Brewing isn’t just about mediaeval re-creation. For patient people, brewing is a great way of making, er, interesting drinks and is a good skill for any modern imbiber of alcohol to have. It’s not really any more difficult than baking a cake, though it requires greater patience.
Sure, you can go down the supermarket, buy some beer concentrate, add water and ferment, but that’s no fun, is it?
Below are some of my more successful recipes, drawn from various sources. Enjoy!
- Digby’s Ale With Honey. A strong blend of ale and honey.
- Plat’s Braggot. An ale flavoured with honey and spices.
- Ginger Beer. The most popular (but least period) drink in my repertoire.
- Partridge’s Hippocras. An easy and popular spiced wine.
- Lady Bellassises’ Mead. A raisin mead spiced with cardamom.
- Fruit Mead. A mead flavoured with cherries or raspberries.