[Sca-cooks] ale/ol

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Stefan li Rous:
>Adamantius said:
>>Also sprach Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise:
>>>I'm thinking about drinks, and I'd say maybe barley water as the closest
>>>to small beer? Maybe a honey drink to resemble small mead?
>>
>>Were you present at Southern Region War Camp for the discussion on
>>unusual beverages for SCA use? Seeing as it is a Viking-ish event,
>>you might make a simple "tea" out of malt (in which case you'd have
>>to mash and rack it) or malt extract (in which case you would not),
>>suitably flavored with herbs. I'm sure between you and, say, John
>>Marshall, you could come up with a nice flavoring gruit. Maybe
>>something with sage.
>So, what's the difference between this and small beer?

Small beer is fermented. It starts out at a low specific gravity, is 
fermented, but between a low alcohol content and a low final gravity 
(remember it's small because it uses less grain), it tends to have a 
shorter shelf life than heavier brews. This stuff is wort that could 
be fermented if the maker chose, but is drunk very new, if the sagas 
are to be believed. The most practical solution for SCA purposes is 
probably to assume it hasn't had time to ferment at all, and not 
pitch any yeast. And unlike small beer, this can have whatever 
density/gravity the maker wants or can afford.

>>
>>This drink is known as ale (or rather, ol). While it should be
>>fermented, it is also spoken of in sagas as being drunk on the same
>>day it is mashed, so drinking it flat and unfermented would not be
>>much of a stretch at all. If you're not fermenting the stuff, and
>>just using malt to flavor and add a little body to the water (which
>>will then taste just a tad like Arizona Iced Tea), even using malt
>>extract would be well within your budget, I suspect.
>If this is different from small beer, then I've not heard of it 
>before and would love to see more info.
>
>For some more on small beer, see this Florilegium file:
>small-beer-msg    (20K) 11/ 6/03    A weakly alcoholic beer made 
>using the grain
>                                        from a previous batch of beer
>http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/small-beer-msg.html
>
>For s tiny bit on barley tea:
>infusions-msg     (24K)  3/26/02    Period infusions. Herbal "teas". 
>Barley tea.
>http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/infusions-msg.html
>
>If you are specifically looking for non-alcholic recipes there are 
>some in this file:
>beverages-NA-msg  (80K)  9/ 2/99    Non-alcoholic beverages.
>http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/beverages-NA-msg.html
>
>And another lightly alcoholic drink, and perhaps known to some Norse 
>in Russia, was kvass:
>kvass-msg         (73K)  7/ 4/04    Russian drink made from bread or grains.
>http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/kvass-msg.html
>
>But small-beer and kvass and probably others are only lightly 
>alcoholic. If this is because of the SCA rules on serving alcohol 
>made or bought with SCA money, I don't know how little (none?) there 
>must be.

Then there's also the consideration that the stuff I spoke of can be 
prepared an hour or less before serving...

Adamantius

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