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My first recipe is taken from pages 33 & 34 of Sykes's
book "Instructions for Thrifty Ales Wives". The conversions of
the units to modern American measures is the result of the generous
efforts of Prof. A.W. Winston Ph.D.., retired. The conversions
in question were made in October 1997. Conversion of the remainder
of the recipe into a form usable in the modern kitchen was undertaken by
myself and George Donnsby during the second and third weeks of May,
1998, principally during direct contact. The recipe stated in modern
home brewing terms is followed by a few notes regarding ingredient selection
and production tips. A follow up post detailing tasting notes, and
recommendations for reproduction will follow within 48 hours.
<br> According to the text, the recipe dates from the
Cromwell period, originated in or near Northumberland and was thought to
be of great dietary value. The recipe was, according to the
author, obtained from a then elderly brewer in Berwickshire while he was
writing the book.
<br>
<br><u>Best Quality Shavings Ale</u> (6 gallons)
<p>Grain bill:
<p>wheat - 3 pounds
<br>oats - 3 pounds
<br>malt, brown - 4 pounds
<br>malt, pale - 10 pounds
<p>Sugars:
<p>three pounds of honey, unspecified type
<p>wood:
<p>fir, eight small branches and a half pound of chips
<p>Spices:
<p>Carduus, yarrow & century, dried, 2 to 3 ounces
each
<br>licorice root, dried, 4 inches long
<p>Yeast:
<p>unspecified type, starter should be at least two quarts of slurry<u></u>
<p><u>Production</u>
<p> Prior to mashing place the branches in your boiling
vessel along with eight gallons of strike water. Boil the branches
and water for a full hour. Save the branches after the boil
and tie them together with string. The bundle of sticks should be
left to dry in a well ventilated place. The water in which the wood
was boiled should be reused for strike water during the mashing.
<br> My previous post dated the 22ed. of April detailed
a mashing method described by Sorenson for the production of shavings ales.
I would suggest that anyone attempting to make this recipe follow the fore
mentioned procedure for two reasons.
<br> First, Sykes's description is quite similar
to Sorenson's, although some what vague in comparison. Specifically,
Sykes fails to mention exactly how much water and wort should be drawn
off, boiled and reintroduced back into the mash. Instead he only
talks in terms of the numbers of kettles used during this stage.
Secondly, i have have made three successful batches using Sorenson's method
with similar results each time.
<br> A second point to consider during the mash is that
the high percentage of unmated ingredients used tends to lend to
the mashes becoming stuck. Sykes recommends that if this occurs one
should introduce an additional pound of fresh, lightly crushed malt back
into the mash along with 3 quarts of boiling water. The mash should
be stirred and allowed to sit for an additional half an hour before attempting
to draw off the wort.
<br> I have found this method to work quite well in practice.
However, on one occasion, i needed to perform this procedure twice in order
to gather the requisite 6 gallons of wort.
<br> The wort should then be boiled for no less then
three quarters of an hour during which time half of all of the spices
should be introduced. The wood chips should also be boiled with the
wort for the full duration.
<br> While the wort is cooling , add one
pound of honey to the wort and stir until it's dissolved. The
wort should then be placed into a barrel once it's cool along with the
yeast starter. The ale should then be dropped/racked after roughly
half a day into another barrel along with the now dry bundle of
branches. The remaining spices should then be placed in a cheese
cloth sack which should in turn be inserted into the barrel.
<br> The ale should then be allowed to age for one month.
The ale is then racked off the sediment into a serving cask. The
final two pounds of honey should be combined with a kettle
full of the ale and heated, not boiled, just until the honey fully
dissolves. The mixture should be reintroduced into the ale and allowed
to sit for seven more days prior to consumption.
<p><u>Notes</u><u></u>
<p> A few issues should be clarified prior to attempting
make this ale. First of all, i had to take a liberty with the grain
bill. Specifically, i am assuming that the wheat and oats were unmalted.
Secondly, Sykes says that the original recipe did not contain any specifics
with regards to the malts recommended. Instead, the brewer from whom
he obtained the recipe arrived at the ratio of brown to pale malts
as a result of trial and error over a period of several years.
While i don't have any specifics regarding the malt profiles of the the
barley used i've found great success using beeston's Marris Otter and brown
malts.
<br> The actual recipe as recited by Sykes calls for
the use of licorice root as a substitute for something called
Spanish licorice which was apparently originally called for in the earlier
version of the recipe. I have no idea what Spanish licorice
is or how it was used.
<br> In so far as yeast is concerned i have found that
Ring wood ale yeast provides good results provided that your starter is
at least two quarts comprised primarily of slurry.
<br> If you, like me, don't own ale casks i'd recommend
fermenting in a carboys. I'd also suggest using oak chips, 6 ounces,
during the primary and secondary fermentations. If you intend to
bottle this ale i'd suggest that you use one cup of honey as a primer.</html>