This week, I am endeavoring to teach a course about how
Christmas played an important role in the lives of four great literary talents:
Jane Austen, Washington Irving, Charles Dickens and Mark Twin. The first part
of the course is mostly about Jane Austen and how Christmas was an important
part of her life, during the Regency period in Britain.
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Jane and her family had long made special brews for this
time of year. “The Austens were enthusiastic home brewers, bottling their own
wines, beers, and of course, Mead,” wrote Austen authority Laura Boyle.
As I point out in my book, A Jane Austen Christmas (Cider Mill Press), in December of 1808, she wrote in a letter to Cassandra at
Godmersham Park, “It is you, however, in this instance, that have the little
children, and I that have the great cask, for we are brewing spruce beer again;
but my meaning really is, that I am extremely foolish in writing all this
unnecessary stuff when I have so many matters to write about that my paper will
hardly hold it all. Little matters they are, to be sure, but highly important.”
Jane was not above imbibing, especially during the
Christmastide season. She once wrote to Cassandra, “I should inevitably fall a
sacrifice to the arts of some fat woman who would make me drunk with small
beer.” Jane was respobsible for making beer, ginger beer, mead, and other wines
that the family would drink during the holidays. She was a homebrewer and
winemaker, and made her own cordials as well.
There is a good chance that Jane may have been instructed in
the brewing of this kind of beer by her brothers - Francis and Charles. Both were Admirals in the
British Navy, and from a young age had drunk Spruce Beer on board ship while in
service.
Francis William Austen (1774–1865) (Admiral Of The Fleet, Knighthood) “had, perhaps, the most glorious career of the Austen brothers, serving in the Navy from the age of 12 and eventually achieving Knighthood as Sir Francis Austen and rising to the position of Admiral of the Fleet. Considered by Admiral Nelson to be "an excellent young man", he narrowly missed involvement in the battle of Trafalgar due to his temporary detachment as captain of a captured French Ship, the Canopus. It is doubtless this connection which gave Jane Austen such an admiration for the men of the Royal Navy. A look at his career proclaims him not only the inspiration for the young Lieutenant William Price in Mansfield Park, but even more so for the unforgettable Captain Wentworth of Persuasion,” reported The Jane Austen Society.
Charles John (1779-1852) (Rear Admiral) “was Jane's darling
little brother, clearly a favorite with both sisters as a boy. Though his
career was nowhere near as distinguished as that of his brother, he also joined
the Naval Academy as Midshipman at the age of 12 and rose to become a
Rear-Admiral. Much to the regret of his family, he was stationed in the West
Indies where he remained for seven years straight, returning at the end of that
time with a wife and child. It was Charles' gift of Topaz Crosses to his
sisters which inspired a similar scene in Mansfield Park. Charles Austen's
ship, Endymion captured many prizes during the war with France, leaving him a
comfortable settlement. He died, at age 75, still on Active Duty, during a
naval river-war in Burma,” related the society.
Spruce Beer was a very important brew, valuable to both the
British and the Americans, during the Revolutionary War, as it inhibited
scurvy. It would later be displaced by fresh limes kept on board, which had
much higher Vitamin C content in it.
Orders for the Highland Regiment in North America, in June
of 1759, stipulated that: “Spruce beer is to be brewed for the health and
conveniency of the troops which will be served at prime cost. Five quarts of
molasses will be put into every barrel of Spruce Beer. Each gallon will cost
nearly three coppers.”
New York, unlike other colonies, had detachments of regular
British soldiers located within the colony throughout the entire royal period.
They were stationed there due to the colony's strategic location south of New
France on the Champlain and Hudson Valleys as well as the presence of
significant Iroquois military strength. During the French and Indian War,
scurvy broke out at Oswego and Fort Stanwix in the late 1750s. In response to
the danger, General Jeffery Amherst, commander of British forces, gave instructions
to provide for spruce beer throughout the army. Following the fall of
Ticonderoga, Amherst noted on his diary that "our brewery things at last
got up... [and] will save several lives." The process for making is set
out in the 1759 orderly book from Amherst's expedition north up Lake Champlain,
setting out how the army brewed:
Each Regiment to ƒend a Man
acquainted with Brewing, or that is beƒt capable of aƒƒifting the Brewers, to
the Brewery to-morrow Morning at 6 o'clock, at the Rivulet on the Left of
Montgomerys… One Serjt. of the Regulars and one of the Provencials to ƒuper-intend
the Brewery, who will be paid is 6d per Day. Spruce Beer will be deliverd to
the Regiments on Thursday Evening or Friday morning.
The taste for spruce beer was not limited to the regular
troops. Colonel John Bradstreet led the daring final raid on Fort Frontenac
defeating the French which separated New France in two in 1758. He served as
deputy quartermaster general at Albany and is recorded in a letter as having
had given a gift of a cask of spruce beer earlier in the decade.
“Winter orders that year instructed that each post should
keep enough molasses on hand “to make two quarts of beer for each man every
day. Whether it was brewed for health, holiday drinking, or simply as a tasty
alternative to water (that’s debatable) Spruce beer was a common drink in
Georgian England. Brewed along similar lines as Root Beer and Ginger Beer, it
could be drunk fresh or allowed to ferment,” wrote Austen authority Laura Boyle
of Jane Austen.com.
Catskill Brew Club
Every week, I attend the Catskill Brewers Club, an informal
gathering of local brewers and homebrewers, wherein we sip locally made brews,
as well as those made up and down the east coast. I happened to mention that I
would be teaching the class, and asked if anyone knew if any local or regional
brewers might be making a spruce beer that I could buy – via can or crowler.
