# Archaeological brewing - 1835 recipe help



## Bruer (21/8/17)

Hi all,

I'm an archaeologist and I'm also a homebrewer. I'm looking to brew a beer based on a recipe published in a Western Australian newspaper article from 1835. I'm then going to present this beer as part of a presentation at the national conference. The presentation revolves around experimental archaeology and what beer from the 19th century colony of WA tasted like. But I need a bit of help if figuring out the recipe.

Here's the recipe article:
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article641073

This is what I have so far.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: 1835 WA Ale Recipe

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: British Strong Ale
Boil Time: 20 min
Batch Size: 100 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 104.56 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.097
Efficiency: 80% (ending kettle)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.102
Final Gravity: 1.021
ABV (standard): 10.61%
IBU (tinseth): 49.27
SRM (daniels): 9.99

FERMENTABLES:
47.63 kg - floor malted pils (100%: PPG=32)

HOPS:
1.95 lb - Fuggles, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 6.1, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 49.27

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 66.5 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 90.96 L

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - English Ale Yeast S-04
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (custom): 78%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 12.22 - 25 C
Fermentation Temp: 18 C
Pitch Rate: 1.25 (M cells / ml / deg P)
Additional Yeast: B. clausenii

NOTES:
Made assumption of absorption based on recipe assumes 17g from 20g or 1.6 L/kg. Assumed 2.5 bushels equates to English 114.38 lbs. Gallons are imperial Gallons 1 g = 4.54 L. 

I've assumed that as the FV being a porter barrel (assumed to be imported from the UK) that there would be Brett clausenii too. Other assumptions I've made:
*40% reduction in amount of hops based on Bronzed brews calcs.
*approx 4L boil off in 20mins
*imperial gallons = 4.55L
*Imperial bushels = 42lbs
*170°F on that much grain equates to 66.5°C final mash temp.

I can't seem to get my head around the apparently super high abv. This looks more like a barleywine than a table or even strong ale. I'm also interested to know if anyone knows any assumptions I might be able to make regarding the extract potential of 19th century English, NSW or Tasmanian pale malt (as no malt was produced commercially in WA until 1836).

Am I reading and interpreting the recipe right. Any recommendations would be great.


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## mstrelan (21/8/17)

Just make sure you rack the liquor off the faeces and you should be right.


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## akx (21/8/17)

Two thoughts:
80% efficiency could be too high.
And maybe double check the bushels-to-kg of grain. Wikipedia says 1 bushel = 8 gallons, so it was 20 gallons of grain. I think it would be less than 50-some kgs, based on my recollection of how much grain I could fit in a 6 gallon bucket...


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## good4whatAlesU (21/8/17)

Fuggles as I understand weren't around until the 1860s .. EKGs came in during the late 1830's I think (according to the British hops association).


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## Mardoo (21/8/17)

I myself would go for an English pale malt, rather than pilsner. I believe this will get you closer to the original product than the pilsner malt. You can still get floor-malted English malts, for example, Thomas Fawcett Floor Malted Maris Otter. Maybe you have information available which I don't, that leads you to choose this, though. 

The high starting gravity may be, in part, due to the difference in modification of the malt starches between historic malts and today's malts. It seems like you're reading the recipe correctly, unless the volumetric difference pointed out by akx is correct. Thinking of my 18 gallon keg I have as a kettle, I'd guess closer to 40 kilos of grain in 20 gallons of volume.


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## kaiserben (21/8/17)

1 bushel of malted barley = 34 lb (or 15.4 kg) (source = Wikipedia), so your grain bill should be about 38.5 kg. 

So that'll bring gravity down a bit.


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## bradsbrew (21/8/17)

I'd drop your efficiency to 55 - 60%.


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## Bruer (21/8/17)

Apparently and according the the bronzed brews book there's a difference between English, Australian and American bushels of malt. Being 42lbs, 40lbs and 34lbs respectively. I made the assumption that early colonial brewers would have still been using imperial bushels as a measurement.

Anyone want to measure 4.55L of pale malt for me?

I looked at the floor malted pils by weyerman which has a ppg of 36. I figured it would be even less for 19th century malt, but had nothing to go on so assumed about 32 ppg.

Assumed 80% eff as that's my brew eff. Will adjust it for the recipe then scale for brewday.


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## Bruer (21/8/17)

So here's the recipe with a few changes made. Assumption of 60% efficiency. Fuggles swapped out for EKG. Floor malted pils swapped out for FM MO, still assuming a lower ppg for undermodification.

