SC - Small Beer?

[Christine A Seelye-King]

> The unfortunate reality is that the deeper you dig into Corpora, the
> clearer it becomes that the intent is to eliminate SCA liability
> connected to alcoholic beverages in any way, shape, and form. There 
> is no legally definable alcohol percentage that the SCA will sanction;
> neither Milpitas nor their insurance carrier is gonna say, oh, .05%,
> that's okay, then. (Although I'd guess the better quality near-beers 
> and yeast-carbonated sodas were more like .5%.) 

	Yep, I screv that wrongly.  My lord tells me the O'Doul's bottle says
"contains less than .5% by volume" which means the Feds don't care, it is
a non-alcoholic beverage.  

> > My next step in this logic is that it should be possible to water
down wine to a similar level of acceptable alcohol levels, and serve that
(please don't jump on me for not telling folks there's wine in something,
or not having  an alternative.  I wouldn't do that.)
 
> I'm sure you wouldn't. I know some people immediately began quoting
> chapter and verse from Corpora instead of responding to your actual
> question, but I didn't think I was one of them. I may have been 
> unclear in my jibes about that.

	No, that was more a plea to the group at large.  I could just hear it
coming.  

Now here's an idea I really like.  Isn't this something similar to what
the All-Day Brewing Fest early at Pennsic is supposed to be?  My lord did
the same thing with quick mead last year, we had 3 gallon jugs bubbling
all over the camp kitchen!

> If you're interested in recreating the beverages in an upper-class
> period breakfast, <snip>
> Hey, here's a thought that I don't think anybody has mentioned in 
> detail yet. If you _really_ want to serve a perod ale at breakfast, you

> could simply brew it on site. Work it into the event as a hands-on
> teaching/research project. You could probably do it on, say, Friday
> night in the case of one of the Meridien weekend-long events. 
> Somewhere, there's a record of a law on the books in Oxford (Cindy can 
> doubtless provide details) that says a brewer/tavern owner may not sell
ale 
> that has not sat and settled for at least six hours prior to sale. This
> suggests that the practice of selling new ale was probably pretty
> widespread. What you'd be serving would be, essentially, unfermented
> ale, with virtually no alcohol, but just the taste of the malt and 
> any flavorings you chose to add, which might or might not include hops.
Not bad, just unlike a modern beer, as anybody who's done any perod
brewing knows. It actually tastes more than a bit like sweetened, iced
tea, especially when you cool your wort in an oak vat. 

	Well, I know that would go over well in Meridies...  :)


Would it have any alcohol? None to speak of. And it is a 
> good representation of a period beverage? Absolutely! 
> 
> Adamantius, Sometime Evil Period Brewer

	And that was the point to this whole conversation.  
Thank you for your as usual erudite contributions. 
Christianna
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