HERB - Wormwood

[Magdalena]

Rauthulfr wrote:

> Would you care to publish the recipe?

Sure, but it'll be a few days while I type it up.

Hugh Platt _Jewell House of Art and Nature_ London, 1594
9. How to brew goode and wholesom Beere without anie Hoppes at all.


>
>   I suspect that the wormwood would be added in the same manner which
> Harrison says his wife does?

Actually, it is more of a treatise on how to replace your hoppes with wormwood
rather than a proper recipe.  I was planning to use one of Markham's recipes as a
base.  Platt suggests decocting 4 ounces of hops to 9 gallons of water, then using
the same amount of wormwood to water and comparing the taste.  If the wormwood is
too bitter, as he suggests is likely, cut back until the amount of bitterness in
the two waters is the same.  Do you know what ebulition is?

"make first a decoction of 4 ounces of hops with 9 gallons of water (which is the
proportion that some Brewers in some sorts of drink doe use) and when you have
gotten out by ebulition the full strength and virtue of them, keep the same
apart"

I need to make a trip to the OED.  ;>  My guess is that ebulition is boiling...

>
> Harrison's formula would give about .6 grams per liter, which means that
> the amounts of wormwood ingested would remain below the clinical doses
> indicated as safe in the PDRH.  Although I still would recommend
> caution...particularly if any of those who might partake could be pregnant.
>

Don't worry.  I have every intention of clearly marking it with danger symbols.  I
have several recipes I'm playing with that I wouldn't have in the vicinity of
pregnant women.


BTW, Platt's book is well worth reading.  I always thought white distilled vinegar
wasn't period, until I read his description on how to distill it.  He's also got a
Hippocras recipe that involves making a spice cordial which you then use to spice
bottles of wine.  Someday I'm going to thoroughly break the law making spirit of
Honey (distilled Metheglin), and, well, anyway, it's a fascinating book.  Did I
mention the directions for making a mirrored ring for reading other people's
cards?  ;>

-Magdalena

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