Well here it is, the schedule of programs by the Regimental Brewmeister for 2023. There will be other ad hoc and event based events but these are the big ones. Hope to see you all soon. https://colonialbrewer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-regimental-brewmeister-schedule.pdf For the full calendar of where to find the Regimental Brewmeister, see the events page.
Category Archives: Ideas
Basic Colonial Brewing #18 — Proof your Whiskey, Sir
When it comes to arcane historical terms for spirits and other alcohol, proof is one of the frustrating ones. In our modern vernacular, with the blessing of modern analytical chemistry as support, we simply think of “proof” as two times the alcohol by volume (ABV). But why is this measure even a thing? After all, …
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And Now for Something Completely Different…
In the last decades of the 18th Century, in the south of England, there was a trend It was often referred to as a ‘shift’ or ‘smock’ marriages. These even went so far as to sometimes be puris naturalibus or naked marriages. It seems, in the tradition of Lady Godiva of Mercia, If a woman …
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Benjamin Franklin and the Parable Against Persecution
Ever fond of hoaxes, Franklin memorized the parable and “read” it aloud from Genesis, “proving” the scriptural importance of religious tolerance. One of these parables—commonly referred to as either the Parable against Persecution or as Abraham and the Stranger—is a story about the biblical patriarch Abraham. Although Franklin did not mention the second parable by …
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“Why did you agree to march in that parade?”
So yesterday I choose to march in a St Patrick’s Day parade in Gloucester City (NJ). No, it’s not my holiday. I am neither Irish nor Catholic and, in fact, I marched in orange, not in deference the Ulsters but rather in my 43rd Regimental as a British soldier. As I was preparing to go, …
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Origin of the Tricorned Hat
Well its Purim and many of us taught that we eat hamantaschen because Haman, the villain of the Megillah, wore a tri-cornered hat but there is no evidence that Haman wore a triangular hat. You might also be surprise to learn that Swedes have a suspiciously similar cookie, called Napoleon’s Hats or Napoleonhattar, which are traditionally filled with …
THE BILL OF RIGHTS: A BRIEF HISTORY #7
Insurrections often are propagated upon misinformation. So too are the most recent band of domestic terrorist who like to hide behind our most sacred American institutions. In this series, I want to explore the Bill of Rights and why some of the hype and hyperbole thrown around by the extremist is not just wrong but …
British Soldiers in a FRENCH Hat? Pourquoi?
A bearskin is a tall fur cap worn as ceremonial headgear of grenadiers. The standard bearskin of the British Foot Guards is 18 inches tall, weighs 1.5 pounds, and is made from the fur of the Canadian black bear. An officer’s bearskin is made from the fur of the Canadian brown bear as the female …
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Better Beer Bottles
In 1864, Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought a brewery in Amsterdam. Now, all have stories about beer bottles and construction workers. So, it may surprise you that Heineken once tried to make putting their bottles into the walls of cheap housing a common practice. Heineken noticed that empty beer bottles were not making it back to …
Why am I so Stingy with my Bottles?
Okay, the Regimental Brewmeister is a little uptight about bottles. First off, the bottles I use, while definitely anachronistic to the 18th Century, are of a design that came into vogue during the last half of the 19th Century so they are historic (just the wrong era…). But more important than that they are expensive …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 