Standard Ale

Origin: British      Period: Medieval

This would have been the standard grade of Medieval ale, drunk by everyone. It was made from the primary mashing (see this page for how to brew from scratch it tells you what a mash is and how to make one. The Medieval sweet liquor would have been made without spurging and the grains would have been re-mashed to make small beer. No hops would have been used in Medieval beer (the practice of hopping only started circa1000 CE in Germany and did not reach Britain until 1545 at the earliest). If you are interested in making this strong ale for yourself, please have a look at this page for general instructions on basic extract brewing. The sweet liquor would have been diluted with more water after mashing, which yields more volume. But the sugar content would still have been fairly high, producing an ale in the 6 to 7% alcohol by volume range.

Ingredients:

20l of unchlorinated water
3.2 kg amber malt extract
450g crystal malt speciality grain
115 to 130g bittering hops (Eroica, Galena or Chinook would be good)
(optional 15g Cascade, Fuggles or Kent Goldings finishing hops)
Yeast (eg Wyeast 1968 Londin ESB style or 1084 Irish Age)

Method:

Preparation

As with most of the other recipes here, this has been gauged to make 20l of ale. Only a basic listing of ingredients is given, and for a brewing method please see this page for a step-by-step guide. Also see this page for a list of the equipment you'll need.

Follow the instructions given in the basic extract brewing page to make your beer, however when you come to boiling the wort do not add any bittering hops (they were not used in the Medieval Ale you're trying to re-create). Traditionally you should not add any finishing hops either, but this may provide a very bland result to the modern palate and you may want to add finishing hops for the aroma (they are listed under the optional ingredients above). Simply add for the last ten minutes of boiling. Then you can continue with the standard brewing method.

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