SCA - West Kingdom Brewing Class was Re: hist-brewing: old time sparge techniques

[Henry Davis]

At 07:36 PM 1/23/04 -0800, you wrote:
>Dave,
>
> From what I have read. brewers used to    do succesive mashes also known
>as parti-gyle brewing.  Mashing in with a heavy amount of grist and
>afterward simply draining the mash tun completely.
>Then a second charge of hot liquor (sparge water) was added to the mash
>tun for a second mash.  Again,  the  hot wort   was drained completely.
>sometimes. a third batch was done which resulted in  a   much weaker
>brew known as small beer.


My former Apprentice Brother and I worked on the Markham mashing technique 
for quite a while (he on the practical side and me on modeling the process 
so that I could better understand the impact of various brewing vessels). 
We co-taught the class for several years at Pennsic, which was always great 
fun. Markham brewed according to the three batch technique. We found that 
the small beer tasted amazingly good after fermenting for a few days. The 
ordinary beer was tasted about one week after brewing and was quite 
respectable even though we used the Cooper's heavy iron (and sulpher) water.

I will be teaching the Markham mashing technique at West Kingdom March 
Crown in the Brewer's Guild sunshade. Anyone who can make it is welcome to 
attend. Handouts will be available. This is a hands-on class.

Henry Eynhallow, OL
West Kingdom Brewer's Guild Chancellor