Searching for the Earliest Browns
The nature of malt lies at the heart of the brown ale issue
April, 1999 This article is excerpted from Brown Ale: History, Brewing Techniques and Recipes, by Ray Daniels and Jim Parker, and used with permission of Brewers Publications. For information 1-888-822-6273 or www.beertown.org/bp.
Most brewers writing about the history of beer build a wall at the beginning of the 18th century. The "invention" of pale malt is often placed at about this time (circa 1680-1700) and tied to the introduction of coke as a smokeless, controllable fuel source. Prior to that, many believe, all beers were smoky and brown because all malts were dried over a wood fire.
Before the ravages of the Black Plague in 1348-49, brewing was a domestic occupation practiced primarily, and perhaps exclusively, by women. The ales of the time met an earlier definition of the word and were brewed without the use of hops. Instead, various herbs and spices were used to provide bitterness and flavor to contrast the sweetness of malt. One source cites their strength at 4 to 6% abv but some, and perhaps most, would have been stronger.
The nature of medieval ale probably varied widely -- not only from town to town, but also from week to week within a town and even within the same neighborhood. In the time between the Black Death in 1348-49 and the creation of porter in 1720, the nature of brewing in Britain changed considerably. The most important issues in our efforts to understand this period relate to the character and use of the key ingredient, malt.
Throughout this age, many brewers -- even household-based ale-wives -- made their own malt. And of course malt lies at the heart of the brown ale issue. If the malt was brown, then the ales and beers made from it were likely to be of the same color.
As for the smokiness that might have been imparted to the malts -- no matter what their color -- we find frequent evidence that it was unwanted, if not entirely avoided. A description published in 1542 by one Andrew Boorde, described the desirable properties of ale: ". . . it must be freshe and cleare, it must not be ropy nor smoky . . ."
Accepting for the moment that at least some pre-industrial ales were brown -- and more or less smoky -- there is one final issue to review. The unhopped ales of the time were not made with malt, water and yeast alone. To counter the sweetness of the malt, ale brewers added herbs and spices of various kinds. In attempting to characterize this practice, we again meet with the concept of variety. No doubt, the herbs that were used in making ale varied widely based on locale, season and personal taste.
Spices that appear to date from 15th century brews include "ginger, gillyflower, mountain thyme, and curcuma." The use of ginger was probably quite common and popular as evidenced by the modern availability of "ginger ale."
The first distinct and lasting beer style to emerge from the hodge-podge of brews being made in the early 1700s was porter. It began as a cocktail of three beers including pale ale, stale and mild ale, designed to satisfy both the palate and the purse. Both the stale and mild were brown-colored ales and some authorities simply call them "brown ale." Still, it is not clear that anyone at the time was using this term to describe these beers.
Throughout the period from 1750 to about 1900 we find references to "brown beer" that mean porter and stout rather than some other variation on the theme. As a result of this terminology, many references to "brown beer" can be found, but all of them lead right back to porter.
We find no other references to a specific "brown ale" product prior to the 20th century. Only in creation of Newcastle's famous Brown Ale does it emerge as a clear and distinct style.
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Alewife Brown Ale Recipe
A highly quaffable smoky brown brew that harkens back to the earliest days of brown ale. The smoke flavor in this beer is nicely balanced by the roasty malt character and the subtle but evident hop character. A nice beer on cask. Makes a 5-gallon batch.
Malt Extract+ All-
Grain Grain
Pale Malt Extract 4.0 lbs --
Weyermann Rauch Malt 2.5 lbs 2.5 lbs
Caramel Malt (60L) 12 oz 12 oz
Black Patent Malt 8 oz. 6 oz.
Munich or Mild Malt -- 6 lbs
Hops Extract+ All-
Grain Grain
Willamette (75 min) 1.5 oz. 1.5 oz.
Liberty (10 min) .25 oz. .25 oz.
Yeast
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale Yeast
Brewing Specifics
Partial mash: Steep grains in 2.5 gallons of 160¡F water for 30 minutes.
Mash: Infusion mash at 150¡F for 90 minutes. Boil: 75-90 min.
OG: 1.040
FG: 1.008
IBU: 25
Ferment Temp. 68¡F
