Home brewed beer and wine

We're back with old home-brewing recipes. Actually, one that looks very similar to the 1940's recipe I recently published.

So whay Am I repeating myself? For the introduction really. People will tell you that home brewing was legalised in Britain in 1963. That's not exactly true. Homebrewing was legal before that, but you needed to buy a licence. The rules (as they were in the 1930's) are explained below:

"HOME BREWED BEER AND WINE
If you consider following the recipe for home brewed beer, remember that beer is excisable if it contains alcohol, or the alcohol equivalent, of two per cent, proof spirit. Anyone who brews beer at home without complying with the Customs regulations is liable to prosecution. The only people entitled to a free licence are those who occupy houses of an annual rental of £8 or less, and they are allowed to brew not more than four bushels a year for their personal use. Where the rental is over £8 and up to £10, a licence costs 25s. a year; to a £15 rental, £2 10s. 0d.

A licence it not very expensive and it is better to pay small duty than to risk the anxiety and cost of possible summons, if beer is brewed at home.

On no account must anyone sell beer without a special licence for the purpose. I mention this because there are people who, having paid duty which enables them to make the beverage at home, think they can sell their product to compensate them for the cost of the licence.

Here is excellent recipe for home brewed beer:—

Hop Ale.
4oz. of dried hops, 2oz. of dandelion root and, if obtainable, 2oz. of gentian root. Boil in six gallons of water for 2.5 hours. When the liquid almost cold, strain it, and add 3 lb. of dark brown sugar and three tablespoonfuls of brewer's yeast. Stir well and cover. Next day, again strain the liquid or pour it off to leave the sediment behind. Put it into cask, fit the bung tightly and leave for a few days, after which will be fit to drink.

Carrot Wine.
Boil the carrots until they are tender, allowing life, to gallon of water. Strain tho liquor carefully through a jelly bag. Add 3 lb. or 4 lb. of preserving sugar to every gallon of liquid. and boil again for about three-quarters of hour. When the liquor has cooled down to 75 deg., add little yeast, and leave for a week in a warm place Stir thoroughly every day. Pour the liquor into a cask, and bum down when fermentation ceases The wine will be ready for use in about six months, when it may be bottled.

Egg Wine - A Splendid Tonic.
Take six eggs 0.5 lb. of castor sugar, three lemons, one gill of best rum, one pint of new milk. Put the whole eggs (with shells) into a bowl, squeeze the lemon juice over them, cover tightly and leave for 24 hours. Press all through a clean cloth (shells, too), then pour in the rum and add the sugar. Stir together until the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk, stir gently, and bottle. The lemon juice practically dissolves all the egg shells. Dose: One wineglassful twice day."
Nottingham Evening Post - Wednesday 16 December 1936.

Four bushels of malt is enough to brew about 72 gallons of 5% ABV beer.

The hop ale recipe is basically the same as the one from 1941, except for the addition of dandelion root and gentian root. I'm surpised dandelion root wasn't in the 1941 one. It would have been one of the few ingredients that were readily available.

I wonder what they mean by a dose of one wineglassful twice a day? Is that for some sort of medicinal purpose?