Title: 1835 WA Ale Recipe

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: British Strong Ale
Boil Time: 20 min
Batch Size: 100 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 104.56 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.073
Efficiency: 60% (ending kettle)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.076
Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV (standard): 7.96%
IBU (tinseth): 50.25
SRM (morey): 8.17

FERMENTABLES:
47.63 kg - floor malted MO (100%)

HOPS:
1.95 lb - East Kent Goldings, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 5, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 50.25

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 66.5 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 90.96 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.6 L/kg

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - English Ale Yeast S-04
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (custom): 78%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 12.22 - 25 C
Fermentation Temp: 18 C
Pitch Rate: 1.25 (M cells / ml / deg P)
Additional Yeast: B. clausenii

NOTES:
Made assumption of absorption based on recipe assumes 17g from 20g or 1.6 L/kg. Assumed 2.5 bushels equates to English 105 lbs. Gallons are imperial Gallons 1 g = 4.54 L.


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## kaiserben (21/8/17)

I think I remember seeing (in Bronzed Brews) at least one of the historical recipes indicating American measurements (I only remember because I was a bit surprised). I don't have the book in front of me to check that though. 

Possibly of interest to you: I found another reference to beer being brewed in WA where it says: "from a bushel and a half, (dried in the sun,) and one pound of hops, 20 gallons of good ale ad 15 of small beer can be produced. " (reference: LINK)


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## bradsbrew (21/8/17)

Accounting for the modern malts giving better efficiency, you would only need 33kg to reach the 7.96 abv. Assuming you get 80% actual efficiency . Are you going to stir the mash for 30 minutes , then sit 60 minutes?


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## Bruer (21/8/17)

That's what I figured about the modern malts too. But kind of need to figure out the original and then reverse-engineer to modern standards and efficiencies. I tend to get around 80% efficiency most of the time.

I'm not sure if I'll stir for a full 30 minutes as I'll be reducing the final volume to a more reasonable 20L. There will be discrepancies in thermal mass between the batch sizes and therefore stirring for 30 minutes in the smaller batch wouldn't be the same IMO (Unless someone else has a better understanding of thermodynamic physics).


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## labels (23/8/17)

Your second recipe is more on the mark at 60% efficiency at 1.076 - a lot more realistic providing you have a reasonably efficient brewery.


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## Edd Mather 6 (28/8/17)

Hi , I'll be having a bash at converting this one for you ; one thing I must mention is the A/a of the hops is WAY to high for the period , it'd be closer to 3.5 than 6 , and the Mash time in total would be 1 hr 20 minutes , 20 to mash in , 1 hr goods in , pop me an email to [email protected] if you like; cheers ,
Edd Mather


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## MHB (29/8/17)

Have you come across the Durden Park Beer Circle, they are a group doing modern brews of antique recipes, not far off what you are attempting.
Mark


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## Edd Mather 6 (29/8/17)

MHB said:


> Have you come across the Durden Park Beer Circle, they are a group doing modern brews of antique recipes, not far off what you are attempting.
> Mark


Aye ,I've heard of the Durden Park Beer Circle, still ploughing along with my book , the recipie seems a bit like the early Greenall's material I've looked at , from the late 1780's, although I'd say the original article wasn't written by anyone with technical/ practical brewing knowledge, as the original weights give an ibu of between 12-15 ,and a gravity in the low 1.070's , bitterness calculated : assuming a hop lb/bushel ratio of 1.5 lb per bushel .
Does anyone know when hops started to be grown in Australia on a commercial basis for brewing?.


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## good4whatAlesU (29/8/17)

Will be following this with interest as I'm currently trying to get my 1840's Stout recipe up and going. Our lot were 'hopfactors' in Cardiff in the 1780's, I think Mathon might be a likely suspect (or Farnham/ Canterbury) but EKG is about the most contemporary readily available here now? Fuggles came 20 years later (but also might be close). Either that or some of the wildings growing down in the Victorian bush (if verified) could be an old variety.

This article from the 1880's is quite interesting: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT18830731.2.10

If anyone currently grows/sells Mathon/ Canterbury/ Farnham ins Aus or NZ I'd be interested to know. I looked at import costs but my pockets are not deep enough.


