Just made a Sumerian ale

[TimT]

Well, two Sumerian ales are still fermenting in my study at the moment to be precise. They'll probably be ready by the end of the week.

Some details about the brewing here:
http://willtypeforfood.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/dubious-liquids-of-questionable-origin.html

I made the bappir (malted barley cakes) for the first just with pre-malted barley from the brewshop and followed a recipe on the Maltose Falcons website; for the second I sprouted my own grain - I expect that one won't turn out quite as well because the barley sprouting was very uneven - it was just from a small bag of barley I got from the natural foods store and the barley wasn't of very high quality.

The smell of the bappir after they were crumbled into the water over the stove was amazing. The whole process felt very intuitive, like making porridge, and definitely a fun exercise for first time brewers. I departed from Sumerian style a bit by straining out the cakes after they'd been used. Couldn't measure the sugar concentration of the first batch of ale because it was too thick; I think it'll look and taste like a stout in the end. The second batch had an SG of about 1.042 and had a more classic beer brown colour.

Fun times! Who else has tried this out? :icon_drool2:

 

[manticle]

What are you using for yeast?

 

[TimT]

I've got a 15 litre red ale fermenting at the moment. I scooped out some of that and added that in to the first bunch of Sumerian ale and it had started growing and fermenting by the morning. When I did the second batch of Sumerian ale I scooped some of the active top off the first bunch!

 

[TimT]

Oh yeah and I chucked a rosemary stick in the barrel of red ale too and I've been using that for stirring, so all up, pretty yeasty

 

[Bizier]

TimT - 8 posts of craziness. Like your work man.

Skip that airlock question malarkey, skip that whole normal brewing malarkey.

 

[TimT]

So did a taste of the first ale just then as I noticed the yeast clouds were clearing up and the smell was now no longer so yeasty/bready either (in fact, there's a distinct Vegemite note to the aroma!)

It has a sour fruitiness, very tasty - like the sourness in a sourdough, but stronger and more intense. As the fermentable ingredients were pretty much barley, dates, and honey, that makes sense - the flavour is sort of in between beer and wine.

The usual advice is that Sumerian beer took about 5-7 days to ferment; this one was started on Thursday afternoon so seems about right. Might give it a bit more time for the clouds to clear up. Not too long though

Yum.

PS If I die of poisoning in the meantime I'll be sure to let you all know

 

[MartinOC]

Doffs cap in deference to the nutters who try this kind of stuff. :super:

In fairness, I've been offered a glass of this at Vicbrew many years ago & whilst initially doing a double-take, once it was explained to me, I had to acknowledge the effort & research that went into it.

It WASN'T bad at all.......

 

[verysupple]

I like your style, man. I started homebrewing with big ideas of making unique beers (read: use of unusual adjuncts), but got caught up getting my techniques right by brewing classic styles. The Sumerians were a bit earlier than you would call "classic" so it sounds interesting. I sure would like to try your creations!

PS. If the Sumerians didn't die with their lack of knowledge of what was actually going on and sanitation etc. thenI think you'll be fine .

 

[mr_wibble]

From what I've read you're supposed to drink it through a reed-straw, which to me indicates it's completely un-filtered.
But also, maybe that you drink the trüb first.

Please let us know how it turned out.

 

[TimT]

Mr Wibble, I'm going to taste the second one tonight. (I ended up having the first one two nights ago; there wasn't much of it but I used a third of it in a stew - delicious - drank a third, not bad - and discarded the rest of it, which were pretty much the dregs).

If the Sumerians didn't worry about filtering at all (and I'm uncertain about that, but perhaps they thought of it was a kind of special soup and not a drink) then all those chunks of barley cake and dates would still be floating around in the brew. I just thought this was a bit odd and ended up filtering out the barley cakes and gave it to the chooks. I'm uncertain about this actually: maybe the Sumerians drank the beer and ate the rest! On the one hand, the chunks of cake may have stayed in the brew and absorbed more ale(?). On the other hand, maybe they would tend to make the flavour of the beer more intense as the liquid gradually leeched out the remaining sugars. So maybe I'll give it another go in a while and leave the chunks in the brew.

 

[Yeastfridge]

Had a taste of the second batch?
Did you bottle it/let it age?

Just found this thread and am super curious!

 

[TimT]

Well yes.

Gave some to a friend who *did* let it age. He said to me on facebook 'It was lucky I was drinking it over the sink'....

I made *very* small quantities, so what I didn't drink and give away I generally put into cooking. (Made a nice soup!)

General advice is to drink it fresh. The barley, figs and honey combine together to give it a very tart, almost vinegar taste.

Next time I make I may try and find a way of balancing out the tartness of the honey and barley flavour - perhaps by approaching it from a winemaking perspective rather than looking at it as a version of beer - so adding tannins (maybe in the form of cinnamon), balancing out the acid somehow, etc.