Witches’ Brew

Humans have been brewing & fermenting for thousands of years; likely accidentally at first by hunter-gatherers, but then … for various reasons … we found we liked it…

The earliest evidence (so far) of premeditated fermenting was ~7000 BCE, in northern China by Yi Di, using rice, honey, hawthorn fruit, and /or grape; by 5400 BCE grape wine and barley beer were beginning to be concocted in Sumeria… and the Egyptians were brewing beer by 3400 BCE.

FYI … Ninkasi Beer is named for the ancient Sumerian guardian-goddess of beer (i know… ancient and Sumerian… seems a bit repetitive, eh?   )

Stay tuned for more fun brewing factoids!

Brewing/fermenting was also used to preserve and sanitize foods and fluids.

Throughout most of history, females (from goddesses to mortal women) were primary in the arts & sciences of brewing and fermenting.

Women were the primary brewers across all continents until brewing was viewed as profitable (~17-18c.), when they were barred in most areas from brewing commercially.

Interestingly much of the symbolism surrounding witches, which came from European traditions, match many items from European brewing and fermenting traditions, including: brooms (sign posts and sweeps), cauldrons (for brewing), cats (to protect grains), and possibly even the tall hats (to be seen in a crowd when selling brew).

Join us for more as we explore the science and history of brewing and fermenting at  Quest^X   .

 

In the mean time, here are some fairly basic (& good!) recipes to try for brewing and fermenting:

 Basic Ale Recipe: 5 gals of water, 5-7 lbs of Hopped Pale Malt Extract syrup, 1 pkt of dry Ale yeast, 3/4 c corn sugar

Basic Steps for Brewing Ale

• Boil 2 ½ gallons of water
• Meanwhile, put yeast in 1 cup warm water and let it stand 10 minutes before adding 1 tsp sugar
• Let the mixture stand until it foams – about 30 min

  

• Dissolve the malt syrup in the boiling water
• Boil the water for 1 hour, stirring frequently
• Rapidly cool the wort by placing the pot of water in a sink or larger pot full of ice water
• Pour the wort into the fermenter (bottle)
• Add the yeast to the wort and mix thoroughly
• Attach airlock to the fermenter
• Place the container in a cool place for 2-3 weeks
• Boil ¾ cup sugar in some water and let it cool
• Pour the solution into the fermenter and mix gently
• Siphon beer into sanitized bottles using clean siphon
• Cap each bottle tightly
• Age the bottled beer at room temp about 2 months

 

 Apple Cider Recipe

These instructions are scaled for 5 gallons of cider. Since we rarely make 5 gallons at a time (usually it’s tens of gallons), I can guarantee that the recipe can easily be scaled as needed.

Ingredients

• Apple juice
  • Freshly pressed is best!
  • If you don’t have access to freshly pressed apples, you can use juice purchased at any grocery store. Just make sure that it’s free from any preservatives, as any preservative residue may kill the yeast used to make the cider. Organic apple juice is usually the safest bet.
• Campden tablets* – these are only needed if you’re using fresh pressed apple juice
• Yeast** – Although there are special apple cider yeasts, almost any wine yeast will do. We prefer Montrachet Champagne yeast.
• Honey or sugar – the sweet stuff is only needed for making sparkling cider.

Equipment

• 5 gallon food safe bucket
• 5 gallon glass carboy
• Airlock stopper
• Siphon
• Bottles – we prefer flip top bottles for convenience

Procedure

• Pre steps for fresh pressed cider
  • Rinse apples before pressing them
  • Press enough apples for at least 5 gallons of juice
• • Clean the 5 gallon bucket and put the juice in it
  • Crush 5 Campden tablets and add them to the bucket
  • Leave the juice with the Campden tablets sit for 24-48 hours
• Dissolve 1 packet of yeast in luke warm water
• Thoroughly mix the dissolved yeast and the apple juice in the 5 gallon bucket (food safe bucket, of course!)
• Leave the mixture sit for 3-4 days, lightly covered (NOT tightly sealed) –this is the aerobic metabolism stage where the yeast needs access to oxygen to go forth and multiply
• Sanitize the siphon and the carboy
• Siphon the apple juice into the carboy
• Attach the airlock – this begins the anaerobic metabolism stage. When the yeast consumes the available oxygen, they begin to produce carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide is released through the air lock, the alcohol (in liquid form) remains for later consumption.
• Let the carboy sit and ferment for 3-4 weeks, when the bubbling from the airlock almost stops.
• Siphon the cider into airtight bottles
  • If you want sparkling cider, add ½ cup honey dissolved in water to the carboy and mix gently before bottling. The remaining yeast will process the new sugars, producing carbon dioxide. Since the carbon dioxide can’t escape the sealed bottle, it remains dissolved in the cider to be released when you open the bottle.
• Store the bottles in a cool place for at least three more weeks. This “finishes” the cider and allows the flavors to fully develop. In fact, if you try the cider before the finishing step you probably won’t like it.

* Campden tablets => freshly pressed apples have naturally occurring yeasts all over them. In fact, these yeasts led to the first fermentation products (i.e., ciders) before we started controlling which yeast to use in order to produce specific flavors. Campden tablets are commonly used in wine and cider making to kill the naturally occurring yeasts so that we can choose which yeast to use. It works quickly, and off-gases in about 24 hours, so it doesn’t affect the flavor of the final product.

** Yeast – many strains of yeast are available, all with different alcohol tolerance and flavor profiles. Unlike commercial cider, which is frequently back-sweetened, most cider is very dry. The Montrachet yeast we use produces a clean, dry cider with moderate alcohol content. You can try different yeasts to see which flavor profile you prefer.

Links to more info, recipes, and tips, on brewing and fermenting:

Basic Brewing and Fermenting (ales, ciders, cysers, & etc. )

Quest^X Blog

…and stay tuned to Quest^X for future posts on brewing and fermenting…