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## Edd Mather 6 (29/8/17)

Mathons, and Early Bird are, still grown , but labelled as EKG (Ex Charles Faram's ) in general,and on the Farnham thing, there were two distinct types , Town = low alpha, Ca 1.3-5 % ,great aromatic properties, Country Farnham's were higher in alpha at around the 3%+ mark, Good luck with the Stout, drop me a line if I can help , Regards & Cheers ; Edd


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## Bruer (29/8/17)

So I brewed the recipe on the weekend just past. I've also worked through a whole bunch of info and assumptions. I'll post the whole lot including the final recipe when I back at my computer.

On another note, I'm now starting to think I might need to write a history of brewing in Western Australia with recipes, perhaps with an archaeology slant to it too. Definitely a book in it.


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## MHB (29/8/17)

Edd Mather 6 said:


> Snip
> Does anyone know when hops started to be grown in Australia on a commercial basis for brewing?.


The best (possibly only well known) reference would be "The Hop Industry in Australia" Helen R, Pearce 1976. ISBN 0 522 84097 3
Not just James Squire, as the knee deep plethora of Tooheys sponsored websites would have you think.
Mark


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## Bruer (29/8/17)

Hops were being grown in the botanical garden in Perth in at least 1833. This isn't to say there was commercial growing, but if they were growing there, it's reasonable to assume that there may have been commercial interest to grow them further south (around Albany perhaps). Will do some digging in trove.


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## good4whatAlesU (29/8/17)

Edd Mather 6 said:


> Mathons, and Early Bird are, still grown , but labelled as EKG (Ex Charles Faram's ) in general,and on the Farnham thing, there were two distinct types , Town = low alpha, Ca 1.3-5 % ,great aromatic properties, Country Farnham's were higher in alpha at around the 3%+ mark, Good luck with the Stout, drop me a line if I can help , Regards & Cheers ; Edd



Thanks very much Edd I may take you up on that. Very interesting about the Farnham I didn't know there were town and country versions. 

I notice some Royal Worcester porcelain has Mathon hops on it, so there must have been some local pride in the Mathon product (as being distinctly different - at least back then).

Cheers
Michael.


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## wide eyed and legless (29/8/17)

You should take him up on the help, Edd has sent me a few old recipes of bygone ales I wouldn't mind a stout and even a mild to go with them.


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## Edd Mather 6 (29/8/17)

wide eyed and legless said:


> You should take him up on the help, Edd has sent me a few old recipes of bygone ales I wouldn't mind a stout and even a mild to go with them.


Hi Mate, crap ; knew I'd forgotten summat !!, if you drop me an email with your choice from the lists I sent you , I'll forward a couple , also got an couple of 1845-8/9 Tetley Stouts , as to the Milds, I'd probably go for one of the Bentley's ones , either the X, or XX ,
Cheers,
Edd


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## wide eyed and legless (29/8/17)

Sounding good Edd, got 2 brews this week and then onto the Magees Government Ale before I try the Greenalls bitter.


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## Edd Mather 6 (29/8/17)

Probably a good Idea , the Greenall`s is dangerously drinkable @ about 6.5 + % (after maturation) , the Gov Ale is a beaut of a thirst quencher though!! # Thinking Juice , rather than Lunatic Soup !!
Cheers ,
Edd


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## wide eyed and legless (30/8/17)

That's why I put it behind the Gov Ale, always very wary with the stronger beers.


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## Feldon (2/9/17)

For those interested in Farnham hops, here's a good _Brewery History_ article from 2012 that tells the story.

www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/147/Hops.pdf 

Couple of things it doesn't say is that Farnham in Surrey became a hop growing area mainly because it was situated on cheap land close to London. The area where Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey meet was ancient heathland that was considered by farmers as waste - not fit for grazing or cropping. But it was fit for gardening, which is how hops are grown (a horticultural practice). Farnham was also only about 35 miles from the biggest market for hops at London and situated on a main highway. So it was accessible for the 5,000 to 8,000 pickers that would descend on Farnham during the picking season. 

From my readings, the factors that put an end to hop growing at Farnham were the same ones as gave rise to it - relative cheapness of land and accessibility to London. The area became popular for the aspiring, middling sort of London trader to build his country cottage there, and with the rise of the industrial revolution there were thousands of such people. Urban encroachment soon spread all over. The article says the final death knell to hop growing at Farnham was caused by bad attacks of downy mildew in the 1920s. That may be the case, but the arrival and persistence of mildew can be ascribed to the increasing number of coal fired hearths causing increased fogs and dampness in the area.

