What was in that grog? Scientists analyze ancient Nordic drink

[crazy canuck]

they just modified the recipes as they saw fit.

From the article in the OP, it sounds like something brewmasters have always done.

Modified? Sure. Modified with modern ingredients while be mentioned as recreations?

Modified with ingredients at hand.

I doubt anyone is going to be able to find ingredients that are true in every respect to what had been used.  Well, unless Grumbler kept some from the old days but by now those will have gone bad.

[garbon]

Modified with ingredients at hand.

I doubt anyone is going to be able to find ingredients that are true in every respect to what had been used.  Well, unless Grumbler kept some from the old days but by now those will have gone bad.

I guess it is good that no one is asking for that.

[derspiess]

Modified with ingredients at hand.

I doubt anyone is going to be able to find ingredients that are true in every respect to what had been used.  Well, unless Grumbler kept some from the old days but by now those will have gone bad.

I guess it is good that no one is asking for that.

Might as well be, though.

[garbon]

Modified with ingredients at hand.

I doubt anyone is going to be able to find ingredients that are true in every respect to what had been used.  Well, unless Grumbler kept some from the old days but by now those will have gone bad.

I guess it is good that no one is asking for that.

Might as well be, though.

I think there's a difference between that and pointedly adding an ingredient that wouldn't have been used in any form.

[crazy canuck]

Modified with ingredients at hand.

I doubt anyone is going to be able to find ingredients that are true in every respect to what had been used.  Well, unless Grumbler kept some from the old days but by now those will have gone bad.

I guess it is good that no one is asking for that.

Dont call Grumbler a nobody 

[derspiess]

I think there's a difference between that and pointedly adding an ingredient that wouldn't have been used in any form.

Even if you're not likely to notice?

Do you also take issue with the fact that it's carbonated according to modern standards?  Or that it's been kept in a properly sealed container?  Or that hardly anyone will drink it at ambient temperature?

[merithyn]

How could they not know that they were making an undrinkable beverage before they started?

I'd guess that they did a number of "practice" batches before they settled on the one they actually sold. In short, they probably did try the "original" recipe, determined it to be too far off the beaten path (or their taste testers did), and modified just enough to make it palatable for more people but still be able to say that it's "pretty damn close" to the original, and sell it as such.

Some people like grumbler will be offended that it wasn't "true" to the recipe, but most people will care more that they've bought something worth drinking that also has a historical basis.

[merithyn]

I wasn't ever interested in them either way.  Gimmicky beers don't tend to draw me in, and I would imagine most painstakingly recreated historical brews would taste kind of nasty compared to what we drink these days.

They do. And they're also very weak.

[merithyn]

Modified with ingredients at hand.

I doubt anyone is going to be able to find ingredients that are true in every respect to what had been used.  Well, unless Grumbler kept some from the old days but by now those will have gone bad.

I guess it is good that no one is asking for that.

Might as well be, though.

I think there's a difference between that and pointedly adding an ingredient that wouldn't have been used in any form.

I'm not sure that's 100% accurate. Hops was actually used in beer that early (it's documented back to the 900s AD), but only by a very small segment of the population. If it wasn't hops, though, it would have been some other form of bittering, preservative item like wormwood (which is illegal to use now).

Basically, hops isn't too far outside the considered "norm" for the item they brewed.

[Capetan Mihali]

Hmm... meri and derspiess taking the same side of a disputed issue... and they've made me reconsider my position. I feel pretty sure this has been prophesied in the Languish Book of Revelations somewhere.

[merithyn]

Hmm... meri and derspiess taking the same side of a disputed issue... and they've made me reconsider my position. I feel pretty sure this has been prophesied in the Languish Book of Revelations somewhere.

It's brewing. We've agreed multiple times on brewing.

I'm actually going to be faithfully recreating a 13th century beer recipe later this month. I'll take detailed notes and report back.

[Capetan Mihali]

Is 10% ABV realistic for something this old?  Seems awful high to me.

[garbon]

that also has a historical basis.

Most recipes have a historical basis.

[merithyn]

Is 10% ABV realistic for something this old?  Seems awful high to me.

Only if you let it ferment longer than would have been done in period.

Period beers - in general - were very short fermentations, as in two or three days, tops. That was for three reasons: the fermentation was just to make the liquid drinkable, too much alcohol was considered bad for kids and women, and there were limited places to store the alcohol that would keep it from going bad. Some beers were developed for longer keeping - and higher alcohol content - but not many, not often, and only the wealthiest of folks could and did use this practice. Some beers, wines, and meads were made for holidays, but those were very special occasions, and there are a lot of notations about how special they were in the text we have from that period. In other words, it was pretty unusual to do so.

That means that, in general, most beers would be in the 1-3% range, similar to O'Doul's. They would also have been less sweet, more watery, and barely bubbly.

Most recipes have a historical basis.

Yes, but few can be traced back 1000 years. When they can, it's pretty special to try to recreate them, even if imperfectly.

[garbon]

Yes, but few can be traced back 1000 years. When they can, it's pretty special to try to recreate them, even if imperfectly.

Probably even more special if one didn't pointedly add "imperfections".