Calaguala Ale
Calaguala, A.K.A. samambaia, is a tropical fern with many healing properties. Combined with cinchona bark — herbal quinine — this ought to be “good for what ales you.”
Recent posts
The promise of translucence
Bottling beer is complex enough without having to worry about cleaning all the bottles yet. If they’re already clean, all they need is a soak in sanitizer solution.
Brewing without a recipe
This was the first time in many years that I didn’t carefully weigh and measure everything and write it all down for future reference. But I have to say, it felt liberating not to.
Beer Tasting 101: Yarrow Sarsaparilla Ale
It’s, uh, crisp and floral, medium-bodied, dry! (Can it be all those things at the same time? You sure hope so.)
Sassafras beer: a short history
The small tree known as sassafras (Sassafras albidum) was once one of the most prized plants of North America.
Digging for beer
Aniseroot (Osmorhiza longistylis), a close relative of sweet cicely (O. claytonia), would represent a new brewing ingredient for me, and I can’t find any mention of its use as a brewing herb online or in print.
Yarrow Gruit Braggot Ale
Braggot is half beer, half mead. I brewed this way back on July 24, 2002, when honey was cheap and when my technique involved a LOT of herbs, usually including roasted dandelion root.
Bosasa!
During this maize beer communion, in place of “happy Easter,” the Raramuri will say to one another “bosasa” – “fill up, be satisfied, be contented.”
“Such a harmlesse treasure”
John Gerard in his Herbal did not stint in portrayals of plants for which the only “vertues” were aesthetic.
Zulu brew
Even before I read the column, I found myself saying the words “Zulu Brew Route” out loud, over and over.
