Brewing Ancient Beer

BREWING COURSE
BREWING ANCIENT BEER
Kathleen and Steve Mineck
Saturdays, October 22 - November 5
1:30 PM -3:00 PM
Oriental Institute

Back by request, this three-part course on beer brewing-and tasting-invites you to celebrate Oktoberfest the really old-fashioned way. The world's oldest written records, dating to ca. 3000 B.C., contain detailed descriptions of ancient brewing practices, as well as drinking songs and penalties for offensive behavior in taverns! See a slide presentation showing how beer was an integral part of ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Turkish culture, visit the museum's galleries to see vessels used to make, store, and drink beer, and then use ancient-style processes to create your own brew. At the last session, taste your creation and toast Ninkaski, an ancient goddess of beer, while enjoying Middle Eastern refreshments.

Fee. $75 for Oriental Institute members; $85 for non-members. All materials and supplies included.

Obviously, you know I'm there ...

Nr 706,

I had this in my mailbox for a long time and completely forgot about it until I started cleaning it out. You were first on my mind ... I hope you get in. If you do, then I hope to hear your impressions.

Regards,

The Oriental Institute is one of my favorite places in Chicago and maybe the world. It's off-the-beaten path and just a marvelous little institution with remarkable holdings (I'm especially fond of Mesopotamian votive statuary and Assyrian Winged Bulls). This stuff was unearthed in a part of the world that is currently being torn apart, which makes it especially dear.

Hammond

In the meantime, anyone interested in the history of beer should look at Radical Brewing (Amazon.com link) by Rogers Park's own Randy Mosher. It's a book geared toward brewers, especially homebrewers, and the section on history is only 10 pages out of 324, but the rest is also a great read for anyone interested in beer who refuses to get into a debate over whether Bud, Miller or Coors is best. The "Birth of Beer" essay and the "Mostly True Beer History Timeline" are priceless.

Here's an excerpt from the latter, as posted on Amazon.com (therefore I don't think I'm seriously infringing on any copyright rules):

A Mostly True Beer History Timeline

10,000 B.C.E. Glaciers melt, barley pops up everywhere. Neolithic people take flat rocks and pound it into hearty nourishing gruel.

9999 B.C.E Neolithic people sick of gruel. Wonder what else they can do with barley.

9998-9000 B.C.E. Tried everything: gruel loaf, gruel au jus, gruel fritters, gruel pate, gruel in aspic. Charred meat is still by far the most popular food.

8999 B.C.E. Final contestant in barley cook-off comes up with a winner: crock-aged festering sprouted barley-cake bisque with bitter herbs, actually much more enjoyable than it sounds. Dubbed beer, it's much better than gruel. The formerly neglected Goddess of Gruel becomes fashionable new Goddess of Beer, now in big demand at parties everywhere across Fertile Crescent.

it goes on ...

Just got a call this morning ... it's cancelled, due to insufficient interest. Maybe they'll try again next spring ...

I am very sorry to hear that the program was canceled. I was hoping to get at least second hand account of the program, maybe a bibliography.

As I discussed with nr706 (who happens to craft some great homebrews), three Saturdays, particularly mid-day is a huge commitment. Perhaps three Saturdays in the winter won't seem so bad, but two weeknights and one long Saturday would be better.

pd

I was hoping for a second hand account too.

Seems a bit strange that a "Back by request" course is cancelled due to undersubscription.