The word “wassail” appears as early as the 8th century in the poem Beowulf. Originally, it was used as salutatory gesture (wassail!) from Old Norse ves heill “be healthy.” By the 12th Century, Wassail was used as a drinking salutation, similar to the use of “Cheers” or “Probst” today, and his use seems to have …
Category Archives: Ideas
The Scourge of Slavery (#9) — George Washington as a Slave holder
George Washington owned enslaved people from age eleven until his death. At the time, large-scale tobacco planting was carried out by enslaved labor. Large portions of the social, political, and economic society of colonial Virginia revolved making full use of enslaved labor and the buying and selling enslaved people. Washington made no official public statements on slavery or emancipation as …
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Metric Time
There are 24 hours in a day, seven days in a week, and (roughly) 365 days in a year. There are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute. You probably knew all that. But you know it because you’ve committed it to memory — it’s not something you can reason out. …
Hey Brewmeister, why are there all those QR codes on your bottles and kegs?
Okay, I don’t give away bottles but you may have noticed that every bottle and every keg have a QR code on it and its not a SKU because I am not selling beer outside of events and I am not that sophisticated in my inventory management. So, what are these? Well, brewing beer is, …
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The Coow Woow
“Coow woow” was an Indian term for rum, and this makes sense since most of the drink is rum. The history of the Coow Woow is a bit murky but the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA claims it dates back to the early days of 1664 making it one of if not the first cocktail …
Hot Ale Flip
If you were traveling through Colonial New England, chances are the drink of choice is Rum Flip, which is quite a treat to see prepared with vigorous mixing and a final heating using a long metal rod known as a loggerhead or in the south a mulling iron. Flip was a common hot cocktail made …
Join the Regimental Brewmeister in 2024
People are always welcome to come to my events and if you come in 18th Century kit, you can be part of the program or just hang out in the tent as you see fit. However, if you are truly interested in really learning the process, teaching the public, and being the brewer, you should …
The Hawthorne Fence
Early American settlers enjoyed fortifying their drinks. Stone fences mix hard cider and rum, shrubs mix wine with switchel, rattleskulls mix rum with beer, and the coo woo even fortifies brandy with rum. Rum, whiskey, and other spirits were staple goods produced to help farmers ship bulky products like corn and sugar to distant markets. …
The Stone Fence
The Catamount Tavern in the future Old Bennington, served as the headquarters for the Green Mountain Boys. This militia was formed to resist New York’s attempt to control the New Hampshire Grants which eventually became the State of Vermont after the Revolution. As these regional skirmishes took a backseat to the broader conflict with Great …
Join the Regimental Brewmeister
People are always welcome to come to my events and if you come in 18th Century kit, you can be part of the program or just hang out in the tent as you see fit. However, if you are truly interested in really learning the process, teaching the public, and being the brewer, you should …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 