3 replies to this topic

[wengared]

https://news.yahoo.c...ne_and_pharoahsWASHINGTON – When great-grandma took a nip of the elderberry wine "for medicinal purposes," she was following a tradition that goes back thousands of years.Indeed, researchers say they have found evidence that the Egyptians spiked their wine with medicinal herbs as long as 5,000 years ago.A chemical analysis of pottery dating to 3150 B.C. shows that herbs and resins were added to grape wine, researchers led by Patrick E. McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.Adding tree resin to wine to prevent disease was widely known in ancient times, also being reported in ancient China, and continuing into the Middle Ages, the researchers say.And they note that Egyptian records report that a variety of herbs were mixed in wine, beer and other liquids for medical uses.Chemicals recovered from the pottery indicate that in addition to wine there were savory, blue tansy and artemisia — a member of the wormwood family — present. Other chemicals indicate the possible presence of balm, senna, coriander, germander, mint, sage and thyme.

[Wayne B]

You gotta love Pat McGovern! He's the guy who led the team that discovered traces of the earliest alcoholic beverage known to man -- in remnants of a flask buried with neolithic tribal chief in what is now central China. Fermented from honey, rice, and hawthorn berries, it tastes pretty good, if I do say so myself! I put together a variation on that recipe a little over a year ago, and it is maturing nicely. Interesting flavor combination -- kind of like a flowery sake with hints of sweetness.

[wengared]

a past issue of byo magazine had an article on something like this, and there's a brewery out west that has reproduced some of these. I do have a bottle of gruit made in germany, states based on the 13th century recipe. working up the courage to open and try it., your honey, rice and berries sounds interesting, did you create the recipe or work off something already written?

[Wayne B]

I went off of the stuff detailed in McGovern's paper, and determined proportions based on the initial gravity I was shooting for, and the taste of the dried hawthorn berries once I had rehydrated them in some hot water. Dogfish Head's "Chateau Jiahu" is the beer version that was sold commercially a couple of years ago. Apparently it was enough of a seller that they planned on releasing a second run late last year, but according to one of their assistant brewers they developed an infection in it and had to dump the entire batch.Such a loss for brewing archaeology....