On the matter of town and country hops, I've never heard or read of Farnham "town hops" (but happy to be put right). I've taken the term Farnham hops to refer to hops grown in the _parish _of Farnham, which included the town of the same name. Country hops were grown, well, elsewhere in the country by scattered smallholders and the like.

And growing of the famous old Farnham Whitebine hops at Farnham has been resurrected a few years ago by the local Hogs Back Brewery. See https://www.hogsback.co.uk/our-hop-garden/ 

And a short video of the Hogs Back Brewery (see second half for Farnham Whitebine hop growing):


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## Edd Mather 6 (3/9/17)

Hi , Farnham Town hops were the low alpha aroma variety ,somewhere around Saaz territory in terms of bittering properties, and they country Hops were higher in alphas with less noble aromatic properties.


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## Korev (10/11/17)

You may be interested in my new book: *6 O’CLOCK Brews - Home Brewing More Old Australian Beers.
Books available from Lulu.

Check their homepage for discount coupons.

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## Lyrebird_Cycles (10/11/17)

Feldon said:


> The article says the final death knell to hop growing at Farnham was caused by bad attacks of downy mildew in the 1920s. That may be the case, but the arrival and persistence of mildew can be ascribed to the increasing number of coal fired hearths causing increased fogs and dampness in the area.



Downy mildew of hops is caused by a pathogen that originated in Japan and didn't reach Europe until the 20s. It is far more likely that the advent of downy in these hops gardens is related to its increased prevalence rather than to changed mesoclimatic conditions.


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## Bruer (4/12/17)

So for all those interested, here's is the recipe and all the assumptions I made in translating it across to a modern, homebrew scale. We’re getting ready to present this beer, along with a few others, at an session about experimental archaeology at this year’s Australian Archaeological Association conference. Being such an old recipe it’s pretty difficult to get an accurate idea of exactly what yeasts and hops would have been used, so we have to look at the evidence for other areas such as trade and where imports were coming from. So on that basis here are the assumptions I made in brewing this recipe.

You can find the original article here: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page461

Yeasts: 
So we’re flying pretty blind here as far as specific strains. Given that beer, pale ales, porters and strong ales were being imported in barrelled form from the UK and that the article discusses using ex-porter barrels for a FV, it is not unreasonable to assume that the yeasts in the grain of the wood would have started the first fermentation. Yeast could then be collected for subsequent batches. Because yeasts were not isolated until the 1880s by Claussen, and given that porters especially were known for their ‘old’ character, I assumed that there would have been numerous strains of yeast including Brettanomyces. The yeasts I used were a blend of Windsor, Nottingham, Fermentis S-04 and Wyeast 5151-PC Brettanomyces claussenii.

Hops:
Hops were also a difficult one to deal with. 1835 is too early for many hop varieties. Kent Goldings, American Cluster and European varieties were likely kicking around. However, given that the Swan River Colony (Around Perth, Western Australia) was a British colony, I made the assumption the hops being used were likely from Kent, which were seen to be a high quality hop. I used East Kent Goldings.

It is virtually impossible to know what the original alpha acid content of the hops was. However, hops are propagated through asexual reproduction, rhizomes are divided and new plants are genetically identical to one another (as would be the hop cones). For this reason I assumed that the AA% was fairly similar to current levels of today’s Kent Goldings. 

Consideration too needs to be made about the storage of the hops and the time that it would’ve taken from them to reach the colony. In 1835 there was no cold-storage. Instead hops were compressed and baled, likely wrapped in a hemp or linen cloth. The hops would’ve deteriorated over time and this would affect both the flavour and alpha acid content. Consideration too needs to be taken to account for other factors such as seed and stem content and palletisation. Pellets had to be used in this recipe as Australia’s biosecurity laws do not allow for whole hop cones to be imported from the UK. Based on some reading done and using another author’s the hop content of the recipe was reduced by 50% (20% for seeds and stems, 10% for palletisation, 10% improper storage, 10% age).

Malt:
Malts are also a difficult one. In 1835, no malt was being locally produced. I’m not sure if sizeable and exportable quantities of malt were being produced in the Eastern States (around Sydney or Melbourne) or New Zealand at this time. Regardless, I’ve assumed that the malt being used would have been floor malted and kilned using British processes. Current potential extract for Weyermann’s floor malted pilsener is 36 ppg. Given that this is in a modern production, it is likely a more consistent product than those malts produced 180 years ago. I could not find any information on the extract potential for grain in the early 19th century. Therefore I assumed that the extract potential would have been a little lower and went for 32 ppg. I then used this to calculate how much modern malt would be needed. While I realise that there are other factors to consider (such as colour) but these are pretty hard to work out based on a simple recipe.

