Sumerian Beer
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Re: Sumerian Beer
This is facinating, Prof! Keep us posted.
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The_Professor
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Re: Sumerian Beer
For this one gallon batch I used about:
5 oz each--two row and pearl barley for the "burnt" 1/4.
1.25 two row & 1.0 pearl barley for the other 3/4.
I let the 3/4 portion soak in enough water to moisten it for about 45 min. I mixed the "burnt" 1/4 in about half way through the soaking. The "burnt" grains smelled of coffee and chocolate.
I did a usual 5 hour low and slow bake with the moist grain (with a small bit of water in the bottom of the pan).
The OG was 1.062 (15.1 brix), not bad for almost 50% pearl barley.
I added some of the one year old yeast harvested from honey that I had going in a 1/2 gallon starter.
Looks like I will get a good brown color for the beer, not black.
While the Sumerians had both brown and black beers there were no grizzly beers in that part of the world.
5 oz each--two row and pearl barley for the "burnt" 1/4.
1.25 two row & 1.0 pearl barley for the other 3/4.
I let the 3/4 portion soak in enough water to moisten it for about 45 min. I mixed the "burnt" 1/4 in about half way through the soaking. The "burnt" grains smelled of coffee and chocolate.
I did a usual 5 hour low and slow bake with the moist grain (with a small bit of water in the bottom of the pan).
The OG was 1.062 (15.1 brix), not bad for almost 50% pearl barley.
I added some of the one year old yeast harvested from honey that I had going in a 1/2 gallon starter.
Looks like I will get a good brown color for the beer, not black.
While the Sumerians had both brown and black beers there were no grizzly beers in that part of the world.
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The_Professor
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- Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:52 pm
- Location: Calif, USA
Re: Sumerian Beer
Alright, I had to peek into the 2 gallon fermenter. There is a nice bit of krausen/foam already on the top. I had to know if I was looking at one or two weeks fermenting. I should be able to bottle this at one week with no priming sugar and save the wild yeast for another day.
Re: Sumerian Beer
Keeping an eye on this one Prof...The_Professor wrote:Alright, I had to peek into the 2 gallon fermenter. There is a nice bit of krausen/foam already on the top. I had to know if I was looking at one or two weeks fermenting. I should be able to bottle this at one week with no priming sugar and save the wild yeast for another day.
Very interesting...
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The_Professor
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- Posts: 1018
- Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:52 pm
- Location: Calif, USA
Re: Sumerian Beer
I bottled a few bottles of the Sumerian "black beer" today.
The FG was 1.035 (11.5 brix) for an ABV of about 3.5.
We'll see if that is really an FG. I put a couple of the bottles straight into the fridge and a couple on a cool shelf so they can maybe carb.
I also put some of the uncarbed, room temp beer in a glass.
It was very strange to taste a lemon flavor with a dark beer. This beer has a nice mouth feel, it is possible the slight hint of chocolate in the after taste was my imagination.
The tartness could be either from lacto in with the yeast or from the roasted barley that slightly soured while I soaked the grain overnight before roasting.
It was really hard to get an angle on the beer that did not have a reflection, I usually try not to have other buildings in the picture. This picture is the closest to what it really looks like. The dark portion is definitely a dark brown when seen "in person". But that brings up a question. I don't believe Sumerians had glasses for their beer. So how was black, or red for that matter, determined? How it looked peering into a ceramic mug, or how it appeared when pouring it?
I'm harvesting the yeast even though it did not seem to do a great job of fermenting out. It's possible that has as much to do with the high pearl barley content and the presence of the roasted grain as anything else.
The FG was 1.035 (11.5 brix) for an ABV of about 3.5.
We'll see if that is really an FG. I put a couple of the bottles straight into the fridge and a couple on a cool shelf so they can maybe carb.
I also put some of the uncarbed, room temp beer in a glass.
It was very strange to taste a lemon flavor with a dark beer. This beer has a nice mouth feel, it is possible the slight hint of chocolate in the after taste was my imagination.
The tartness could be either from lacto in with the yeast or from the roasted barley that slightly soured while I soaked the grain overnight before roasting.
It was really hard to get an angle on the beer that did not have a reflection, I usually try not to have other buildings in the picture. This picture is the closest to what it really looks like. The dark portion is definitely a dark brown when seen "in person". But that brings up a question. I don't believe Sumerians had glasses for their beer. So how was black, or red for that matter, determined? How it looked peering into a ceramic mug, or how it appeared when pouring it?
I'm harvesting the yeast even though it did not seem to do a great job of fermenting out. It's possible that has as much to do with the high pearl barley content and the presence of the roasted grain as anything else.