Beer was the staple household drink until the mid-nineteenth century. Everybody, young and old, would drink significant quantities of beer every day. It was nutritious, and healthier than water, in as much as the boiling would have destroyed water-borne bacteria. Whilst strength and quantities varied widely, a gallon a day was a typical intake. This could be drunk as follows: two pints for breakfast, a pint mid-morning, two pints with the mid-day meal, another pint at four in the afternoon, and the remaining two pints after work. Most of this beer would have been brewed at home for household consumption and substantial houses would have a separate brew house such as this.
The brew house was typically sited behind the main house and often shared the function of a laundry and bake house. Brewing, baking and washing all need fire and water. The brewing process essentially all involved making a solution of starchy sugars which would then be fermented by yeast and flavoured with hops. Hops were introduced into England during the later Middle Ages and beer largely replaced ‘ale’ - which is unhopped - by the mid-seventeenth century.
The brewer’s first task was to boil water in a large cauldron known as the copper. This would then be poured over the malt - cracked, semi-germinated barley, in a large wooden tub known as the mash tun. The mash would be stirred or ‘rowed’ with a brewer’s oar to dissolve the sugary malt. The resulting starchy liquid, the wort, would then be cooled. The temperature was critical, it should not be too hot for the yeast to survive, nor so cool that it would prevent fermentation. The fermentation vessel was usually another large wooden vat. Having fermented, the resulting ale would be returned to the copper for a second boiling with hops. These acted as a flavouring and preservative. Having cooled, the beer was put in casks ready for drinking.
Typically, brewing was carried out once a week, though the process could take longer than a day. This freed the brew house for baking and laundry on other days. A standard 36 gallon barrel could supply perhaps five people for a week. The ordinary household beer was relatively weak in alcohol, but by increasing the proportion of malt to water, and hence the specific gravity of the wort, stronger beer could be made for special occasions. The malt itself was usually bought from specialist suppliers, for the process of soaking, turning and kilning the barley grain required great experience and skill.
Guildford House Gallery
155 High Street
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 3AJ
Tel: 01483 444740
Fax: 01483 444742
Email: guildfordhouse@guildford.gov.uk