Posted on 08/12/2007 4:39:08 PM PDT by blam
How Bronze Age man enjoyed his pint
Declan Moore and Billy Quinn have an ancient beer theory
Bronze Age Irishmen were as fond of their beer as their 21st century counterparts, it has been claimed. Two archaeologists have put forward a theory that one of the most common ancient monuments seen around Ireland may have been used for brewing ale.
Fulacht fiadh - horseshoe shaped grass covered mounds - are conventionally thought of as ancient cooking spots.
But the archaeologists from Galway believe they could have been the country's earliest breweries.
To prove their theory that an extensive brewing tradition existed in Ireland as far back as 2500BC, Billy Quinn and Declan Moore recreated the process.
After just three hours of hard work - and three days of patiently waiting for their brew to ferment - the men enjoyed a pint with a taste of history attached.
Three hundred litres of water were transformed into a "very palatable" 110 litres of frothy ale.
The archaeologists are producing their fourth batch of beer
"It tasted really good," said Mr Quinn, of Moore Archaeological and Environmental Services (Moore Group).
"We were very surprised. Even a professional brewer we had working with us compared it favourably to his own.
"It tasted like a traditional ale, but was sweeter because there were no hops in it."
Mr Quinn said it was while nursing a hangover one morning - and discussing the natural predisposition of all men to seek means to alter their minds - that he came to the startling conclusion that fulachts could have been the country's earliest breweries.
The two archaeologists set out to investigate their theory in a journey which took them across Europe in search of further evidence. On their return, they used an old wooden trough filled with water and added heated stones.
After achieving an optimum temperature of 60-70°C they began to add milled barley and approximately 45 minutes later simply baled the final product into fermentation vessels.
The men have since made two more batches of beer - the second was stronger and the third was "a disaster" - but they have started work on batch number four which the hope will taste as good as their first.
The archaeologists' experiment is described in detail in next month's edition of the magazine, Archaeology Ireland.
GGG Ping.
Hey Monk you know want to know how Looter guy ancestors enjoy their beer LOL!
“Unnngh!”
[”Brilliant!]
Think about it. An early agricultural community, raising wheat. Would you prefer to exist on bread, or make beer with it to trade for meat from every passing hunter?
Very good point.
Considering a second career, blam?
Beer make you smart...it made bud wiser
They should make their own microbrew and call it “Bronze Age Brew” or “Bronze Age Ale”. It would sell.
Nice! XD
I didn’t realize it was Punday yet!
"Experiment"? Hell, it sounds like a good excuse to get plastered.
That's my kind of experiment!
Ping. Must be ancient beer month!
Damn Monk Looter guy been for years and years he is original guy he is immortal you can’t rid of Looter guy
What did the Bronze Age bucko use for smokes?
Beer Ping!
A low to medium ping list aimed at all of us who, well, love our beer…
FReepmail rzeznikj at stout or GOP_Raider to be added or struck from the list…
Howza bout a Homebrewer’s ping?
Damn Monk Looter guy been for years and years he is original guy he is immortal you can’t rid of Looter guy
He seemed to be the only one in the entire city of New Orleans who knew what the hell he was doing! Maybe this explains why!
Also remember that beer is food. Beer has a lot of calories, and is a lot easier to make than barley bread, which is a pain and involves a lot of hard work.
Barley does have the advantage that it is easier to malt, which means to germinate then dry before the plant grows. This produces the enzymes needed to convert its carbohydrates to sugars, which are needed for brewing.
It also grows in cold and salty ground, even colder than where rye will grow.
So either you have to dry it, hull it, grind it, etc., to make bread, or just mash it up for beer.
Better living through archaeology!
Now we need to find the ancient site where they made pretzels!
I'll keep an eye out!
But I do archaeology in the western US, and I suspect we need to look to the Old World for the beer munchies!
It makes me wonder if there is something magic about yeast, because that parallels my experience as a teenager.
My Irish grandmother was reminiscing about Prohibition. she lived in PA at the time, and "Felt sorry for her German neighbors who missed their beer".
So she regaled us with "Taking a can of Blue Ribbon Hop Flavored Barley Malt syrup, five pounds of sugar and five gallons of water and a yeast cake and...."
