Page 207 - The Lost Ways

ideally covered with cloth. Leave it until you see it start to bubble. Strain the liquid, and
then add a cup of wheat flour.

Wait for it to become bubbly (usually 24 hours) then take a cup of this mix and add
another cup of wheat flour and warm water; again, leave it until it becomes frothy. You
can potentially re-use this “yeast starter” over and over.

A Word on Hops

Hops give beer that distinctive “bitter” taste but are not essential in making beer. You can
alternatively substitute a number of herbs for hops. These include, juniper, ginger,
aniseed, caraway, and yarrow.

Making the Beer

Now that you have your main ingredients—the malt and the yeast—you can make the
beer. You can also opt to add in other ingredients to change the taste of the beer, for
example, molasses, honey, or brown sugar.

You can even use stinging nettles (found across the west of North America).

❖ Boil about 2 gallons of water. Leave to cool, and then add into the fermenter.
❖ Boil a further 3 gallons of water.

❖ Turn off the heat, and add in the malted barley.
❖ Add heat again, and stir while bringing to a boil.
❖ Add hops or hop substitute, and boil for an hour.
❖ A froth should form on the top; turn the heat down if it starts to boil over.
❖ If you want to add other hop substitutes for flavor, do it in the final 15 minutes
of the hour-long boil.
❖ Quickly cool the mix (called a wort) to about 65°–90°F (add the pot to a bath of
cold water or similar). It needs to cool quickly to prevent bacteria from growing.

❖ Pour your yeast into the fermenter.
❖ Add the cooled wort to the fermenter. Do it quickly to mix up the yeast with the
wort.
❖ If you’re using a hydrometer, check the density of the brew for indications of
when to bottle (the hydrometer will be gauged with this information) and its
strength.

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