Despite my initial thought from the headline that we were talking about a lost beer of the Old Testament, it did appear for a second there that a small brewery in Scotland was actually exploring its inner Victorian side:
Robert Knops took the idea for his new creation, Musselburgh Broke, from the pages of the 1847 edition of The Scottish Ale Brewer and Practical Maltster, a book sometimes referred to as a bible for brewing. It contained the old tale of a clumsy delivery boy in the town who spilled a cask of beer and topped it up with cold water from a local river to avoid being caught. It later transpired that the boy had inadvertently created the best beer the locals had ever tasted, and now Mr Knops is hoping his modern version will prove just as popular.
What a charming lie, the tale of how a tight fisted brewer in 1847 blamed a child for watering down his beers. Sadly, the modern take is not that far off either as the brewer admits "I've not tried to replicate an old recipe as most of the time they turn out to be pretty horrid to modern tastes." I would have though there would be more legitimacy behind the news.
The more fortunate story is that some brewers are examing historic beers. It's the thing behind Pretty Things and their “Once Upon a Time…” series. Brewing of a batch of KK became an event interesting enough for Ron to cross an ocean. One would think that there would be more and more of this as recipes are out there laying around libraries just for the researching and celebrating. Why risk creating a new brand when the ancient is just waiting for you? Or might they all, as the brewing water of some Albany ale could be suggesting, be actually horrid?
Comments
Alan - October 5, 2010 10:29 AM
Ron's taste of KK was not horrid at all.
Craig - October 5, 2010 10:34 AM
Wait a minute... We haven't proved Boyd used the mineral water!
Alan - October 5, 2010 10:48 AM
I know. I am just winding people up. Like a back county carny. Freak beers of the 1830s! Come one come all. ;-)
But we do have good evidence that they were loading salt into the brewing water in mad proportions. The association with beer and medicinal salts as a nourishing tonic. Look at that 1906 label over at the Facebook group: flesh building!
Alan - October 5, 2010 10:49 AM
So the question still is - did the CNY public in the 1800 to 1850 era have a taste for salt because they associate it with health? How saline was it?
Lisa - October 5, 2010 11:20 AM
I'm all for more of that sort of thing - loved both bottles of Ron Pattinson's beers I've had so far (and as an ex-archivist & archaeologist, I love that people are taking the time to go to primary sources and chemical analysis a la Dogfish Head/Penn Museum to actually figure these things out).
Alan - October 5, 2010 11:47 AM
Here is a link to the work being done at Penn Museum.
dave - October 5, 2010 12:00 PM
My problem with the brewer's quote is "modern tastes"... whose "modern tastes" are we talking about? I don't know if I have "modern taste" but I have the ability to taste and the Pretty Things KK on cask was great (wasn't at the unveiling but it was still on cask yesterday), and I can't wait to pick up a few bottles of it, but would it be good to someone with "modern taste"? Not sure.
Then again I also find the whole "historic beer" style (its not a style, but I'm lacking the proper word) quite interesting.
Alan - October 5, 2010 12:41 PM
I think the word is "extravaganza!" as in historic beer extravaganza! Give it a bit of the old Barnum and Bailey. I am sure it should also be italicized but no one is going to buy that.
People should also shout "huzzah" when these casks are first tapped.
Craig - October 5, 2010 12:58 PM
Come one, come all to the amazing show.... just one moment to add as a fan on facebook... Step right up, yessiree... See death defying thumbs-up "LIKES"... Heart stopping maps and images.... For children of all ages (above the age of 21)
Craig - October 5, 2010 1:01 PM
Alan, I think you would agree that the Albany Ale Project is "The Greatest Show on Earth."
There's no copyright, issue on that is there?
Alan - October 5, 2010 1:05 PM
It is interesting unravelling cultural differences between 1770, 1800, 1830 and 1870 to know whether "huzzah" or the Barnum and Bailey approach would work. I've recently read a book on taverns in 1790s to 1850s Upper Canada (now Ontario) and just finished another on colonial taverns in what become the United States. The distinct nature of each colony / province in each generation is pretty neat. As may be their tastes in beer.
Alan - October 5, 2010 1:06 PM
I thought that was the Mets, Craig.
Craig - October 5, 2010 1:14 PM
Yes, but apparently the ringleader's services are no longer need, so they let him go.
Bob - October 9, 2010 2:12 AM
A little off the topic as far as this comment thread, but have you had a chance to try any beers from Haandbryggeriet, Alan?
One importer is now bringing small amounts of these into Australia at present and so far I've found them very interesting - recreations of old-timey Norwegian styles such as a smoked beer with juniper berries, a stout-like herbed beer of the old Gravøl style (apparently), brewed for funerals, and Hesjeøl, a harvest ale made with barley, oats and rye but no 'malt' per se. None of them taste familiar to me.
Alan - October 9, 2010 10:47 AM
Hey Bob. I had Norwegian Wood a year and a half ago. My problem is when I see these beers for sale in the states they are so much more expensive than US craft beer. Is that the same there?
Bob - October 16, 2010 6:15 AM
The folks that bring them over are Beermasons, kind of a beer of the month club type thing, so they're mostly included in a pack with a bunch of other beers, although you can buy a case of 12 of any one of them, which works out cheap considering almost any imports to Australia are heavily taxed. Not sure if I'd want a dozen of any of the ones I've tried so far, but I'm glad to be able to try them.