Second Gen (2003-2016, 2016- )
It is obviously a tough time here in Ontario and in Canada. The mass murder on Yonge Street in Toronto on Monday has struck hard and will affect many for years to come. It has come so soon after the Humboldt tragedy. And for our house, a neighbour – dearly liked, always been good to the kids – … Continue reading “Some Beery News Links For The Sudden Coming Of Spring”
This is a real puzzle. As discussed a few weeks ago, we are largely unaware of what was Lambeth Ale in the second half of the 1600s in England and how it set itself in the hierarchy of drinks. I am just going to note a few more findings in this post with the hope … Continue reading “A Short Update On That Apparently Very Fine Thing, Lambeth Ale”
Another topic sure to capture the attention of the good beer crowd… even though it is becoming apparent that there are only good beer crowds now. Or perhaps another topic to just shelter me from all the other stuff flying around. Hmm. Perhaps a contemporary account* of the romantic of life the sea will will … Continue reading “Hopped Beer As Part of Elizabethan Naval Victualing”
As a lad, before the internet, I was a keener for the BBC World Service. I actually visited the studios at Bush House on the Strand in 1980 on a family holiday and sat in on a Dave Lee Travis show taping. Most evenings I would listen to the shortwave and at the top of the … Continue reading ““No Liquor On Earth Is Like Nottingham Ale!””
We have discussed Northdown ale before. One of the seventeenth century’s coastal ales that predate Burton’s arrival on the scene around 1712. Northdown of the strong ales that Locke described as “for sale” as opposed to home or estate use. But in that earlier Northdown post from, what, coming up on two years ago, most of the … Continue reading “A Little More On Northdown Ale And Margate Ale And Lambeth Ale And…”
To the right you will see a passage from The Life of John Locke from 1876 that includes a quotation from a letter written by the philosopher in 1679. These is plenty to unpack from the passage but for present purposes I want to consider the bits about beer as it provides an excellent means … Continue reading “A 1679 Classification Of Beer By John Locke”
…by “handsome” I presume you mean the “other” one… Here’s the thing. There is only so much I can lay out to support this idea so I might as well do it and admit that it is something of a reasonable hypothesis. To be fair, I rarely take a position that I can’t later extract … Continue reading “Could Cream Beer Actually Be Cream Beer’s Ancestor?”
That’s my new favorite quote about sulfurous brewing waters from around Burton. It’s from The Natural History of Staffordshire from 1686 by Robert Plot. It’s slightly misleading as the beer was brewed as a local health tonic but I love that it was available at the Brimstone Alehouse. I want a black t-shirt from that place. What’s … Continue reading “What The Heck Was Going On in 1680s Staffordshire?”
Before the curse that is social media was thrust upon us, one key promise of beer blogging was collective research. With the most welcome news that Lew is back into the beer blog game, he reminds us of the point of doing this day after day: A bit over two years ago, I stopped writing … Continue reading “So What Was Northdown Ale In The Later 1600s?”
I have started a winter project. I am transferring the data in the 1808 Day Book kept by James Vassar‘s brewery at Poughkeepsie NY into a spreadsheet to allow me to grind the data to see if I can learn anything. Careful readers will remember that two and a half years ago (Good Lord!) I … Continue reading “Some Thoughts: Month One Of James Vassar’s 1808 Day Book”