Monstrous molasses

[TimT]

The topic of molasses in brewing comes up occasionally, usually to universal disdain. Brewers who have used molasses as a base are horrified by the results and those who haven't are even more horrified.

But people used to use molasses in beers *all the time*. It was an extremely common ingredient. Look around for a few old recipes and you'll see it appear as a base fermentable again and again. True, not as a high quality ingredient: its use seems to have been confined to the house and as a simple ingredient used to make ale for soldiers, sailors, etc. But if it was so universally dreadful it would hardly have been as popular as it was.

So: what exactly do you do with molasses to turn it into a good - as opposed to just drinkable - beer?

My theory is it's used in combination with a lot of spices. Cloves, allspice, ginger (which wild yeast loves, so it probably contains lots of nutrients for ale yeast), cardamom, cinnamon, and other strong, sweet, spicy, and tanniny herbs appear in a lot of molasses recipes.

In addition, I wonder if molasses was often used in combination with other sugars - ie, to round out a small portion of apple juice, or given more complex flavours by being mixed into water with honey, etc. In this way the final brew would attain much more body and richness.

The type of molasses used probably affects the quality of the beer, too: the first, richest pressings from the sugar cane would presumably have more complexity of flavour that would make for a more interesting ferment. (And, I've just discovered, some molasses are treated with sulfur dioxide to preserve them, which would account for the attractive rotten-egg notes to my small run of Jane Austen-style spruce beer last year)

And, I'm sure, it depends a bit on the yeast too: molasses would ferment out fairly quickly, though some yeasts would presumably add a lot more esters/congeners/additional smells and flavourings than others.

Beyond that it's all speculation, and I'd love to hear your views on what to do to turn molasses into a fine beverage.

Not that I'm going to do it, but if I were (and I'm not), how would you recommend I go about doing it (which I wouldn't)? Have any of you had experience going about this (and I'm sure you haven't - but if you have)?

With our combined knowledge we can boldly advance back into the 18th century!

 

[Bridges]

Molasses was and is still used as stock and horse feed, I dare say it was used as it was there, and it was cheap compared to cleaner sugars.

 

[TimT]

Interesting, since sugar cane was also connected intimately with the slave trade, that means molasses must have been a product of this industry too.

I've heard that, amongst other things, abolitionists avoided sugar for this reason, and sweetened their tea with honey.

 

[TimT]

I wonder if there were abolitionist brew recipes!

 

[NewtownClown]

George Washington's recipe for small beer contains 3 gallons of Molasses.
Apparently Martha produced this every two weeks

 

[NewtownClown]

"To Make Small Beer

Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. -- Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yeat if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask -- leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working -- Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed."

 

[TimT]

Another interesting 18th century molasses beer recipe.

The brewer says most recipes that he found in this fellow's journal (John Gaylord) didn't include hops, and the one he did try (with hops) didn't have a very pronounced hop flavour. His conclusion is to add more hops next time, but you might just as well conclude that you ought to skip the hops altogether.

 

[NewtownClown]

hops would have been used for bittering what would otherwise be a cloyingly sweet beverage. As you know, various barks, leaves, roots, herbs, spices have been used in the absence of hops.

Here is one from a tight-arse housewife.. I love the title of her book
Mrs. Child’s "The American Frugal Housewife. Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy" Boston in 1833. Within, Mrs. Child describes several beer variations, made with and without malt:
“Beer for the Family: Beer is a good family drink. A handful of hops, to a pailful of water, and a half-pint of molasses, make a good hop beer. Spruce mixed with the hops is pleasanter than hops alone. Roxberry, fever-bush, sweet fern and horseradish make a good and healthy diet-drink. The winterevergreen, or rheumatism weed, thrown in, is very beneficial to humors. Be careful not to mistake kill-lamb for winterevergreen. They resemble each other. Malt mixed with a few hops makes a weak kind of beer; but it is cool and pleasant; it needs less molasses than hops alone. The rule is about the same for all beer. Boil the ingredients two or three hours, pour in a half-pint of molasses to a pailful, while the beer is scalding hot. Strain the beer, and when about lukewarm, put a pint of lively yeast to a barrel. Leave the bung loose till the beer is done working; you can ascertain this by observing when the froth subsides. If your family be large, and the beer will be drank rapidly, it may as well remain in the barrel; but if your family be small, fill what bottles you have with it; it keeps better bottled. A raw potato or two, cut up and thrown in, while the ingredients are boiling, is said to make beer spirited.”

 

[TimT]

Some Spruce beer recipes from Wikipedia:

A Canadian recipe from 1757 states:[7]

It is made of the tops and branches of the spruces-tree, boiled for three hours, then strained into casks, with a certain quantity of molasses; and, as soon as cold, it is fit for use [...]


And

An American recipe[8] from 1796 states:

Take four ounces of hops, let them boil half an hour in one gallon of water, strain the hop water then add sixteen gallons of warm water, two gallons of molasses, eight ounces of essence of spruce, dissolved in one quart of water, put it in a clean cask, then shake it well together, add half a pint of emptins, then let it stand and work one week, if very warm weather less time will do, when it is drawn off to bottle, add one spoonful of molasses to every bottle.

 

[TimT]

Molasses ale, from 1692, in a recipe including lignum vitae (a type of wood!), lemon balm, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon.

