“You may make Hippocras of Cider thus: take of cardamoms, carpobalsamum, of each half an ounce, coriander seeds, nutmegs, ginger, of each two ounces, cloves two drachmes, bruise and infuse them two days in two gallons of the riches sweet cider, often stirring it together, then add thereto of milk three pints; strain all through…
Category: Historical Brews
Birch Wine
Thoughts: Last spring, I caused a near scandal in our small town when I tapped the birch tree in front of our new house. The locals scoffed, thinking I couldn’t tell the difference between a maple and a birch. My husband and I had to go down to the breakfast place to casually mention that…
Beer, c. 1577
“Having therefore groond eight bushels of good malt upon our querne, where the toll is saved, she addeth unto it half a bushel of wheat meale, and so much of otes small groond, and so tempereth or mixeth them with the malt, that you cannot easily discerne the one from the other, otherwise these…
Bochet – Burnt Honey Mead, 1393
Thoughts: The smell of this mead in progress is awesome. The whole house smells of toffee and burnt sugar, and, inexplicably, brownies, and the delicious aroma lasts for days. Coming home to that smell is a joy. When it’s bottled, the color is very dark, like a porter, but with incredible clarity. The flavor is…
Digby’s Spiced Apple Cider
Thoughts: This recipe is loosely based on a direct recipe from Digby. In what I now believe was a misreading of the original, I decided to try what I thought was a spiced cider. The fact that there was no list of ingredients for a hippocras in Digby ought to have tipped me off, but…
Yorkshire Oat Ale
Thoughts: When I saw this for the first time, I thought that something got lost in this recipe’s time travel. The malted oats are cold mashed, which is very unusual in brewing. Since I’m such a fan of the strange historical recipes, I figured I would give it a go, and see what happened….
Colonial Apple Beer
Thoughts: The basic idea of this beer is that it uses apple cider instead of water in the wort. It ended up quirky, in that at least half the fermenting beer was sediment in the jug. I ended up making a great bread from that sediment, and a variety of other recipes from the spent…
Raspberry Cordial
Thoughts: I was delighted to find this recipe, which dates back to 1717, in The Accomplished Housekeeper. I made a batch, and after a few months was terribly disappointed to find it harsh and not at all pleasant to drink. Dejected, I put the bottle away, and wrote it off as a failure. Happily, I recently…
Metheglin Mead, 1655
Metheglin Mead Thoughts: I started my batch in April, bottled in May, and tried it at the end of August, about 5 months later. At this point, it’s ever so slightly fizzy when first cracked open, and a beautiful light golden color. It smells like honey. The flavor is somewhat herbal, but in a good,…
Game of Brews 