BeerBorg

Apparently this is my 3rd run at this. I saved a thread about my 2nd attempt from the old MBF forum but my first attempt was tacked on to another thread I did not save. My 2nd attempt was around Dec 2011, not sure when the first was. I actually recall a bit more from the first attempt than the second.

So first, the recipe:
To Make Small Beer--Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. -- Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Molasses into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yeat if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask -- leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working -- Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.

In my first attempt I decided George knew something about bran that we didn't. I just remember a starchy mess. And the Grandma's molasses was pretty bad.

The thread about my second attempt shows I tried to follow the people that say that when George says bran he means malt and I made a weak wheat beer with molasses added. The Grandma's molasses was pretty bad.

I read somewhere that in Colonial America molasses could also mean something more like Lyle's Golden Syrup. Now that sounds a lot better.

Let's peruse a few sources:
1716 - The Complete Economical Cook:
A recipe for treacle/molasses "beer". So, this was a thing.

1757 - George Washington's recipe

1761 - ...as a foot-soldier would a canteen of small beer made from wheat bran...
So, again, this was a thing...

1823 - A recipe for "Bran Beer"
Again adding treacle.

1829 - The American Frugal Housewife
...again, molasses and hops...

1875 - From this article:
Two quarts of wheat bran, two and a half gallons of water, a few hops, one pint of molasses, and one pint of yeast.
These are the volumes I pretty much used.

1903 - Another similar recipe for "Bran Beer"

Using a molasses weight to volume calculator, George's 3 gallons of molasses are about 35.66 lbs.

Using a beer recipe calculator 35.66 gallons of molasses in 30 gallons of water is about OG-1.043, FG-1.011, and ABV-4.21. Not THAT small.

I started with 2.5 gallons of water in my brew pot. I added two 8oz packages of "Bob's Red Mill Unprocessed Miller's Wheat Bran". Since the package is similar in size to a quart mason jar, that is my 2 quarts of bran. (The package suggests-Add wheat bran to hot cereals, cold cereals, baked goods, casseroles, and more. By "more" I assume Bob is suggesting I make "small beer". ) I did not wind up with a starchy mess this time, maybe my water volume was a lot less last time. I used 0.3oz of some whole Fuggle hops I had in my freezer. Maybe 15-20 IBU? I brought this to a lowish boil and let it go for 2 1/2 hours. After straining out the bran and hops the volume was a bit under the 1.5 gallons I calculated for my hops and molasses so I topped it off a little. I added 1 1/2 cans (1.5 lbs) of Lyle's Golden Syrup and brought that back to a 20 min boil.

After straining out the bran and hops and topping off, I had a brix of 3.0 (1.013). After adding the Golden Syrup I had a brix of 14.4 (1.059). Yikes, my 1.059 is higher than George's 1.043. However 59-13=46, and 1.046 is really close to the 1.043 molasses addition.

So it's fermenting and I'll see what I get.
EDIT: Using S-04

This is pretty dang interesting stuff!

I'm glad you didn't use molasses. That's just nasty in beer IMHO.

Beer-lord wrote:This is pretty dang interesting stuff!

Yeah, what would you have been drinking out of your canteen while you were holding your flintlock?

mashani wrote:I'm glad you didn't use molasses. That's just nasty in beer IMHO.

Yeah, the "Grandma's Molasses" was pretty nasty.

Was the molasses you used sulfured or unsulfered? In addition to changing the flavor, sulfur also has anti-microbial qualities, so it can kill some of the yeast.

bpgreen wrote:Was the molasses you used sulfured or unsulfered?...

In the previous attempts it was the "Grandma's Unsulphered Molasses"

In this current attempt I am using the "Lyle's Golden Syrup".

...Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed...

So following the instructions I bottled the GW Beer today.
The brix today was 7.25 which suggests an almost FG of 1.010 and ABV of 6.4.
I'm pretty sure that bottling week old beer means there will be carbonation in a week or so.
My good sized sample is cloudy pale yellow, has some body, has some sweetness from the Golden Syrup and some bitterness from the hops.
This version made with Golden Syrup is pretty easy to drink.

Of course, everyone remembers when George used to walk into the tavern and say, "I cannot tell a lie, this is a small beer", whereupon everyone toasted him...

Very interested in hearing how this turns out. I've always thought of trying to play with this recipe.

swenocha wrote:Very interested in hearing how this turns out. I've always thought of trying to play with this recipe.

Will do. I have enough that I will hand out a couple bottles to some of my regular tasters if they are game which is good for more feedback. Should be a pour pic in a couple weeks as well.

Since trying the GW beer with Lyle's Golden Syrup seems to have worked I bought some Lyle's Black Treacle. I'll make a batch with that, maybe as soon as this weekend.

The_Professor wrote:Lyle's Black Treacle

I'm interested in knowing if this turns out mellower then Molasses, or if it still tastes like chewing on a rusty iron pipe...

mashani wrote:

The_Professor wrote:Lyle's Black Treacle

I'm interested in knowing if this turns out mellower then Molasses, or if it still tastes like chewing on a rusty iron pipe...

That's the idea, wish me luck.....

This is short of one week after bottling.Time for QC test one. I put one bottle in the fridge yesterday evening.

A small hiss when I opened the bottle and even better-no gushing.
The "beer" is slightly carbed. The color is still cloudy yellow. The body has a thickness to it.
I was surprised that the flavor hints a lot of some sort of fruit. I am not real sure where it is coming from.
So it's sip, okay molasses beer-not bad, punch-here's some fruit.

I'll let the bottles sit at room temp for another week then stick them in the fridge.

The_Professor wrote:This is short of one week after bottling.Time for QC test one. I put one bottle in the fridge yesterday evening.

A small hiss when I opened the bottle and even better-no gushing.
The "beer" is slightly carbed. The color is still cloudy yellow. The body has a thickness to it.
I was surprised that the flavor hints a lot of some sort of fruit. I am not real sure where it is coming from.
So it's sip, okay molasses beer-not bad, punch-here's some fruit.

I'll let the bottles sit at room temp for another week then stick them in the fridge.

Maybe the fruit flavor is coming from whatever yeast/bacteria/fungus is fermenting it?

bpgreen wrote:Maybe the fruit flavor is coming from whatever yeast/bacteria/fungus is fermenting it?

Looking at my first post I see I neglected to mention what yeast I was using for this. I'll add that.

I used about a half package of S04.

My thought as I was sipping it was that the hop bitterness mixed with the fermented molasses was doing it, maybe. Also, no telling what the long boil with the hops and wheat bran might be bringing flavor wise. I'll be interested what survives to next week.