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Beer archaeologists are reviving ancient ales — with some strange results

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  1. The_Fad
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    This reminds me of the time I tried to brew "grog". It was a recipe I found in a book from the 60s (maybe the 70s? It was "old") that discussed early colonial american day to day life. It was...

    This reminds me of the time I tried to brew "grog". It was a recipe I found in a book from the 60s (maybe the 70s? It was "old") that discussed early colonial american day to day life. It was very, very simple.

    4 parts molasses by weight
    1 part hops by weight

    Boil molasses. Stew with hops. Ready in a fortnight.

    Out of sheer curiosity (and exceptionally low expectations) I made a 2.5 gallon batch with the addition of a very basic ale yeast. I let it bottle condition for an extra two weeks in hopes it might mellow the taste but boy howdy was I wrong.

    Maybe I just didn't boil the entire hell out of the molasses. Maybe I should've added more hops. Maybe it was a very accurate representation of what they drank in the early 1700s. Regardless, I couldn't stomach it. It was very minerally with minimal sweetness and an overpowering boozy nose.

    If by some horrible twist of fate I DID make it correctly, then British colonials were some rough and tumble motherfuckers.

    9 votes