History And Traditional Brewing Methods

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Jazzafish

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I just had a read through the following link and started to think about it.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...=6430&hl=styles

I'd like to know more about the history of beer styles. Also traditional brewing methods of these styles and how they differ from today.

I can only seem to find rough descriptions, gravities, IBU's, colours and alcohol %.

I guess different grains, yeasts and hopps were local to particular regions and the styles developed from there.

So far I have figured Lagers were stored in ice houses... lager is a word for store.
Pilsner comes from a town of a simular name, famous water type and local saaz hopps.
Strong Ales from long voyages at sea, lots of hopps used as preservatives.

So if anyone can point me in the direction to find more history in beer, or throw in any comments to what you know... I'd like it!

Cheers,
Jarrad
 
A very interesting and diverse topic.

Have a look in the links page, there are at least two links that explore historic aspects of brewing.AHB links page

You are right, brewing was very localised and utilized locally available ingredients which developed into styles.

Water chemistry, hops, local temperatures and grains feature.

Then, think of the challenges in measuring temperature and relative density. These instruments probably resided in beautiful wooden boxes and cost a fortune.

The introduction of pale kilned malt using coal rather than wood during the industrial revolution was another important feature in the development of styles. Hop bitterness has been on the increase. Hops also are only a recent feature. Different herbs were used to bitter beers. Louis Pastuer showed that yeast was the missing hidden ingredient.

The measurement of beer as we know it, colour, sg, alcohol content and IBU's just didn't happen till relatively recently.

I wonder with our knowledge of sanitation and yeasts what beers used to taste like. I bet most were best very fresh.
 
Jarrad
I recently found:

www.gotmead.com

it has some great links to books that you can buy. They are mainly mead and wine, but its full of info of what used to go in "ye olde" brew. Its an interesting site. I would love a copy of "A Witchs Beverage and Brews" from the books link.
Cheers
Steve
 
Couple books I can recommend on British beer history (and general beer history):

Beer: The Story of the Pint (Martyn Cornell)
Beer and Britannia: An Inebriated History of Britain (Peter Haydon)

and a less focused, but very amusing read:

Man Walks into a Pub: A Sociable History of Beer (Pete Brown)
 
A good start is a book I just bought this week: World Guide to Beer, by Michael Jackson. I just bought it at Angus and Robertson in Brisbane for $8. It has very good history of most beer styles from around the world and has many tips on what malts and hops they used and sometimes even mashing temps etc.

For Belgian Beers, you can't go past Michael Jackson's The Great Beers of Belgium. It is a wonderful read and is incredibly well researched, taking you throught the history of all the Belgian styles and most of the good breweries.

Cheers - Snow
 
Thanks guys,

Some great links and books that will make for a great read. That got mead site is really tempting me into mead making too!

Cheers,
Jarrad
 
Radical brewing by Randy Mosher has some good info on historical techniques and ingredients. I found it an informative and entertaining read.

Cheers Ausdb
 
kook said:
and a less focused, but very amusing read:

Man Walks into a Pub: A Sociable History of Beer (Pete Brown)
[post="73787"][/post]​

I can concur on this one. I have read it recently and it is a very entertaining read. It is like having a conversation at the pub with mates. I picked it up from Borders so it should be easy to find.
 
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