Up
until
the
Middle Ages, beer, or gruit ale as it was called, was brewed raw. Long
boiling didn't begin until hops were
introduced in the 16th century because hops need to be boiled. Raw
beer is real ale and does not have hops. Real ale is brewed raw and is
good food.
(This
recipe yields about a half
gallon of ale)
Soak 60 grams of whole
barley and 40
grams of
whole wheat berries (or about 1/2 cup of barley and 1/4 cup of wheat
berries) until they approximately double in size, or soak and rinse
them until they begin to sprout. (See Sprouting).
Put the soaked grains into a
blender
and blend on high until it
becomes smooth.
Add to the blender another cup
of warm
water and a 1/2 cup of raw honey
or raw agave
syrup, or 1 cup of unsulphered dried fruit
(such as dates or raisins) which have been soaked overnight and
continue to puree on high until smooth. (non-all raw alternative: sugar
syrup)
Pour into a clean, 3-liter
plastic soda pop
bottle or glass jug. Top up
with more
warm water to within 3-4 inches from the top, or about 2 4/5 liters
altogether.
Add a yeast
starter, which for me is usually a half a bottle
from a
previous batch. If this is your first attempt and you don't have
any live, active yeast, you can use a packet of store-bought beer yeast
or even a spoonful of bread yeast. Bread yeast is the least
attractive option, however. Use it now to get started but look for ways
to get a
more suitable yeast later. (Apple juice that has gone fizzy in the back
of the fridge will do nicely. See my page on harvesting
wild yeast. )
You
may need to add a couple drops of lemon juice in the
brew if the yeast is sluggish,
especially if you started out with dry yeast.
Cover
with an
airlock (*see below).
Put it
in
a warm place. Shake
or turn it
over every
once in a while, at least once a day, to keep distributing the ground
material
throughout the
liquid. Note when signs of fermentation (bubbles in the liquid) begin.
Decide
how much alcohol you want it to
have:
1.) As little as possible --
no more than
needed to create carbonation. Go
to
blue box.
2.) Average American beer strength (6% or 12 proof) Go
to
lavender box.
3.) As much as possible, which is the amount of alcohol in wine (12% or
24 proof), double that of the average American beer. Go
to
beige box
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(see
Home Brewing boxes below for sources for ordering supplies online)
As
little alcohol as necessary to carbonate soda pop and no more
1. Strain the liquid mash through cotton flannel
or 2
layers of
cheesecloth/muslin [* see below] to remove the roughage. (Use it to
make bread or a second batch of ale.)
2. Pour the clean fitered liquid back into the
3-liter
plastic soda
pop bottle, or divide it into smaller plastic soda pop bottles. Leave a
few inches of airspace.
3. Put on plastic screw-on bottle top and tighten
securely.
4. Leave at room temperature.
5. As soon as plastic bottle(s) becomes firm to
the touch
and cannot be squeezed, refrigerate and drink within 1 or 2 days.
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Average
beer strength alcohol
(This is the most difficult to achieve, and you will probably have to
use some trial and error to determine what works best for your
conditions.)
1. Continue to cover the bottle with an airlock
(see
below). Leave
at room temperature and let it continue to ferment for 2-3 days.
2. Strain the liquid and mash through cotton
flannel or 2
layers of
cheesecloth/muslin [* see below] to remove the roughage. (Use it to
make bread or a second batch of ale.)
3. Pour the clean fitered liquid back into the
3-liter
plastic soda
pop bottle, or divide it into smaller plastic soda pop bottles. Leave a
few inches of airspace.
4. Put on plastic screw-on bottle top and tighten
securely.
5. Leave at room temperature.
6. As soon as plastic bottle(s) becomes firm to
the touch
and cannot be squeezed, refrigerate and drink within 3 days
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As
much alcohol as possible
1. Continue to cover the bottle with an airlock
(see
below). Leave
at room temperature and let it continue to ferment for 6-7 days, or
until fermentation has ceased.
2. Strain the liquid and mash through cotton
flannel or 2
layers of
cheesecloth/muslin [* see below] to remove the roughage. (Add it to
bread dough.)
3. Pour the clean fitered liquid back into the
3-liter
plastic soda
pop bottle and add 1/2 cup of raw honey or other raw sugar(s), or sugar
syrup.
4. Top up with water to 3-4 inches from the top of
the
bottle so that total liquid is about 2 4/5 liters or quarts.
5. Divide into smaller plastic soda pop bottles if
desired. Leave a few inches of airspace in each bottle.
6. Put on screw-on bottle top(s) and tighten
securely.
7. When bottle(s) are firm to the touch and cannot
be
squeezed, refrigerate and drink within a week.
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Notes:
Barley
and Wheat
If you
can
get sprouting barley, which isn't all that easy to come by,
and sprout it, it would increase the nutritional value of your ale. The
same holds true with the wheat. Soaking as instructed in the recipe is
good, sprouting is better. You can sprout either the barley or wheat.
Continue to rinse and soak the grains until they begin to sprout, and
then continue with the recipe above. Pot barley that doesn't sprout is
better than pearl barley and pearl
barley is better than no barley at all.
Airlocks
Airlocks
are
anything that will keep
out bugs but let gas escape from the fermentation. When I first started
making wine, I used store-bought airlocks. When those broke, I found I
could use a plain plastic sheet secured with a sturdy rubber band. When
I
lost those, I discovered it worked just as well to just close the
plastic soda pop screw-on top and then loosen it every once in a while
to let out the gas buildup. You can also make an airlock by brewing in
a jug with a lid, and loosening the lid just the tiniest amount so air
can get out but bugs can't get in. Use whichever of these methods that
appeals
to you, but if you use the sheet of plastic, make sure it is not
bio-degradable.
Plastic
or Glass?
You can
brew
in glass, but I carbonate
everything
in plastic soda pop bottles. The advantages to this
are that plastic doesn't risk accidentally exploding, sending long
pieces of sharp, pointy glass into your flesh, and it's easier to
check on carbonation by squeezing a plastic bottle. If you intend to
bottle in glass, pack them in sand to reduce the risk of explosion.
Filtering
Through Cheesecloth/Muslin
or Cotton Flannel
Your
choice
of filter will determine the clarity of your final ale. Two
layers of cheesecloth/muslin will produce an average, somewhat "cloudy"
ale with a grain sediment. If you want to produce a "company beer" that
is clearer (less nutritious, but looks more like regular beer), use a
proper cotton flannel jelly bag. You could also use a cotton pillow
case.
Squeezing to test for
fermentation/carbonation
Squeeze
bottle(s) to check if ale is carbonated. When bottle
feels firm and cannot be squeezed, ale is carbonated.
This
bottle can still be squeezed and is not yet ready to drink.
..
Wild
Fermentation by
Sandor Katz.
Truly
Cultured Rejuvenating
Taste, Health and Community With Naturally Fermented Foods
Sacred
and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen
Harr Buhner.
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