Brewing books/methods...

[Stephen Pursley]

> Greetings,
> 
> Barat stated:
> >But remember, Digby is not period.
> 
> Yes, but Digby is a starting place for looking.  I have since found recipes
> from "Cury in Inglishe", "The Good Housewife's Jewel, Parts I & II", and am
> still looking in other period sources.  These recipes I will pass along to
> Pug.  While Digby's book does not fall within the scope the SCA (and a
> great many other things SCAers do as well), it is close to period.  I have
> found that many recipes, formulas, etc are relatively stable during this
> period and then start changing.  I plan on doing a comparison of what has
> changed in the recipes and what doesn't. Digby is used frequently by cooks
> as well.

I agree.  I have referenced Digby in several of the articles I have
written on mead making and brewing (with a note that it is near-period).

My biggest problem with Digby is that many of his meads appear to be
medicinal, and he was making them for the very upper crust of society,
as you can see by the names of his recipes.  I am more interested in
what the common man was drinking (and at Digby’s time that wasn’t mead,
but mostly ale and beer).  As I am sure you have noticed, there are very
few references available on this subject that are period (or near period
like Digby, for that matter).


>         Most of the modern mead recipes the SCA use are actually melomels,
> because of their use of herbs, fruits and additionals (black teas) and they
> are fairly well accepted.

I tend to make pyments (ever heard of the Purple Stuff?) and straight
meads.  I like to make straight meads because, as you noted, not many
SCA folks make them.

>         The problem I found with modern mead and homebrewing books is that
> they usually don't document where the recipes are from originally.
> 
>         I am curious do you brew beer, ales or what, as you seem
> knowledgible and I must admit ignorance about tasting a great many brews
> these days.

I have been making mead for over 10 years, and brewing beer (extract,
partial mash and all grain) for about six.  I have written several
articles on mead making, have an extensive set of web pages on the
subject (www.oklahoma.net/~herron/barat/index.html) and have just
completed a Compleat Anachronist manuscript on mead which was just
submitted.

Today, I am making an all grain beer (5 gallons), bottling a 5 gallon
batch of orange wine (this stuff takes about 4 years to make, 3 in the
fermenter and 1 in the bottle), feeding two meads and adding some fruit
to another batch of all grain beer.  All in all, a typical weekend here.

   Barat