There is much we still don’t know about beer in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Historians of food and drink have produced a huge amount of research that explores its deep and complex importance to everyday life. But what did that beer look and taste like? How much alcohol did it contain? How nutritious was it? Though some researchers have tried to answer these questions using the written records left behind by brewers, they have typically made assumptions based on modern ingredients, equipment and techniques.
Dr. Susan Flavin set out with a small team to answer those questions. Armed with a 15th Century Irish recipe her team at FoodCult.eu gathered ingredients that match as closely as possible to the originals, and even went as far as building a brewhouse of the time.
Susan is joined by food historian Marc Meltonville who had responsibility for recreating the brewery itself for a chat about the project and its findings.
You can learn more about the project at https://foodcult.eu/exhibition/brewing-historical-beer/