Making Family Beer - Molasses, Ginger, Spruce, and More - Vintage Recipes and Cookery (2024)

  • In 1810, 132 breweries in the U.S. produced 185,000 barrels of beer. The population of the country was seven million.
  • By 1850, 431 breweries in the U.S. produced 750,000 barrels of beer (31 gallons per barrel). The population was 23 million.
    Source:
    History of Beer in the 19th Century: Timeline

But many families made their own beer. The recipes below are from cookbooks published in the 1800s.

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

MOLASSES (TREACLE) BEER
Take five pints of molasses, half a pint of yeast, two spoons of pounded ginger, and one of allspice. Put these into a clean half-barrel, and pour on it two gallons of boiling water. Shake it till a fermentation is produced, then fill it up with warm water, and let it work with the bung out for a day, when it will be fit for use. Remove it to a cold place, or bottle it. This is a very good drink for laboring people in warm weather.

GINGER BEER
Pour two gallons of boiling water on two pounds brown sugar, one and a half ounce of cream of tartar, and the same of pounded ginger. Stir them well and put it in a small cask. When milk warm, put in half a pint of good yeast, shake the cask well, and stop it close. In twenty-four hours it will be fit to bottle. Cork it very well, and in ten days it will sparkle like Champagne. One or two lemons cut in slices and put in, will improve it much. For economy, you may use molasses instead of sugar–one quart in place of two pounds. This is a wholesome and delicious beverage in warm weather.

SPRUCE BEER
Boil some spruce boughs with some wheat bran till it tastes sufficiently of the spruce. Bruise some allspice, and put in. Strain it, and put two quarts of molasses to half a barrel. When it is nearly cold, put in half a pint of yeast. After it has worked sufficiently, bung up the barrel.

SMALL BEER
To fifteen gallons water, add one gallon bran, one quart corn or oats, and one-quarter pound of hops. Let it boil up once, take it off and sweeten with one and a half gallons molasses. Put it in a tub to cool. When a little more than milk warm, add one and a half pints yeast. Cover it with a blanket till next morning, and then bottle.

CREAM BEER
Boil together, two ounces tartaric acid, two pounds white sugar, three pints water, and the juice of one lemon. When nearly cold, add the whites of three eggs, well beaten, with one-half cup of flour, and one-half ounce essence of wintergreen. Bottle and keep in a cool place.

Take two tablespoons of this mixture for a tumbler of water, adding one-quarter teaspoon soda.* (baking soda).

LEMON BEER
Cut two large lemons in slices and put them in a jar. Add one pound white sugar and one gallon boiling water. Let it stand till cool, then add one-quarter cup of yeast. Let it stand till it ferments. Bottle in the evening in stone jugs and cork tightly.

COTTAGE BEER
Take a peck of good sweet wheat bran and put it into ten gallons of water with three handfuls of good hops. Boil the whole together in an iron, brass, or copper kettle, until the bran and hops sink to the bottom. Then strain it through a hair sieve* or a thin sheet, into a tub and when it is about lukewarm, add two quarts of molasses. As soon as the molasses is melted, pour the whole into a nine or ten gallon cask, with two tablespoons of yeast. When the fermentation has subsided, bung up the cask, and in four days it will be fit for use.

*hair sieve – a strainer with a wiry fabric bottom usually woven from horsehair.

PORTER BEER
A pleasant drink in summer is to take one bottle of porter, five bottles of water, and a pint of molasses, or a pound of sugar. Make a spoonful of ginger into a tea, and mix all well together. Have seven clean bottles with two or three raisins in each. Fill them, cork them tight, and lay them on their sides on the cellar floor.

porter*– a dark style of beer developed in London made from brown malt.

HOP BEER
Put to six ounces of hops in five quarts of water, and boil them three hours. Then strain off the liquor, and put to the hops four quarts more of water, a teacup* full of ginger, and boil the hops three hours longer. Strain and mix it with the rest of the liquor, and stir in a couple of quarts of molasses.

Take about half a pound of bread, and brown it very slowly. When very brown and dry, put it in the liquor to enrich the beer. Rusked bread* is the best for this purpose, but a loaf of bread cut in slices, and toasted till brittle, will do very well. When rusked breadis used, pound it fine, and brown it in a pot as you would coffee, stirring it constantly. When the hop liquor cools, so as to be just lukewarm, add a pint of new yeast, that has no salt in it. Keep the beer covered in a temperate situation, till it has ceased fermenting, which is ascertained by the subsiding of the froth. Pour it off carefully into a beer keg, or bottles. The beer should not be corked very tight, or it will burst the bottles. It should be kept in a cool place.

*teacup – same as a jill or gill; four ounces in the U.S. and five ounces in the U.K.
*rusked bread – twice-baked bread used as extra filling; for example in sausages.

INSTANTANEOUS BEER
Put to a pint and a half of water, four teaspoons of ginger, and a tablespoon of lemon-juice sweetened to the taste with syrup or white sugar; pour it into a bottle. Have ready a cork to fit the bottle, a string of wire to tie it down, and a mallet to drive in the cork. Then put into the bottle a heaping teaspoon of the super-carbonate of soda,cork it immediately, tie it down, then shake the whole up well. Cut the string, and the cork will fly out. Turn it out, and drink immediately.

[I haven’t been able to find a definition for “super-carbonate of soda.” I can only guess it’s bicarbonate of soda, or baking soda. If anyone knows otherwise, I’d appreciate an email or leave a comment below.]