At some point that Spring, puzzled by the sudden popularity of the neighborhood nerd, my sister discovered our "Down by the pond" brewery, capping machine nailed to a stump, and a covered pottery vessel liberated from the cellar. She squealed. My father busted us, and was yelling and lecturing. The bottles were on strings, floating low in the pond, and were staying a pleasant 50° or so.
I pulled one in and opened it and handed it to him.
His eyes popped out and he said, "GEt all this stuff into the cellar!!"
I made it for years, and actually miss it, when I remember it. I may just dust off the old skills..it was full bodied and very malty, no doubt not a Great Beer, but still...
I wonder if that malt syrup is still around? It was a large can with (haha) Muffin recipes on the side!
And, the process kills all the (possibly deadly) bacteria.
Diluted wine was often used to sterilize water.
Yes, he has turned his life around.
He has taken a shower, gotten a job and learned proper English.
Why can’t I do “scientific” research projects like this? [I’m a geologist, I can only study what kinds of rocks the prehistoric men threw at each other when they were drunk]
From what I know about geologists, I’m sure they’d be pretty good at this kind of “research”.
What I would like to know is how it only took three days to brew the beer?
The guy on the right reminds me of Martin Short!
Martin Short as Ed Grimely
I'll go for making beer. Less work, more fun.
“I wonder if that malt syrup is still around? It was a large can with (haha) Muffin recipes on the side!”
I still see malt syrup in grocery stores. I buy mine by the pound at the Brewer’s supply. I remember my mother telling me about my grandfather making beer during prohibition and the bottles exploding in the cellar. It made my grandmother furious that he was making beer but she didn’t mind at all that he was a bootlegger for my uncle down in Hickman County Tennessee. Go figure.
Malt syrup is easily available. I don't know about Blue Ribbon, but we homebrewers use the stuff all the time.
Many of the breweries which were closed by Prohibition went into the malt extract business. There was a large advertising campaign around it. It was pretty much an open secret that almost no one was using the stuff for baking.
In fact several manufacturers would basically print a recipe very similar to yours on the can and say "now don't ever do this, kids."
And I highly recommend you rekindle your old skills. Homebrewing is lots of fun.
L
We made beer from Blue Ribbon Hop Flavored Malt Syrup for years. Ten gallons of water, three envelopes of yesat, a gallon of syrup, five pounds of sugar in a big stainless steel liner from a Navy coffee urn. (we had it on a dolly because it was rounded on the bottom). Bottling and capping took a full evening, but gave us 12 cases to enjoy. Man, was that stuff POTENT!!! Foosh!
Yes, I recall it was NOT one of those beers for drinking in the summer heat while mowing the lawn or other chores. I never used a hydrometer and did not have a clue what the alcohol content was, but it was _not_ 3.2. It was more a "laying in the hammock" beer that precluded useful work. :-)
There is something made in Mexico along those lines. Diastase in the saliva cracks starches into sugars, then the zymase in the yeast goes to work on the sugar. People must really want to drink...
I did a web search. They still make Blue Ribbon Hop Flavored Malt Syrup!!
Expect my typing to deteriorate in the near future...
“...They should make their own microbrew and call it “Bronze Age Brew” or “Bronze Age Ale”. It would sell...”
Bronze-age brews have been on the market for some time now. There is a beer called “Fraoich” (I think I spelled that right), that is brewed in Scotland, using bog myrtle and heather instead of hops. It’s widely available in the United States, and tastes pretty good.
There is also a traditional type of rye beer in Finland, that has been brewed continuously since Neolithic times. It’s not something commercially available (at least, not in the U.S.), as people just make it in their homes, but ancient beer is no stranger to Finland.
‘...From what I know about geologists, I’m sure they’d be pretty good at this kind of “research”....’
No kidding. As a group, they put Russian sailors to shame.
I wonder if cave babes made ham sandwiches?
Add me to the beer ping list perty please.
I think it was closer to 12%. 12%, I believe, is the point at which the boys who make the magic kill themselves off. Most natural wines are around 12%, if I remember correctly. Please feel free to correct where needed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.