BeerBorg

My boss brought in an old book, I think it was from the 1800's. Really interesting on several different levels.

Those two excerpts are very interesting. Beer from molasses being touted as superior to grain or bran beer, as well as boiling the hops in nothing but water.

I wonder how it would actually taste to us, who drink a completely different type of beer.

I liked "that will not fill with wind" I didn't take it to be superior in any other way then it kept farts to a minimum...

Cool mtsoxfan, I like old stuff like this. I think you should brew some as per and see how much or little wind you produce........ and when it is all drank out, report back to us........

That's part of the interest, how they wrote... The book is actually funny that way, and in how things have progressed.

what was the name of the book and who wrote it?

American Economical Housekeeper, it was written in the 1800's I'm not sure who wrote it as the book is at work.

E. A. Howland is the author. Google rules

"The American Economical Housekeeper and Family Receipt Book." First published Jan. 1, 1853.

Thanks

Exactly how much is a hogshead of water?

If I remember correctly it is 145 gallons.

I used to work with a powertrain engineer that claimed fuel economy tests meant so little that we should give them measurements that were as meaningful as the test itself so he always gave measurements in Rods to the Hogshead.

Hogshead is an Elizabethan term AFAIK, and it was closer to 64 gallons when it came to brewing, at least in Elizabethan England.

It might have had multiple uses in various industries and different meanings... that was not that uncommon... may have even varied regionally... so who knows.

In Elizabethan English texts, they talk about pitching about a Quart of barm into a HogsHead. That means that they skimmed off about a Quart of krausen from an already fermenting batch and pitched it into their big vat of beer (many of them considered trub to be "dead" or "spoiled" so many of them didn't use trub). Unless they were cooling in big yorkshire squares with lots of surface area, they would let it cool for close to 40 hours before they pitched this yeast. Because that's how long it took. They didn't have wort chillers.

But in England, they would not have used that much molasses, nor would they have considered it a good thing. The molasses was more of an Americas thing because it was cheaper and easier to get here. I'm sure that they liked to talk about how wonderful it was that it didn't make them fart, so that they would feel better that it tasted like shitty compared to the redcoats beer. LOL.

Anyways, that's the amount a large more wealthy household would brew at a time, because they drank it every day at every meal, the family, the servants, everyone. The beer was pretty much always infected, so it was best to be consumed right away before it got really sour. So whatever quantity a household would brew was meant to be consumed quickly.

She actually wrote a few books - American, New England, ...

Books by Esther Howland

Beer-lord wrote:Exactly how much is a hogshead of water?

according to wikipedia it varies according to what is stored. I.E. wine is 63 us gal, while beer is 54. i also had to look up a "gill" it's 4 us oz