It’s also worth noting that prior to the 1880s British brewers calculated the amounts of malt used in volumetric measurement rather than weight. Obviously the weight of malt would change from year to year and maltster to maltster depending on the moisture content and kilning techniques. One Quarter (Qr.) made eight Bushels, one Bushel made four Pecks and one Peck equated to two UK Gallons (4.54 litres). Therefore, at the LHBS I weighed a gallon of malt and used that to help formulate the recipe. One UK Gallon of malt weighed almost exactly 2.5 kg. Because there was no indication of the exact malt used, I went for a good-quality pale British malt, Marris Otter.

Water:
Another difficult consideration is the water used. The water I get supplied to my house comes from Mt Eliza in Kings Park nearby. Some of the city’s first breweries were located around this hill and the water would have likely been drawn from wells in the hill. I used unfiltered water from mains water supply. The recipe made no reference to brewing salts, so none were added.

Chilling the Wort and Fermentation Temperature:
Chilling the wort was where I diverged from the recipe slightly. After flameout I allowed the wort to cool for about 15 minutes and then chilled it to 35 C using a immersion chiller. I would assume that transferring from the mash kettle to a porter barrel would have likely taken a fair bit of heat out of the wort, and that it would have chilled over the next few hours. Given that the article discusses taking the wort off the trub and hop matter, I assumed that after dropping below about 75 C the isomerisation of the alpha acids would cease. Ultimately, my decision to chill the wort was based on ensuring that I ended up with a sound, drinkable product.

I’ve got to admit, pitching at blood temperature freaked me out a bit. Even so, Australia has a warm climate and Perth has fairly mild winters, usually around 15-20 C daytime temperatures. I made the assumption that my beer was brewed at around 18C in a warm, draft-free spot in the house with a fairly stable temperature. I brew beer fairly regularly and used my temperature controlled fermentation chamber. I could’ve used ambient temperatures, but ultimately, it was a bit of an investment for the beer and wanted to ensure that I had a decent drinkable product. I still pitched warm at around 35 C.

Recipe:
This is my interpretation of the recipe on a homebrew scale.

Title: 1835 WA Recipe Modern

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: British Strong Ale
Boil Time: 20 min
Batch Size: 19 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 23.53 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.058
Efficiency: 68% (ending kettle)
No Chill: 15 minute extended hop boil time

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.072
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV (standard): 7.88%
IBU (tinseth): 71.11
SRM (daniels): 10.48

FERMENTABLES:
6.32 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (100%)

HOPS:
150 g - East Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 4.6, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 71.11

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 66.3 C, Time: 90 min, Amount: 18.1 L
2) Sparge, Temp: 75 C, Time: 10 min, Amount: 18.1 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 3.1 L/kg

YEAST:
5g each of Windsor, Nottingham and Safale S-04. One pouch wyeast 5151-PC.
Starter: Yes (just for the B. claussenii)
Form: Dry and liquid. Dry yeast rehydrated. 
Attenuation (custom): 82% (this is the highest attenuation of all yeasts used)
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 12.22 - 25 C
Fermentation Temp: 18 C (pitched at 30-37 C)
Pitch Rate: 1.25 (M cells / ml / deg P)
Additional Yeast: B. claussenii

NOTES:
Made assumption of absorption based on recipe assumes 17g from 20g or 1.6 L/kg. Assumed 2.5 bushels equates to approx 50kg (2.5 kg to a imp gallon, 2 g to a peck, 4 pecks to a bushel) (pre-1880). Gallons in recipe are Imperial Gallons 1 g = 4.54 L. Grain modification expected low at 32 ppg (Weyermann floor malted pils is 36 ppg).


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## labels (5/12/17)

Very interesting information, thank you for sharing and going to so much trouble to post a very detailed article/recipe on historic beer in Australia.


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## Jack of all biers (5/12/17)

labels said:


> Very interesting information, thank you for sharing and going to so much trouble to post a very detailed article/recipe on historic beer in Australia.



What labels said. Even if it's the best educated guess you could make, it is a fair old effort none the less and worth it for us. Thanks for sharing it with us. Beers & cheers


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