I have two brewing events in May (Morgan Log House on May 4 & Pennypacker Mills on May 18-19) and I desperately need assistant brewers. This program is growing and we have a solid following. If you are interested in learning the brewing process as it was practiced in 1777, if you enjoy teaching the …
Monthly Archives: May 2024
John Adam’s Preamble to the Lee Resolution
On May 15, 1776, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution authored by John Adams that was tantamount to a declaration of independence. With Richard Henry Lee, he put forth a resolution recommending that the individual colonies assume all powers of government — to secure ‘the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular, and …
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How Cartridge Paper almost killed King George
In order to facilitate rapid loading during battle, 18th Century musket cartridges were made from rolled brownish-white paper. This paper tube held both the powder and the ball was its own self contained wadding. For training, reviews and firing a “feu de joie” or celebratory musket salute, however, blank rounds were needed. Numerous accidents were reported …
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Colonial Hospitality – Spiced Pineapple Mead
They say “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”[i] and this has become my view on mead. Technically, mead should not be part of my portfolio[ii] as it was not particularly popular in colonial America. Keeping bees and processing honey into mead, while a straightforward and simple process, was not nearly as …
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“Beer” Recipe: Massacre at Cherry Valley Lambic
We like to think of the American Revolution as a war fought by high-minded gentlemen and their armies who followed a sort of civilized warfare. These gentlemanly rules of war that allowed for prisoners to be taken and even paroled. Sometimes they were even granted the privilege of marching out with “drums beating and colours …
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Historical Tidbits — Constitutional Convention
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. May 14, 1787 Constitutional Convention Four years after the United States won its independence from England, 55 state delegates, including George Washington, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin, convene in …
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URGENT REQUEST! I need APPRENTICE BREWERS for the event at Pennypacker Mills — May 18-19! Join the Regimental Brewmeister!
I have two brewing events in May (Morgan Log House on May 4 & Pennypacker Mills on May 18-19) and I desperately need assistant brewers. This program is growing and we have a solid following. If you are interested in learning the brewing process as it was practiced in 1777, if you enjoy teaching the …
Historical Tidbits — Smallpox Vaccination.
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. May 14, 1796 – Edward Jenner publishes his procedure for smallpox vaccination. His procedure differed from previous attempts at vaccination in that he injected a milder “attenuated” version of …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — Smallpox Vaccination.”
Historical Tidbits — Constitutional Convention
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. May 14, 1787 Constitutional Convention Four years after the United States won its independence from England, 55 state delegates, including George Washington, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin, convene in …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — Constitutional Convention”
Basic Colonial Brewing #9 — Mashing and Decoction
The first major step in brewing beer is to extract the fermentable sugars and starches from the malt kernels. This process is called mashing (from the German maisch: to mix). The basic idea is to harness the enzymes already present in the grain in order to digest the complex inert starches into fermentable simple sugars. …
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Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 