# Acorn Beer



## Golani51 (24/3/11)

I am currently watching a Discovery Channel special called "How Beer Saved the World". They talk about the English settlers in the US making beer from acorns as they didn't have barley (poor sods ran out of beer on the way to wherever).

Has anyone ever come across the recipe , tasted, or brewed it before?
I am very curious.

R


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## unrealeous (24/3/11)

How interesting. Acorns are hard as rocks - so I imagine there would be plenty of issues in malting, kilning and milling these fellas. Not to mention working out an appropriate mash schedule. Sounds like a good idea for the next special case swap.


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## Silo Ted (24/3/11)

Wonder what sort of oil content there is in acorn ? 

Check this out from wiki: 

_In the 17th century, a juice extracted from acorns was administered to habitual drunkards to cure them of their condition or else to give them the strength to resist another bout of drinking_


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## Bizier (24/3/11)

I think I remember reading that in ww1 or ww2 someone roasted them as a desperate attempt to emulate coffee.


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## Golani51 (24/3/11)

Bizier said:


> I think I remember reading that in ww1 or ww2 someone roasted them as a desperate attempt to emulate coffee.



I think the Germans used it as a coffee substitute. To hell with curing drunks. I will give it a go. Anyone want to help put this thing together with me? I don't know brewing well enough to figure it out myself.

Who is up for it?


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## brett mccluskey (24/3/11)

Golani51 said:


> I am currently watching a Discovery Channel special called "How Beer Saved the World". They talk about the English settlers in the US making beer from acorns as they didn't have barley (poor sods ran out of beer on the way to wherever).
> 
> Has anyone ever come across the recipe , tasted, or brewed it before?
> I am very curious.
> ...


http://tearsoffire.org/beer/batch/pilgrim%20harvest%20ale


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## STEVENALI (24/3/11)

acorns were used to make beer bitter in uk from very early on,some stout receipes may still contain then,if you ever chew one you will see why


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## Golani51 (24/3/11)

STEVENALI said:


> acorns were used to make beer bitter in uk from very early on,some stout receipes may still contain then,if you ever chew one you will see why



to make it bitter, would it have been added towards the end, or before fermentation? Perhaps it would change somewhat?


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## Silo Ted (24/3/11)

Golani51 said:


> Anyone want to help put this thing together with me? I don't know brewing well enough to figure it out myself.
> 
> Who is up for it?



Your location ? And access to acorns ? I might be interested.


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## Brad Churchill (24/3/11)

Just a thought for a first crack at it.

Aim for a small batch around 5 litres.

In the mash use half acorns crushed (smashed with hammer or what ever) and half say JW pilsner base malt or what ever base malt you have on hand. In other words 50% malt and 50% acorns. Perhaps bitter with EKG to around 25 IBU and see how that goes for a start.

Cheers

Brad


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## proudscum (24/3/11)

looks like a lot of tannins in the a corn...this is OT but food for thought
http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/spiced-pic...orns-fid-671035

they talk about turning the acorn into a flour so that could be a way of introducing it to your mash?????

this is better and could be a winner.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Acorn-Flour

would make for a nutty beer i would imagine....maybe base it around a nut brown ale english style.


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## Golani51 (25/3/11)

I will be able to hunt down acorns somewhere. I will source them and then give it a go. I'll let you know Silo. Thanks brad and Proud. I'll send you guys a bottle.

R


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## stef (25/3/11)

As people have alluded to, acorns were used to make a sort of "coffee" during the war. Ersatz (replacement/substitute) coffee was made with a mixture of grains and acorns- depending on the location and what people could get their hands on. I believe it was extremely bitter, so you might need to try to suss that out before working out hop schedules etc. But the mixture of barley and acorns has definitely been done before! (thought not usually by choice, so this might be an indicator for you...)

Good luck though!


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