"…the liquor is to be prepared, as before for Beer directed: and to every hundred of Molasses Thirty-six or Forty Gallons of Liquor is to be added. (Mary Eales: one cask, 5 pounds molasses, ½ pints of yeast), and they must be stirred well together till the whole be dissolved, and then up with it into the Copper, adding thereto three pounds of Lignum Vitae (also known as guaiacum, a tropical tree), one of dry balm, and four ounces of Nutmegs, Cloves and Cinnamon together; next clap on the blind Head, Lute fast, and digest 24 hours, when it must be left to run out into its Receiver (working tun), and as it is fit to set to Work, the yeast is to be put in, and leave it to work sufficiently, when it is to be turned up, and suffered to have Age, to mellow , and to become brisk to drink, and it will be excellent Liquor, very wholsom for Man's body." (Worlidge, London, 1704).

 

[TimT]

And from 1750:

________________________________________________________________
RECEIPTS FOR SUMMER BEER
Take four quarts of molasses, half a pint of yeast, and a spoonful of powdered race ginger; put the ingredients into your vessel, and pour on them two gallons of scalding hot water; shake them well till it ferments, and add thirteen gallons of cold water, to fill up the cask. Let the liquor ferment about twelve hours, when it will be fit for use. I may be kept in the bottles to a great age.

Baton Rouge Gazette

From:

Magnolia Mound Plantation Kitchen Book, Being a Compendium of Foodways and Customs of Early Louisiana 1795-1831, Composed by Dedicated Friends of Magnolia Mound Plantation, Magnolia Mound Plantation House, 1986

 

[wereprawn]

I have used molasses in a brew or 2. Made a san Miguel clone with a small amount and it turned out reasonably close. Don't remember the recipe as I made these brews over 20 years ago but small doses of molasses certainly can make a very drinkable beer.(Although I don't know if I would enjoy San Miguel these days)

 

[sp0rk]

With our combined knowledge we can boldly advance back into the 18th century!

Going backwards is not advancing...

 

[TimT]

I plead 'joke', your honour.

 

[sp0rk]

I plead 'joke', your honour.

Lol, fair enough
Personally I've tried molasses before and wasn't pleased with the results, I'd like to see if anyone has made something drinkable with it though

 

[TimT]

Maybe I will do an experimental brew sometime this year; I'd have to find a good variety of molasses though.

 

[Forever Wort]

I have just used unsulfured, blackstrap molasses in a porter that will probably be bottled next week.

-------

2kg 2-Row
2k Wheat
0.4kg Roasted Barley
0.4kg CaraBohemian
0.5kg Blackstrap Molasses

20g Horizon @ 60
20g Select @ 15
20g Centennial @ 5

White Labs San Diego Super Yeast
Mangrove Jacks British Ale Yeast
Mangrove Jack Belgian Ale Yeast (slurry)

-------

Strange brew on the critter side of things, to be sure. The yeasts used reflect what I had on hand. In a previous batch I realised after the fact that I still had left about a fifth of the pack of British Ale dry yeast; so I attempted to grow that out a bit for a few days. The San Diego Super Yeast was half a standard vial. And the Belgian Ale slurry was used as it had been sitting in the fridge for nearly a week.

Anyway, it fermented like a nutcase for the first five days, then slowed down with beautiful big brown bubbles intermittently erupting to the surface. It was at this point that I added the molasses, in an attempt to keep the fermentation going and see what kind of interesting flavours and aromas I can get out of a longer fermentation. I chose to use molasses as I have never used it before and I was browsing the simple sugars at the supermarket near work and found an unsulfured variety at $10/kg, which I thought was a good deal. The yeast reacted immediately - and I mean immediately - with a new, fluffy krausen puffing up within the hour. I am looking forward to checking in on it when I get home from work today.

 

[beercus]

How much of the molasses is fermentable?

What components does is break into?

 

[TimT]

I was going to say 'entirely fermentable' since the sugar in it is sucrose - it comes as a side product of sugar production from sugarcane - but a quick check reveals that's not the full story. The molasses most brewers seem to mention is 'Blackstrap molasses', which is the most flavourful molasses but the one with the least sucrose in it - it's the last lot of molasses made.

To make molasses, sugar cane is harvested and stripped of leaves. Often the fields of cane are set afire to burn off the leaves and drive out the snakes that seem to enjoy this habitat. Its juice is extracted usually by cutting, crushing or mashing. The juice is boiled to concentrate it, promoting sugar crystallization. The result of this first boiling is called first syrup, and it has the highest sugar content. First syrup is usually referred to in the Southern states of the US as "cane syrup", as opposed to molasses. Second molasses is created from a second boiling and sugar extraction, and has a slight bitter taste. The third boiling of the sugar syrup yields blackstrap molasses, known for its robust flavor.[6] The term blackstrap molasses is an Americanism dating from around 1875.[7] The majority of sucrose from the original juice has been crystallised and removed. The food energy of blackstrap molasses is mostly from the small remaining sugar content.[8] However, unlike refined sugars, it contains trace amounts of vitamins and significant amounts of several minerals.

So I think you're going to get a lot of flavour and body from it, too.

 

[Forever Wort]

Yes, I have read elsewhere that using 500g like I did is going to contribute considerable bitter molasses flavour, which is often not to most people's liking.

However I am hoping the 800g of specialty malts will mask this a bit, especially the nearly half a kilo of roasted barley. It is going to be a flavoursome beer that's for sure, but how it turns out is anyone's guess. Before I added the molasses you could really smell the roast barley out of the fermenter; it was dwarfing any yeast aromas.