By John Hutchinson
Updated:
Bargain: A pint of ale for 11p may sound good to many a drinker
An 1825 formula for brewing beer using treacle - which was lost for centuries but has been rediscovered among historic documents - could deliver ale at 11p a pint for drinkers.
But whilst people may take more than a little interest in such a cheap pint, they will have to stomach the strange ingredients.
The secret recipe was discovered in a notebook kept by 19th century handyman Thomas Denton who was determined not to pay pub prices for his favourite tipple of London Porter.
Ale enthusiasts aiming to follow the full instructions to produce 72 pints will also need to lay their hands on a nine gallon cask, a tub, and a sack.
East Riding of Yorkshire council bosses believe the stout - which Thomas promised would be just as potent as London Porter but cheaper - could enjoy a new lease of life as drinkers tighten their belts.
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After adding a peck of barley, 4oz of hops, 7lbs of the special ingredient treacle and the boiling of several gallons of water, the home brewer is promised a strong dark beer as good as anything he could get in the pub.
The total cost for his 72 pints would have been a knockdown three shillings and three pence - about £8.05 in today’s money, or 11p a pint.
Top find: An 1825 formula for brewing beer from treacle was lost for centuries - but has just been rediscovered among a stack of legal documents
But Sam Bartle, collections officer for East Riding Archives and Local Studies Service, warned no one knows how strong it will be.
He added: 'The instructions are quite simple but anyone wanting to try out the recipe would have to do so at their own risk.
'Following the recipe would produce a huge amount of beer, 72 pints, and it actually recommends a nine gallon cask for brewing.
'For it to be tried in most modern homes it would probably require some scaling down of the quantities.”
Thomas jotted down his 'Recipe for Cheap Beer” over three pages in his small leather bound notebook.
Read this: The recipe was designed to save ale-drinkers a fortune on pub prices
The ale lover from Goole, East Yorkshire, was a jack of all trades, working as a plumber and joiner and selling ploughs to local farmers.
The recipe was in his book of accounts towards the back and ended up being deposited with his family records with a local solicitor.
When the solicitors had a clear-out all the papers were handed over to the council archives stored at The Treasure House, Beverley, East Yorkshire.
For years they sat in a section reserved for solicitors’ documents until the recipe was spotted while the stack of legal papers was being catalogued.
Experts say adding treacle as the special ingredient may have been to darken it or make it taste sweeter.
A council spokesman said: 'In the current economic climate, people are always looking to find a cheap alternative to everyday things that are purchased.
'Food and drink are two of the main sources of spending that have felt the squeeze in recent years, with beer amongst those expenses that most are trying to curb.
'To cut spending whilst still enjoying the pleasures of life, many are abandoning the pub to drink beer in the home, but even this can be an expensive activity.
'Hard-up beer drinkers needn’t despair though now that this alternative to buying branded beer has appeared in the most unlikely of places.'
Recipe for cheap beer (circa 1825)
Brew your own: The nineteenth century recipe was designed to help people save on pub prices of London Porter
Put one peck of barley or of oats into an oven just after baking, or into a frying pan first to steam off the moisture, and dry it well, but on no account to burn the grain then grind or bruise it roughly.
Boil two gallons of water and pour it into a tub and when it has stood 10 minutes (say a heat of 175 degrees, or so hot as to pain the finger sharply) put in the grain; mash it well, and let it stand three hours: then drain it off.
Boil two gallons more water, which power [pour] on the grains, rather hotter than before but not boiling, say 196 degrees, and mash them well and let it stand two hours and draw it off. Mash the grains again well with two gallons more water, and in 1 1/2 hours draw it off. The three worts will be about five gallons.
Then mix 7lbs of treacle in five gallons of water, and boil the whole 10 gallons with 4oz of Hopes for 1 1/2 hours, taking care to stir it so long as the Hops float off the top.
Let it cool and when about milk warm take a good teacupful of yeast; and stir it well together beginning with about a gallon of the wort at a time. Let it ferment for 18 Hours in a tub covered with a sack: put it into a nine gallon cask and keep it well filled: bung it up in three days, and in 14 days it will be good sound fine beer equal to London Porter. The nine gallons of beer thus brewed will cost as follows -
1 Peck of Barley 1s 3d
7lbs of Treacle 1s 9d
4oz of Hops 3d
Cost 3s 3d If you cannot get Treacle take 5lbs of the cheapest and darkest sugar you can get; this is better for your purpose than finer
Mix 14lbs of Treacle and 11 gallons of water well together, and boil them for two hours with 6oz of hops.
When quite cool; add a teacupful of yeast and stir it well, by a gallon or two at a time;
Let it ferment for 16 hours in a tub covered with a sack: then put it into a nine gallon cask, and keep it well filled up.
Bung it down in two days - and in seven days it will be fit to drink; and will be stronger beer than London Porter.
This is the simplest as it requires no skill: a washing copper or tea kettle are the only requisites: and nine gallons of beer can be obtained at the following cost - 14lb of Treacle 3s 6d
6oz of Hopes 4d
Cost 3s 10d
