Once, as a spectator, I got to a historical reconstruction. The guys played the Middle Ages. Armor, swords and horses are all, of course, interesting, but my attention was drawn to the meadery.
There you could not only look at how alcohol is made, but also taste it. During the tasting, I got into a conversation with one of the participants in the reconstruction. It was he who told me what people drank in the Middle Ages.
The story was shared by blog subscriber Anton.
Cider, honey wine
The boy, whose name, by the way, was Sergey, started with cider. It was drunk mostly by the poor. This was due to the fact that cider could be made from ordinary apples, and there was a lot of this stuff in almost all European countries.
He received special distribution among the harsh warriors – the Vikings.
The cider was prepared simply – the apples were ground to a puree state and left to ferment for several days. Apparently, thanks to the simplicity of the recipe, he received such a wide distribution among the poor.
But in the Middle Ages, not only men drank
Apparently, honey wine appeared in Russia, although, of course, no one knows for sure.
Here, the cooking technology was more complicated. They prepared wine in barrels, which were 2/3 filled with honey, and 1/3 with berry juice, mainly lingonberry or raspberry. Hops were added to the container, and the whole thing was left to infuse in tarred barrels buried in the ground.
Honey wine was aged for 3 to 5 years before serving.
Note! Initially, honey wine was aged in barrels underground for several decades.
Beer, Egg Nog
Sergey got carried away. We somehow smoothly and imperceptibly moved to Western Europe of the XI-XII century. It turns out that it was at this time that beer appeared in the usual sense of the word.
It was made from water and malt. The latter was prepared by boiling wheat in water, then drying it in the smoke and grinding. Having combined water and malt, they were left for a week in a warm room, adding yeast along the way.
Sometimes, to give the beer a special taste, odorous herbs, such as rosemary or hops, were added to it. This, among other things, increased its quality and increased its shelf life.
Severe and not very severe Vikings. Probably drinking beer
To be honest, I heard the name Egg-Nog for the first time. As Sergei explained, this drink was invented by the Scots around the XNUMXth century. It was made from ale (strong beer), eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nuts and vanilla. The whole thing was mixed and heated on fire.
Judging by the ingredients, the poor Egg Nog could only dream of.
Note! Now Egg Nog is used in the Americas as a traditional Christmas drink.
Brandy, grain alcohol
Brandy became widespread around the XNUMXth century, although, according to Sergei, such drinks have been made since ancient times.
Apparently, at some point in time, people realized that the strength of ordinary wine was no longer enough for them and decided to try to overtake it several times. Happened. Yes, they still drink brandy.
In general, in addition to pleasant moments, the secondary distillation of wine at that time also had exclusively practical significance. After all, in this form, alcohol was stored longer during transportation. But there were no planes and trains in the Middle Ages.
I think that transporting wine from, say, Istanbul to Paris on horseback took quite a long time. D and the weight of the cargo at that time mattered.
Feasts at that time were not like ours
Grain alcohol has become widespread, oddly enough, in Russia. However, they did it in other countries. Rye was turned into malt by a method identical to beer, the malt was allowed to ferment, well, then medieval analogues of moonshine were used and alcohol was obtained.
Note! For grain alcohol in the Middle Ages, rye and barley were most often taken.
Mulled wine
Judging by the warmth with which Sergey spoke about mulled wine in his voice, it was his favorite drink from the Middle Ages.
Something similar to mulled wine was drunk in ancient Rome, however, in the modern sense, this drink appeared in Northern Europe and Scandinavia around the XNUMXth century.
Probably warming up before mulled wine
At that time, mulled wine was made quite simply: red wine was heated and galangal was added to it. For a long time I could not pronounce this word. It took me even longer to figure out what it meant. Everything turned out to be simple.
Galangal is a herb that replaced most of the spices for the people of the Middle Ages. After all, spices at that time were delivered from India, and the path there was not close.
Honey, cardamom and other things began to be added to mulled wine only in the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries.
Note! Mulled wine in the Middle Ages could afford only wealthy people. This is due to the high prices for the main components of the drink.
Wine
And, of course, wine is considered to be the main drink of the Middle Ages. I just quoted Sergey, if that.
What they did not crush the poor grapes to turn it into alcohol. First they used bare feet, then boards and stones. True, special presses came a little later, and they were used only in commercial distilleries.
Perhaps the wine is waiting, who knows.
Well, then everything was simple. The resulting grape juice was placed for fermentation. It was aged, depending on the grape variety, from several months to several decades.
Note! Judging by archaeological finds, people have been making wine for more than 7 thousand years.
In general, that day I learned a lot of new drinks from the Middle Ages. Some even tried. Or maybe you know what other types of alcohol were consumed at that time?
Dear readers, remember that alcohol abuse harms your body. Take care of yourself!