Stuster
Big mash up
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My mum has just dug up an old recipe of my great-uncle's from the war era. Apparently, beer was in short supply during the war and so he brewed his own. Until the 1970s homebrewing was illegal, and living on the North Shore of Sydney, they only brewed when there was a southerly that would blow away the smell. So here is the recipe.
BEER
4oz Hops
1lb Barley (optional)
4lbs white sugar
2lbs Extract Malt
1oz of yeast
Put hops and barley in bag, place in kerosene tin about 3/4 full of water. Bring to boil and boil for 1/4 hour, then add sugar. Boil another 1/4 hour. Add malt. Boil further 1/4 hour. Remove bag of hops. Cool off quickly by placing tin in bath of cold water.
Fill tin to about 1 1/2 inches from top with boiled water. When cooled to blood heat rise yeast with 1 teaspoon of sugar in 3/4 cup of brew. Allow to stand till finished working, skimming off frequently. (About 4 or 5 days.) 24 hours before bottling dissolve 1 dessertspoon of gelatine in boiling water, and add to brew. This jellies sediment.
Syphon off brew. Strain well. Put 1 teaspoon sugar in each bottle, cork tightly and leave about 7 days before using.
Will make 21 to 24 bottles. Do not fill bottles.
The beer itself does not look like a winner, with the huge quantities of sugar, presumably mostly due to what was available at the time. I'd like to brew it anyway for interest, family and historic, and would appreciate a few bits of advice on the type of hops and yeast to use to be fairly authentic. I guess I will have to scale down the amount of hops as the alpha acids of modern hops may be higher than those used in this recipe. Any other suggestions?
Stuart
BEER
4oz Hops
1lb Barley (optional)
4lbs white sugar
2lbs Extract Malt
1oz of yeast
Put hops and barley in bag, place in kerosene tin about 3/4 full of water. Bring to boil and boil for 1/4 hour, then add sugar. Boil another 1/4 hour. Add malt. Boil further 1/4 hour. Remove bag of hops. Cool off quickly by placing tin in bath of cold water.
Fill tin to about 1 1/2 inches from top with boiled water. When cooled to blood heat rise yeast with 1 teaspoon of sugar in 3/4 cup of brew. Allow to stand till finished working, skimming off frequently. (About 4 or 5 days.) 24 hours before bottling dissolve 1 dessertspoon of gelatine in boiling water, and add to brew. This jellies sediment.
Syphon off brew. Strain well. Put 1 teaspoon sugar in each bottle, cork tightly and leave about 7 days before using.
Will make 21 to 24 bottles. Do not fill bottles.
The beer itself does not look like a winner, with the huge quantities of sugar, presumably mostly due to what was available at the time. I'd like to brew it anyway for interest, family and historic, and would appreciate a few bits of advice on the type of hops and yeast to use to be fairly authentic. I guess I will have to scale down the amount of hops as the alpha acids of modern hops may be higher than those used in this recipe. Any other suggestions?
Stuart