The "beer kills bacteria" thing that the video starts off with is an urban legend. There were plenty of sources of clean water in premodern times, and beer doesn't have nearly enough alcohol to kill bacteria. Many beers even ship with bacteria living in the bottle to improve the flavor.
Small beer can be very tasty. There are numerous recipes from the period for small beer, which usually have maybe 1-2% alcohol content. For example, ginger beer with molasses is quick to make and nice to drink.
I had no idea that this was a part of history and that it was consumed to help prevent diseased water. I always leave these videos (and Twitter) wiser. Thank you. 💚📚💙
yes, including Nelson's blood and beer has been a primary source for sterilized water for centuries in many places, and rum mixtures today's precursor to the mojito
Boiling the barley mash kills the bacteria! Once that is done, it is allowed to cool and special yeast is added and the brewing kettle is sealed up and left to ferment and age. After about 9 weeks or so (for quality beer) it's decanted into sterile glass bottles and a small about of sugar is added to produce carbonation.... then sealed.
The recipe is written: “Take a large Siffer full of Bran Hops to your taste” GW didn’t bother with a period at the end of the first line, so non-brewers think it’s one sentence when it’s clearly two.
I wanted to take the trip to Washington's Whiskey distillery in Virginia. Saw the excursion on the AO Website and was bummed when I saw that it was completely booked. Would have LOVED that!
Ah, that event always sells out so quickly! Sorry to hear you can't join us this time. If we ever host the event again, our newsletter audience would be the first to know, so you should sign up! Hopefully we see you at some of our other events soon? www.atlasobscura.com/newsletters
Well, I dont think George actually said it's good... it would be a little phreaky if he had another page talking about how delicious this beer was, and how he can't live without it.
How is Mr. Lannon not fired on the spot for handling this old document without wearing the proper protective gloves? It's horrifying to watch him open this item with bare hands.
I thought most archives stopped using gloves. Something about washing hand prior is safer than having a barrier between pages/paintings that can cause unintentional pressure, tearing or smudging.🤔 I could be totally wrong. 🤷🏼♀️
The question of whether one should wear gloves to handle historical documents is one that we come up against all the time in similar videos! It's a totally fair and valid question. When we spoke to a curator of historical documents at another museum, they explained that in fact, wearing gloves numbs your sensitivity to page turning, so there's an increased risk of damaging the page. As long as your hands are clean and free of excess oils, you should be fine! (But of course, always make sure someone professional is with you!)
I wouldn't call this a hidden recipe. It's in the library of congress. The City Tavern in Philadelphia used to serve this recipe until they closed during covid. I'm thinking the producers of this video needed to do a bit more research.
The "beer kills bacteria" thing that the video starts off with is an urban legend. There were plenty of sources of clean water in premodern times, and beer doesn't have nearly enough alcohol to kill bacteria. Many beers even ship with bacteria living in the bottle to improve the flavor.
Its the boiling process that kills the bacteria I would think.
@@Ka9radio_Mobile9 Exactly. Even before it was common to boil beer, the lengthy mashing process would pasteurize it.
Small beer can be very tasty. There are numerous recipes from the period for small beer, which usually have maybe 1-2% alcohol content. For example, ginger beer with molasses is quick to make and nice to drink.
I had no idea that this was a part of history and that it was consumed to help prevent diseased water. I always leave these videos (and Twitter) wiser. Thank you. 💚📚💙
grog
Christy Gagnon ~ From the old British Navy where they alcoholic beverages mixed [generally] with rum? 🤔
yes, including Nelson's blood and beer has been a primary source for sterilized water for centuries in many places, and rum mixtures today's precursor to the mojito
Christy Gagnon ~ Thank you for sharing that. This is why I love Atlas Obscura. I meet and learn so much from them and others, like you. 🤗
The alcohol didn't kill the bacteria, the boiling of the wort did.
Boiling the barley mash kills the bacteria! Once that is done, it is allowed to cool and special yeast is added and the brewing kettle is sealed up and left to ferment and age. After about 9 weeks or so (for quality beer) it's decanted into sterile glass bottles and a small about of sugar is added to produce carbonation.... then sealed.
3:29 lol call it what?
"Bran hops"
Is this bran (the outer husk of a grain) or hops (flowering vines)? They are completely different things.
The recipe is written:
“Take a large Siffer full of Bran
Hops to your taste”
GW didn’t bother with a period at the end of the first line, so non-brewers think it’s one sentence when it’s clearly two.
I wanted to take the trip to Washington's Whiskey distillery in Virginia. Saw the excursion on the AO Website and was bummed when I saw that it was completely booked. Would have LOVED that!
Ah, that event always sells out so quickly! Sorry to hear you can't join us this time. If we ever host the event again, our newsletter audience would be the first to know, so you should sign up! Hopefully we see you at some of our other events soon? www.atlasobscura.com/newsletters
Well, I dont think George actually said it's good... it would be a little phreaky if he had another page talking about how delicious this beer was, and how he can't live without it.
How is Mr. Lannon not fired on the spot for handling this old document without wearing the proper protective gloves? It's horrifying to watch him open this item with bare hands.
I thought most archives stopped using gloves. Something about washing hand prior is safer than having a barrier between pages/paintings that can cause unintentional pressure, tearing or smudging.🤔
I could be totally wrong. 🤷🏼♀️
This is an interesting conversation. I look forward to further comments on the subject.
The question of whether one should wear gloves to handle historical documents is one that we come up against all the time in similar videos! It's a totally fair and valid question. When we spoke to a curator of historical documents at another museum, they explained that in fact, wearing gloves numbs your sensitivity to page turning, so there's an increased risk of damaging the page. As long as your hands are clean and free of excess oils, you should be fine! (But of course, always make sure someone professional is with you!)
🤔
And talking over it , small saliva droplets. This is priceless
I wouldn't call this a hidden recipe. It's in the library of congress. The City Tavern in Philadelphia used to serve this recipe until they closed during covid. I'm thinking the producers of this video needed to do a bit more research.
Too bad I do t drink no more
yay i am the first