For all you boozers out there

[Marybonita]

Does anyone know any ale or cider recipes? My Irish great-grandmother "Ma Driscoll" could make a fabulous, I guess, Gingerbeer. That recipe is lost but the legend continues.
 
Right now, my husband has alloted a corner of our kitchen to Chokecherry Wine which is fermenting as we speak. But we made it up. Chokecherries, sugar, water, yeast, stir and let sit. Once a group of us dorm sisters set up a bucket in the kitchen: blueberries, bread, sugar and water. We let it set for 6 weeks. Not bad.
 
We're hoping to have our "ale" ready for Christmas. What I want is somthing simple  with found-around-the-kitchen ingredients. I would bet that the Irish made ale from potato skins. That would be a find.
 
In JMJ

[Brennus]

Hey, this really is a great bunch of people. I didn't think anyone would know what I was talking about and then I see we even have somebody here who used to drink mead.

I'm trying to figure out how to make mead myself, because it is hard to buy here and expensive and of poor quality. I'm currently fermenting dandelion wine I made this summer, the first time I am doing that.

I think the best cider would be made at home. The alcoholic cider I get the most easily around here is Woodchuck draft cider which isn't really strong.

Black and Tan also refers to the British police who would oppress the Irish. So maybe that is the word that could get you into trouble.

I work in Pottsville Pennsylvania and a few doors up the street from the newspaper office, right next door to St. Patrick's church, is America's oldest brewery, D.G. Yuengling & Sons. It makes a good Black & Tan.

[AdoramusTeChriste]

I think she meant that afterwards, it would have had a very high alcohol content...

Well, yeah. But what kept it from freezing before it turned hard? Does it only take a couple of weeks or something?

[Historian]

Perhaps it did freeze?
 
Or maybe the motion of the car when it was moving kept it from freezing, and the warm exhaust provided a heat source allowing some to get into the trunk?
 
 

[VoxClamantis]

Anyway, I don't know about other parts of the country, but in Portland, OR, hard cider is as common as beer and you can buy it in the beer aisle of practically any grocery store.

We have lots of different brands, I think 'Woodpecker' is the most common. Then you have the choice of sweet, dry, semi-dry...

The semi-dry sounds like the perfect Goldilocks Solution for me. We definitely have hard cider around here, but I've never really taste-tested and compared -- and never even knew they came with different levels of sweetness/dryness like wines. Live and learn!

[VoxClamantis]

Does anyone know any ale or cider recipes? My Irish great-grandmother "Ma Driscoll" could make a fabulous, I guess, Gingerbeer. That recipe is lost but the legend continues.

 
Well, this is funny! I went off to find an old Gingerbeer recipe for you -- and found one called Mrs. Beeton's Gingerbeer. "Mrs. Beeton" just happens to be the name of the writer of that book I mentioned just today in the Dames thread! So, I took a look in there, and beheld it, the same recipe but with the measurements written out in an old-fashioned way. Perhaps a sign is being given for you to make the gingerbeer! (In looking about, it seems that this stuff has to be handled, uh, gingerly as it is very fizzy and can explode!)
 
Anyway, here's Mrs. Beeton's recipe for gingerbeer (that book came out in 1860-something or other) -- but as given at thefoody.com, with modern measurements:
 
GINGER BEER.

20.45lt (36 pints) Boiling Water
1.13kg (2½lb) Sugar
40g (1½oz) Bruised Ginger
25g (1oz) Cream of Tartar
2 Lemons, rind and juice
2 large tbsp Brewer’s Yeast [or modern equivalent]
 
Peel the lemons, squeeze the juice, strain it and put the peel and juice into a large earthen pan, with the bruised ginger, cream of tartar and sugar.
 
Pour over 13.6lt (3 gallons) of boiling water.
 
Let it stand until just warm.
 
Add the yeast, which should be thick and perfectly fresh. 
 
Stir the contents of the pan well and keep in a warm place over night, covering the pan over with a cloth.
 
The next day skim off the yeast and pour the liquor carefully into another vessel, leaving the sediment.
 
Bottle immediately and secure the corks.
 
In 3 days the ginger beer will be fit for use.
 
For some tastes, the above proportion of sugar may be found rather too large, when it may be diminished, but the beer will not keep so long good.
 
Average cost for this quantity, 2s., or 1/2d. per bottle.
Sufficient to fill 4 dozen ginger beer bottles.
Seasonable: This should be made during the summer months.

 

Right now, my husband has alloted a corner of our kitchen to Chokecherry Wine which is fermenting as we speak. But we made it up. Chokecherries, sugar, water, yeast, stir and let sit.

 
I feel really stupid right now. I don't think I know what a chokecherry is! Something else to Google...
 

Once a group of us dorm sisters set up a bucket in the kitchen: blueberries, bread, sugar and water. We let it set for 6 weeks. Not bad.

 
Hey, I did that in prison once. Had a hard time keeping my bunkies away, but -- well, life's hard in there, you know what I'm sayin', know what I'm sayin'? LOL
 

We're hoping to have our "ale" ready for Christmas. What I want is somthing simple  with found-around-the-kitchen ingredients. I would bet that the Irish made ale from potato skins. That would be a find.

 
I will look around for some cider and ale stuff for you, MissMaryBonita. But as to the taters, make vodka!

[VoxClamantis]

In case a anyone else is interested and a dummy like me, here's what a chokecherry is:
 

 
The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a member of the plum family common to most of Canada and much of the U.S.A. It is an extremely drought and winter hardy plant. Because of this hardiness as well as productive reliability it is a valuable plant. Before the European settlement of North America the chokecherry was a very important and integral part of the native indian diet. The chokecherry, as well as other fall fruit, was stored into the winter in a partly dried or frozen state to be eaten throughout the winter. As well, the plains indians harvested chokecherry fruit, mixed it with fat and suet and pounded it into the meat of buffalo. This mixture of meat, fruit and fat was known as pemmican, a staple of the native prairie people. Today a number of native groups and others are renewing the practice of making pemmican. Perhaps this will become an entree in a fine native food restaurant. Are Chokecherries Poisonous? YES!! Chokecherries have been reported to have killed livestock that have consumed too many chokecherry leaves. This usually only occurs under poor feeding conditions and is not common. Are Chokecherries Poisonous to Man? YES!! There are recorded incidences of children eating quantities of the seeds of chokecherries resulting in poisoning and death. Note, the flesh of the fruit is not poisonous, and should not be considered any more dangerous than eating plums, peaches or apricots. Many of the "prunus" family have poisonous seeds. Bad Taste The term "chokecherry" denotes that the fruit is bad tasting. True -- most of the fruit you will come across does have a strong astringent flavour. Some, however, have a fairly mild flavour and are quite edible. For the most part the strong flavoured fruit makes a very fine distinctive jelly or syrup. Once you have tasted well made chokecherry syrup you will not forget that flavour. Because of this flavour the chokecherry stands out as a possible crop to base a cottage jelly/syrup industry on. At present there are a few interested people testing the market with their products and we at the Department of Horticulture are embarking on a chokecherry breeding and selection program. Can You Make Wine From Chokecherries? Yes. Chokecherry wine is as prairie as wheat, dust storms and droughts. Although the chokecherry will never compete with California grapes, it does make a drinkable, unique wine. Most people will have tried a dark heavy wine made from the wild black fruited types. However, wine made from blends or from yellow, orange or red-fruited chokecherries can be interesting, distinctive and attractive. Do not sell the chokecherry short when making wine.

[Brennus]

By the way, for you hard cider drinkers, if you are praying in Latin and want to thank God for the stuff, you call it "vinum ex malis confectum."