Learning history by drinking beer
I was in a dour mood after returning to work from a week of vacation when I made my way late Tuesday into the Brewer's Art on Charles Street in downtown Baltimore.
There I sampled the seasonal, a malty ale known as "Petroleuse." Volker Stewart, the proprietor, moved toward the bar and sampled a glass as well. Always a good sign when the proprietor drinks his own stuff.
Volker, who was on his way to an important engagement, his 4-year-old daughter's ballet class, paused and enlightened me and my companion, Richard O'Mara, a fomer Sun foreign editor, on the orgin of the name "Petroleuse."
It was falsely applied to the women who supported the short-lived (March-May) uprising of the Paris Commune of 1871. Legend had it that the women tossed fire bombs made of petrol and parrafin into the cellars of buildings. The truth, it turns out, was otherwise. Buidlings burned down, but the women known as the "petroleuse" did not do it.
Nonetheless the term now has come to mean something like "Red Hot Mamas."
This beer, at 7 percent ABV, lives up to the name.
If only my history classes in school had been beer-based, I might have paid attention.
Any other beer-based history tales out there?
Comments
How about some US history... April 7th marks the 75th anniversary of the first legal beer brewed in the US after the modification of the Volstead Act. A number of brewers are doing some special things to celebrate the date.
Check out beertown.org for more information.
I know I'll be celebrating the 75th anniversary with some US brews.
Posted by: Rick | March 13, 2008 9:34 AM
There is a gentleman on beeradvocate that periodically has a detailed history/beer articles:
http://beeradvocate.com/articles/721
Posted by: Mike | March 13, 2008 11:45 AM
I could recommend several beers that are specific attempts to recreate beer recipes from historic times. Perhaps the most famous is Fraoch Heather Ale from Scotland, and the brewers have also created several other beer recipes that are attempts to recreate thousand-year-old beer recipes: Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale, Alba Scots Pine Ale, Grozet gooseberry-wheat ale, Kelpie Seaweed Ale, and others. For the most part, these beers use bittering agents other than hops, which were unavailable to the Scots in olden times.
Britain has some other historic beers; among them is Flag Porter, which was brewed with a reconstituted/reactivated yeast pulled from bottles of porter found in an early 1800's shipwreck.
In America, look for Yards of Philadelphia, which has created beers patterned after recipes from the estates of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The latest one I grabbed, Yards Tavern Spruce Ale, has a Ben Franklin-inspired recipe using molasses, spruce tips, and spices.
Dogfish Head of Delaware has also done a lot with historic-recreation attempts, starting with their malt/honey/grape fusion Midas Touch, and going from there to a bunch of seemingly increasingly crazy experiments such as Pangaea, Theobroma, and Palo Santo Marron.....
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | March 14, 2008 12:30 PM
Although not strictly beer related, there's some fascinating history behind Britain's pub signs. Few were named by accident - they were inspired by royalty, religion, lust, ambition, heroes and scandal. If you know how to interpret them, they tell quite a story! It might be worth doing a little research on your local to see if it has an illustrious or dark history.
Elaine Saunders
Author: A Book About Pub Names
Posted by: Elaine Saunders | March 27, 2008 10:51 AM