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Two Galway archaeologists have proposed a theory that one
of the most common archaeological monuments in the Irish landscape
may have been used for brewing a Bronze Age Beer.
Billy Quinn and Declan Moore - two archaeologists with Moore
Archaeological & Environmental Services (Moore Group) in Galway
- believe that an extensive brewing tradition existed in Ireland
as far back as 2500 BC. In an article to be published in Archaeology
Ireland next month, they detail their experiments and
research into the enigmatic site that is the fulacht fiadh.
These monuments (of which there are approx. 4500), which
present in the landscape as small, horseshoe-shaped grass
covered mounds, have been conventionally thought of by archaeologists
as ancient cooking spots. However, Quinn and Moore believe
that they may have also been used as breweries.
According to Quinn - "the tradition of brewing in Ireland
has a long history. We think that the fulacht may have
been used as a kitchen sink - for cooking, dying, many uses
- but that a primary use was the brewing of ale."
The two set out to investigate their theory in a journey
which took them across Europe in search of further evidence.
To prove their theory, Quinn and Moore set out to recreate
the process. They used an old wooden trough, filled with water
and added heated stones. After achieving an optimum temperature
of 60-70°C, they began to add milled barley and, after
approx 45 minutes, simply baled the final product into fermentation
vessels.
They added natural wild flavourings (taking care to avoid
anything toxic or hallucinogenic) and then added yeast, after
cooling the vessels in a bath of cold water for several hours.
According to Moore - "including the leftover liquid,
we could easily have produced up to 300 litres of this most
basic ale."
Through their experiments, they discovered that the process
of brewing ale in a fulacht - using hot rock technology
- is a simple process. To produce the ale took only a few
hours, followed by a three-day wait to allow for fermentation.
Quinn and Moore point out that, although their theory is
based solely on circumstantial and experimental evidence,
they believe that, although probably multifunctional in nature,
a primary use of the fulacht fiadh was for brewing
beer.
For additional information on ancient Irish beer - Click
Here
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