distilled grappa made from the squeezings left over from wine making: nothing was allowed to go to waste.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Sorry, there wasn't a photo when I replied.
Nice find though.

 

[tombear]

It was probably me, I broke the Internet, again.

it was a remarkably good trawl of the charity shops, the sort when you regret not bringing a bergan.

Two new pairs of walking trousers for £4 total in the lads sizes, all 7 Cadfael omnibuses for 20p a pop. beech book ends for a quid a set.

I'll spare you the rest as not bushy even in the slightest, although ill be using these on projects,

Proper old school needles and threaders.

ATB

Tom

 

[Toddy]

Nice haul

Baker's yeast if you can get hold of some and mind and keep a bit of the barm for next time.
You'll not poison anyone even if you keep it a bit long; it just gets fizzy and a bit vinegary. Ideally you want it when it's still at the sort of sweet 'barley water' type stage.
J.Mortimer wrote,
“For the Brewing of Small-Beer, or common Ale, take something above the quantity of a Barrel of Water scalding hot, which put into your Mashing-tub alone; let it cool ’till you can see your Face in it, and put to it four Bushels of Malt, pouring of it in by degrees, and stirring of it well: Let it stand on the Malt two Hours…then draw it off, and let it boil an Hour and an half in Summer, or an Hour in Winter; and when it is boiled enough, it will look curdled. Of this first Wort you may make a Barrel of Ale: After this is boiled, scald about a Barrel of Water more, and put it upon your Malt, letting it stand an Hour and an half: This draw off, and put the same quantity of hot Water on again, observing the same Rules, as before directed, of this you may make an Hogshead of Small-Beer. When you put it together to Work [ferment], take care that it is not too hot, and when you put Yeast to it, put it to a small quantity at first, and add more and more to it by degrees, and when it hath work’d twenty-four Hours in the Tub, Tun it up. But if you brew Small-Beer alone, two Bushels of Malt and a Pound and a half of Hops will make a Hogshead of good Small-Beer; or eight Bushels of Malt will make a Barrel of Ale, and three Hogsheads of Small-Beer. These Proportions of Brewing are for a small Family, which I chuse to Instance in, because others may easily proportion it to larger Quantities as they please.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mortimer_(agriculturalist)

M

 

[mick91]

Nice haul

Baker's yeast if you can get hold of some

Allinson bread yeast, asda carries it for about 70p a tub. Absolutely superb for ale and now all I use for them. Or a tip for one of my specialities, drop a loaf of banana bread into the barrel and brew like a light golden. You'll thank me

 

[Toddy]

…..in the past I would have agreed with you on the banana bread, but I have become 'sensitive' to kiwis and bananas
Shame really, they make great bread.

Good heads up on the live Baker's Yeast

M

 

[mick91]

Nothing wrong with the dried stuff so long as you activate it first as a rule though avoid turbo yeast, queer old taste

 

[tombear]

Cheers folk, that's th sort of stuff we need to know.

The good thing about the bakers yeast over the dried is I can get the former free for the asking at the local Asdas bakery! I got a half a fist sized lump today and I'd only gone in to use the loos!

i know this is very premature but I rather fancy capturing our own wild yeast when the times right. Mainly for bread making but it would be good for ale....


ATB

Tom

 

[mick91]

i know this is very premature but I rather fancy capturing our own wild yeast when the times right. Mainly for bread making but it would be good for ale....


ATB

Tom

I sometimes harvest wild yeast from a crab apple tree that grows close to my home, Definately a different taste from it, although sometimes needs some encouragement to get going

 

[tombear]

Cheers!

ive aquired some of the sterilising stuff for them now and have put up a freegle add looking for more demijohns although I've also got feelers out with a few charity shops who often get them in they said.

I've three or 4 lb of spelt I won't be planting after a unsucceful trial last year ( I didn't think it would like the conditions up here in the Pennines but it was worth a try ) which I've said they can sprout or whatever it is you do with it ( I'm trying not to get too involved as its meant to be their project, just supplying the kit since I have the opportunity ). But they were talking about barley grain. Now we will be growing bere next year and I've tried to get in touch with my contact up in Orkney but in the meantime where do you buy Barley grain? Would a feed store have it? I 'm loathe to start mail ordering it due to the weight and wasting my money on tools etc. and the last place I bought barley flour was a windmill over in Nottinghamshire who would no doubt sell me the grain. Any thoughts?

i suppose I should be thinking about collecting bottles to sterilise. We've ended up with two lid putteroners and a lot of lids so that's sorted.

ATB

Tom

 

[mick91]

Cheers!

ive aquired some of the sterilising stuff for them now and have put up a freegle add looking for more demijohns although I've also got feelers out with a few charity shops who often get them in they said.

I've three or 4 lb of spelt I won't be planting after a unsucceful trial last year ( I didn't think it would like the conditions up here in the Pennines but it was worth a try ) which I've said they can sprout or whatever it is you do with it ( I'm trying not to get too involved as its meant to be their project, just supplying the kit since I have the opportunity ). But they were talking about barley grain. Now we will be growing bere next year and I've tried to get in touch with my contact up in Orkney but in the meantime where do you buy Barley grain? Would a feed store have it? I 'm loathe to start mail ordering it due to the weight and wasting my money on tools etc. and the last place I bought barley flour was a windmill over in Nottinghamshire who would no doubt sell me the grain. Any thoughts?

i suppose I should be thinking about collecting bottles to sterilise. We've ended up with two lid putteroners and a lot of lids so that's sorted.

ATB

Tom

I get my barley off a local farmer. Sells me few bin bags full for a few quid. And bottles ask your pub landlord to keep you X amount. They never mind usually

 

[tombear]

Chatting with the staff at th chippy, who I know keep horses, the two local feed stores both sell barley. They want it hulled not crushed so ill go and see what thy have. Which leads me to something else but ill put that in another thread...

atb

Tom

Correction I've just been told hulled barley will not sprout , or rather will sprout badly during the malting. See there's a steep learning curve here!

 

[tombear]

On the Way back from Accy we picked up a 25 kg sack of whole barley for £6 from the grain merchants at Rising Bridge. Unfortunately it's only two months old and I believe it needs to be 4 months old ( all last years had gone ) before its suitable for beer making. ( If im wrong tell me but thats what i was told ) Not a biggy as that will take us nicely to Xmas when they will have more time for messing about.

Anyroad it's up to them now. For general use ( I've no idea what they will do ) I picked up three more glass demijohns at the last boot for 50p each and herself found three more bubbly things and bungs ( eeee I do love technical terms ) for as much on another stall.

Atb

Tom