tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5445569787371915337.post4121282192058046755..comments2024-03-28T13:20:29.156-07:00Comments on Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Restrictions on malting in WW IRon Pattinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03095189986589865751noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5445569787371915337.post-13428430525925163242009-04-09T04:30:00.000-07:002009-04-09T04:30:00.000-07:00I was interested in the reference in the orders to...I was interested in the reference in the orders to black beer and spruce beer. Black beer must have been the Yorkshire, Mathers type of beer, still made I think, which seems a derivative of the Middle Ages beer known as mum or mumme, something of a pan-European in its day. Spruce beer pops up in various kitchen literature and brewing manuals of the 1800's and earlier. Both these types must have had sufficient currency circa-1915 to warrant being mentioned.<BR/><BR/>Spruce beer was formerly popular in Quebec. There were two types, alcoholic and non-. By my time, the alcoholic one had disappeared but possibly was being made unofficially in some rural areas. It had a sharp, resiny, pine-like taste. When I first tasted North American microbrews 25 years ago the taste often reminded me of those spruce beers. <BR/><BR/>I cannot recall reading that the French provinces in France ever had such things and I wonder if they came in with the influx of Britishers after England took Quebec in the 1770's, hard to say.<BR/><BR/>GaryGary Gillmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5445569787371915337.post-57352018803992073922009-04-09T00:46:00.000-07:002009-04-09T00:46:00.000-07:00What interests me about beer myths is how they sta...What interests me about beer myths is how they start. As I said in the discussion on the 'IPA had to be hoppy and strong to make it to India' myth, I think the usual answer is that people work back from a particular product and speculate why it's like that. The dominance of porter in Ireland is therefore explained by reference to the taste of Guinness rather than to contemporary sources.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09310220100267028274noreply@blogger.com