All shook their heads no. I said it was a shame, as I wanted to pour some for
my students. They all looked at me like I was mad. And, perhaps, I am, as many
food friends of mine will attest.
The brew club is made up of a very bunch of fine fellows who
make beer and wine. Steve Casscles (winemaker; formerly Hudson-Chatham and
Milea Vineyards), Marty Wallace (has worked both brewing and winemaking), Joe
McCarthy (Brewery LaHoff), Andre Latour (master brewer Brewery LaHoff), Noah
Bartlett, Wally Walters (LaHoff), Jeff Miller, Kyle Grennan (home brewer) and folks
from Return Brewing and Crossroads Brewing.
It was like a gauntlet had been thrown. They crew was up to
the challenge of making the beer. They would have to agree to a recipe (or
maybe two?) and materials would have to be supplied. Over the next few weeks,
we considered different recipes and their possible adjusting. In mid-June they
brewed the beer. Two batches – one using malt extract, and one using actual
grains.
To make spruce beer you need actual Spruce tips, which usually grow in May and June, and show as bright Kelly green on the tips of evergreen trees. For this we asked licensed forager and former estate gardener Michelle Williams (of Mermaid Café fame), as well as her new endeavor Medusa Mycology, which offers and sources foraged mushrooms and other foods for purchase. She went up to the top of Hunter Mountain to find the freshest and newest Spruce tips she could find for our brew.
Recipes
Recipes from such a long time a goa leave a lot to be interpretated.
Our esteemed professionals lead the way.
Take 7 Pounds of good spruce
& boil it well till the bark peels off, then take the spruce out & put
three Gallons of Molasses to the Liquor & and boil it again, scum it well
as it boils, then take it out the kettle & put it into a cooler, boil the
remained of the water sufficient for a Barrel of thirty Gallons, if the kettle
is not large enough to boil it together, when milkwarm in the Cooler put a pint
of Yest into it and mix well. Then put it into a Barrel and let it work for two
or three days, keep filling it up as it works out. When done working, bung it
up with a Tent Peg in the Barrel to give it vent every now and then. It may be
used in up to two or three days after. If wanted to be bottled it should stand
a fortnight in the Cask. It will keep a great while.
- From the
Journal of General Jeffrey Amherst (1717-1797), Governor-General of British
North America
According to home brewing authority David Ackley, “Trees and
their branches, barks, and berries have been used traditionally for flavoring
beers, especially in Scandinavian countries, for hundreds of years. Juniper,
spruce, and fir are some of the most common… In North America, spruce beer was
used by American colonists to prevent scurvy. ..For the adventurous forager,
spruce can be found in the evergreen forests of North America. Cuttings from
new growth are best for brewing. Make a tea by boiling the branches in water
for 30 minutes. Strain out the branches and add this homemade spruce essence to
your mash or boil.”
See more at:
http://www.eckraus.com/blog/homebrew-spruce-beer-recipe#sthash.4U5kG2PK.dpuf
"For brewing Spruce Beer. Take four ounces of hops, let
them boil half an hour, in one gallon of water, strain the hop water, then add
16 gallons of warm water, two gallons of molasses, eight ounces of essence of
spruce, dissolved in one quart of water, put it in a clean cask, then shake it
well together, add half a pint of emptins [baker's yeast], then let it stand
and work one week, if very warm weather less time will do, when it is drawn off
to bottle, add one spoonful of molasses to every bottle."
See American Cookery: Or the Art of Dressing Viands,
Fish, Poultry and Vegetables, by Amelia Simmons, 1796
Ginger Beer was possibly the most popular small beer in
England at that time. Sparkling with a taste somewhat near dry Champagne.
“Originating in England in the mid 1700’s, by 1790, the recipe had crossed the
Atlantic, though significant portion of the American Ginger Beer was still
imported by ship from England. One of the reasons that England could export
ginger beer was because of the quality of the stoneware bottles it was stored
in. In 1835, England developed a superior glazing process called Improved Bristol
Glaze. After filling, these bottles were corked and wired to maintain the
pressure. This kept the alcohol and carbon dioxide in solution, both of which
acted as preservatives, allowing for a long shelf life,” wrote Austen expert
Laura Boyle.
Ginger beer or small beer: Two
gallons of water, two oz. Cream of Tartar. Two lbs of lump sugar. Two lemons
sliced, 2 oz. of ginger bruised. Pour the water boiling on the ingredients,
then add two spoonfuls of good yeast; when cold bottle it in stone bottles, tie
down the corks. It is fit to drink in 48 hours– a little more sugar is an
improvement; glass bottles would not do.
-
Martha Lloyd’s Ginger Beer Recipe
A Few Photos From Brewing Day
This entire endeavor was educational. A preliminary pouring took place during the New York lecture
on New York beer history, at Hudson Valley Community College, but was poured after only a few weeks in the bottle. The
real pouring will begin in the first and second week in November 2023 for
students of my Austen, Irving, Dickens, Twain class this week at HVCC.
A fun and novel way to drink beer, and honor Jane Austen at
Christmas. And a special thanks for thee Catskill Brewers Club!
Citations/Links:
[The Letters of Jane Austen
Selected from the compilation of her great nephew, Edward, Lord
Bradbourne Author: Jane Austen Editor: Sarah Chauncey Woolsey]
http://www.janeausten.co.uk/mead-home-brewed-honey-wine/
http://www.janeausten.co.uk/spruce-beer/
http://www.janeausten.co.uk/small-beer/