peebee
Out of Control
An argument on another thread (CAMRA at it again) hi-lighted a problem I was having with one of my "projects". First a little bit of "history" (now, don't fall asleep!):
In a history repeated by many beer historians: By the end of the Georgian period most (if not all) "ale" was hopped. A few years into Victoria's reign the term "ale" meant nothing special and was used interchangeably with "beer". There was one remaining example of "ale" left: Pale Ale, which was served unaged or "mild", and was increasingly popular at the expense of "Porter" ("ale" also suffered a final indignity with "pale ale" now referring to a "beer" - the last remnant of true "ale" became "Mild Ale"). "Mild Ale" became the most popular "beer" in England until after the World Wars (and much of it had become dark brown in colour too).
At some point between the introduction of hopped "beer" by the Dutch in the 15th Century and well into the British Industrial Revolution (end of Georgian period), "ale" became widely hopped. But before the Industrial Revolution there is a lot less surviving evidence of what went on. My "project" was to come up with a typical ale during the English Civil War (@Dyke Busters; yeap, I'm still at it!). But in trying to find conclusive evidence I came up with this colourful character instead: The Ex-ale-tation of Ale by John Taylor, the Water Poet (1580-1653) (that's just a sample of his vast catalogue of work). He was very much a campaigner against hops and beer.
So, I want help! Can anyone point me at good information supporting the existence (or not) of hopped ales during the English Civil War (1642–1651)?
Some other useful background: This article provides some useful snippets on hops in beer/ale: Hops - Wikipedia. "Eric" (Jim's forum) pointed out that many ale breweries wouldn't be able to cope with large quantities of hops; this probably explains why ale, even when it was hopped, had much lower hopping rates to beer, and why in the 19th Century there was still "ale breweries" and "beer" (porter) breweries?
In a history repeated by many beer historians: By the end of the Georgian period most (if not all) "ale" was hopped. A few years into Victoria's reign the term "ale" meant nothing special and was used interchangeably with "beer". There was one remaining example of "ale" left: Pale Ale, which was served unaged or "mild", and was increasingly popular at the expense of "Porter" ("ale" also suffered a final indignity with "pale ale" now referring to a "beer" - the last remnant of true "ale" became "Mild Ale"). "Mild Ale" became the most popular "beer" in England until after the World Wars (and much of it had become dark brown in colour too).
At some point between the introduction of hopped "beer" by the Dutch in the 15th Century and well into the British Industrial Revolution (end of Georgian period), "ale" became widely hopped. But before the Industrial Revolution there is a lot less surviving evidence of what went on. My "project" was to come up with a typical ale during the English Civil War (@Dyke Busters; yeap, I'm still at it!). But in trying to find conclusive evidence I came up with this colourful character instead: The Ex-ale-tation of Ale by John Taylor, the Water Poet (1580-1653) (that's just a sample of his vast catalogue of work). He was very much a campaigner against hops and beer.
So, I want help! Can anyone point me at good information supporting the existence (or not) of hopped ales during the English Civil War (1642–1651)?
Some other useful background: This article provides some useful snippets on hops in beer/ale: Hops - Wikipedia. "Eric" (Jim's forum) pointed out that many ale breweries wouldn't be able to cope with large quantities of hops; this probably explains why ale, even when it was hopped, had much lower hopping rates to beer, and why in the 19th Century there was still "ale breweries" and "beer" (porter) breweries?