Image from Deposit Photos

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  • The recipes above are from various cookbooks from the 1800s. If you’d like to read more in-depth information, here’s a link to “A Practical Treatise on Brewing” by William Chadwick, 1835.

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Making Family Beer - Molasses, Ginger, Spruce, and More - Vintage Recipes and Cookery (1)

How To Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Great Beer Every Time

Fully revised and updated, How to Brewis the definitive guide to making quality beers at home. Whether you want simple, sure-fire instructions for making your first beer, or you’re a seasoned homebrewer working with all-grain batches, this book has something for you.

John Palmeradeptly covers the full range of brewing possibilities―accurately, clearly and simply. From ingredients and methods to recipes and equipment for brewing beer at home,How to Brewis loaded with valuable information on brewing techniques and recipe formulation.

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Have You Ever had Home Brewed or Craft Beer? Please Leave a Comment Below.

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Making Family Beer - Molasses, Ginger, Spruce, and More - Vintage Recipes and Cookery (2024)

FAQs

What does molasses do to beer? ›

The fermentation of molasses produces rum-like notes and sweet flavors. Brown sugar, which only contains a small amount of molasses, will contribute a simialr flavor to your beer, only less.

How much molasses to add to beer? ›

A good quantity to start with is about one cup for a 5 gallon batch. You don't want to overpower the other flavors in your beer. That is, unless you're going straight-up colonial and doing a molasses beer with no other sugar sources involved.

How to make potent ginger beer? ›

Ingredients
  1. 1 kg White Sugar (Granulated) - For an interesting flavour combination try 500 grams Brown and 500 grams White Sugar.
  2. 200 grams Fresh Root Ginger (Add more for a stronger Ginger flavour)
  3. 2 Fresh Lemons (Or use 2 Oranges to add more flavour dynamic)
  4. 4.5 Litres of water.
  5. 11 grams Beer Yeast (I use Gervin)

How long is primary fermentation for ginger beer? ›

Allow the mix to ferment for at least 5 days – this is a minimum and extra time in the fermenter won't hurt it. You can leave it to ferment for up to 2 weeks without issue. The airlock should have stopped bubbling before bottling. Once the fermentation is done, it's time to bottle up the ginger beer.

What flavor does molasses add to beer? ›

It imparts a distinct deep caramel and earthy taste that adds complexity to the overall flavor profile of the beer. The use of Molasses can greatly influence the taste of beer, giving it a sweet and robust character.

Can you use too much molasses? ›

While molasses can be a good alternative to refined sugar, consuming too much of any added sugar can have adverse effects. The effects may be particularly harmful to people with diabetes. Also, because people make molasses in a process called fermentation, it can cause digestive problems.

Does adding sugar to beer make it stronger? ›

If you add sugar to beer before or during fermentation, you will only add more alcohol and gravity to your beer. Your ABV will likely shoot up, especially as most people add corn syrup, which is pure dextrose, the easiest sugar for yeast to convert.

How long does it take to ferment molasses? ›

If it is just sugar in your wash (the liquid you put yeast into) it should be completely fermented in about 4 days. If you are using molasses the yeast has a harder time digesting it and the fermentation can take about 2 weeks. Distilling is just running your fermented wash through a still.

What is the best sugar for ginger beer? ›

You can use plain white sugar or mix brown and white for a darker coloured brew with a slightly richer flavour. Or you can use honey or any other fermentable sugar.

What happens if you let ginger beer ferment too long? ›

Let ginger beer ferment too long, it's very dry and has no sweetness at all. Almost unpleasant.

Why won t my ginger beer ferment? ›

If you're not seeing bubbles after a few days, it's possible your ginger bug was contaminated, had traces of chlorine, or was sterilized by harsh direct sunlight. We'd recommend starting over on your ginger bug.

Is it possible to ferment beer too long? ›

Beer, we always recommend that you bottle your beer no later than 24 days in the fermenter. You can go longer but the longer your beer sits the more chance you have to get an infection and get off-flavors in your beer. The 24-day mark has always worked well for us.

Can you make ginger beer in a Mason jar? ›

For a 1 gallon batch, grate 1 inch of ginger (peel and all) into a mason jar. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and a cup of water and stir. Cover it with cheesecloth to keep the dust out and leave it on the counter in a warm place.

Why is my homemade ginger beer flat? ›

On to your brew that seems low in carbonation, and that is resulting from low amounts of CO2 in the liquid. The CO2 in there making carbonation comes from the microbes (yeasts) fermenting sugars. Without enough residual sugars when bottling, there will be poor or no carbonation.

Does molasses affect fermentation? ›

Molasses (M) is used as a fermentation stimulant to increase the rate of silage acidification by providing fermentable sugars for the growth of LAB during the ensiling of silage4. Studies have reported that the addition of M results in reducing pH values and increasing lactic acid (LA) concentrations in silages5,6.

Can you add molasses to beer? ›

Avoid molasses that has been sulfured, and always do a taste test before using it in a beer. If there are prominent metallic notes, continue the search. Molasses is usually added during boil, but be sure to not to let it scorch.

Does molasses speed up fermentation? ›

A sound source of B Vitamins and biotin in molasses hastens fermentation processes that help in faster ethanol production.

Does molasses fatten up buds? ›

While molasses can contribute to overall plant health and soil quality, it is not a direct factor in increasing bud size or trichome production. Molasses mainly provides an energy source for beneficial microbes in the soil, which in turn can enhance nutrient availability, leading to better plant growth.

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