Beer additives in the MA

From Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Richard W. Unger. (Philadelphia: U of Penn Press, 2004) p. 151

( Read more... )

There are many indications -- including books on making beer -- that, along with hops, some brewers added other things like sugar, honey, spices (such as cinnamon and cloves), and in one case powdered bayberries to give some beers a specific taste. Typically it was the dried stems, roots, leaves, and flowers of plants-- rather than fruits or seeds-- that found their way into beer, though brewers did use sweet fruits like cherries, sloes, and raspberries to get results similar to those they got with sugar and honey."

So, we have bog myrtle, sugar, honey, spices, powdered bayberries... I need more recipes.
The article cited by Unger is:
Behre, "History of Beer Additives in Europe-- A review," Vegetation History and Archeobotany 8 (1999): 35-48
Which I have copied somewhere in the house but no idea WHERE.

More beer info, this time yeast

The history of baking yeast is intimately connected with the history of brewing. I've baked some with the dregs of bottom fermenting yeast beer. There seems to be some confusion about whether bottom fermenting yeast was used in period and how beer to baking transfer took place.
Richard W. Unger, Beer in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Philadelphia, U of Penn Press, 2004) p. 152-153, relies on modern texts and on Behre's article on beer additives to suggest both types of yeast were used and yeast was stored as well as given or sold to bakers by brewers: ( Read more... )