Articles – F

F

“Farnham (hop)” this entry states that the Farnham hop was originally known as the Farhnam Whitebine. Over the years a number of different hop varieties were grown in Farnham but by far the most significant and well known was the Farnham Whitebine, which was first grown around 1750 and last grown in 1929. It’s fame was such that it was at times referred to as simply “the Farnham hop” but in accounts of English hop varieties, such as by Percival and Burgess (Hops, 1964) it is still referred to as the Farnham Whitebine, though it appears it was originally known as “the whitebine grape hop”. See E Wray, “The Farnham Whitebine Hop”, Brewery History magazine, issue 147. The entry states that the Farnham hop was almost certainly a very close relative of the Canterbury Whitebine and Mathon Whitebine, but Percival and Burgess considered these plants to all be of the same variety: “these hops … are old varieties, so closely related in botanical characters that they cannot be distinguished from each other with certainty, and are, no doubt, one and the same variety.” Though Farnham Whitebines are no longer grown Mathons and Canterbury Whitebines are still grown today. The Mathon hop in the National Hop Collection does appear distinct from the Canterbury and Farnham Whitebines but these last two are indeed the same variety. This is of particular interest with regards to English hops as the Golding hop originated as a cutting from a Canterbury Whitebine.

“Fermentation” on page 344 the part about temperatures during mashing seems confused. A low mash temperature to encourage protein breakdown would be used in addition to a higher temperature to increase fermentable sugars, whereas the entry seems to say it’s one or the other. Also lager yeast is now called Saccharomyces pastorianus.

“Firkin” at page 355 states “many of the early beer brewers in England were Dutch in origin”. Most, if not all of the early beer brewers in England came from the Low Countries, which is a wider application than modern “Dutch”, since it includes areas not in the modern Netherlands, including Flanders and Cleves, as well as Holland, Zealand and so on. In addition “Dutch” in English until the middle or end of the 16th century, meant “German”. In addition it states that “the beer barrel was established in 1420 as 36 Imperial gal (43 US gal) compared with the ale barrel at 30 Imperial gal (36 US gal) … beer eventually displaced unhopped ale and the 36-gal barrel became the standard in Britain.” The use of the term “Imperial gallon” is both anachronistic (the Imperial gallon was not introduced until January 1826) and wrong: the “beer barrel” and “ale barrel” of 1420 would not have been measured in “Imperial gallons”, but a gallon of a different size. The “beer gallon”, at least as defined under a statute from the time of Queen Anne, was 282 cubic inches, 1.7 per cent larger than the Imperial gallon at 277.274 cubic inches (the same legislation defined the “wine gallon” as 231 cubic inches, which became the basis for the subsequent US gallon). Nor did the ale barrel stay at 30 gallons. An Act of Henry VIII in 1532 redefined the size of the ale barrel at 32 gallons (keeping the beer barrel at 36 gallons). Measured in “beer gallons” (which were the same as ale gallons) these would thus have been equivalent, respectively, to 32.53 Imperial gallons/39.06 US gallons, and 36.59 Imperial gallons/43.95 US gallons. In 1689, under William and Mary, the ale and beer barrels were equalised at 34 gallons of 282 cu in each everywhere outside London, while in London the ale barrel stayed at 32 gallons and the beer barrel at 36 gallons. (see the Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1835, Volume 3, pp 496-497). It is untrue to say that the reason the beer barrel eventually prevailed was because beer replaced ale: the changes were entirely down to legislation. The ale barrel finally disappeared with the legislation that introduced the Imperial gallon in 1826, when it was ruled that for excise purposes all duty, drawbacks and so on would be charged on all malt liquors, ale or beer, at rates per barrel of 36 Imperial gallons (see the Edinburgh Annual Register, Volume 17, 1825, pp 179-180). This “Imperial barrel” was 1.6 per cent smaller than the old beer barrel.

“Flag Porter.” This entry states that Amber malt is no longer produced, but it is now available.

“Flotation tank” the “practice of cold trub is controversial” but I think it should read the “the practice of cold trub removal is controversial”.

“flavored malt beverages” in the entry at page 362 it states that “FMB’s originated in the 1990s…” There were a few flavoured beers in America before the craft beer era. Examples include Burgundy Brau, which per the can had a special ingredient (not identified), was reddish-dark and tasted tannic. Another was called Rose Ale said to have a fruit-punch-like taste. Hop ‘n Gator, a blend of Gatorade and beer was another example. These were made by Pittsburgh (Iron City) Brewing Co. See Connoisseurs Guide To Beer by Jim Robertson, 1970s. See more in the comments here.

“Franklin, Benjamin” entry at page 375 it speculates that in 1787, Franklin attended taverns during the India Queen Tavern. He was ill during his final years but entertained at home. See Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster, paperback 2004) at page 445 where, when describing the gathering for the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia it states: “…When General Washington arrived in town on May 13, his first act was to pay a call in Franklin, who opened his new dining room along with a cask of dark beer to entertain him…” [See also comments at A Good Beer Blog at post “Book Review: The Oxford Companion To Beer”.]

“Free Mash-Tun Act (1880)” at page 376 states: “Instead of a tax on malted barley (instigated in 1660) …” A tax on malt was first introduced in England and Wales in 1697, and in Scotland in 1713. What happened in 1660 was a confirmation by Charles II of taxes on beer and ale introduced during the Civil War/Commonwealth period.

“Friability” When analysing malt friability is not just used as a measure of malt dryness, it is also an indicator of the degree of modification and the homogeneity.

“Fuggle (hop)” at page 379 states that the hop was “found as a seedling in 1861 and introduced by Richard Fuggle some 14 years later”. Recent investigation has failed to identify a Richard Fuggle who might have introduced the hop of the same name, and failed to confirm either the date of its discovery or the date of its introduction. [See Kim Cook, “Who produced Fuggle’s Hops”, Brewery History magazine, Spring 2009, issue 130.]

“Fuller, Smith & Turner” at page 379 states that the beer that was replaced by Winter Beer/ESB was “named Old Burton Ale”. The name of the beer Winter Beer/ESB replaced was Old Burton Extra. The ABV for Chiswick Bitter is 3.5% not 3.8% as stated.