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Recipe: Ancient Fancy Show-Off Nordic Grog

With conjecture based on archaeological findings, here’s a recipe for a mixed grog—in this case, an ale that includes herbs, honey, and fruit—of the sort that well-to-do, Bronze Age Danes might have enjoyed on special occasions and then (literally) taken to their graves.

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Photo: Matt Graves
Photo: Matt Graves

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Because this is a high-status drink, it should probably be strong; let’s aim for 9 percent ABV. The Egtved Girl’s drink was all wheat, but we can make ours half barley malt to make it easier to lauter. We’ll also skip the boil, making it a raw ale, so we don’t want to go overboard on the proteins. We can reduce the proteins further by using honey to get some of our sugars.

I’m going low with the berries to be safe, but we really have no idea what proportion the berries would have been—use more, if you like. The gale is based on amounts in other recipes I’ve tasted.

For much more about the evidence for these ancient drinks, see The Mixed Mysteries of Nordic Grog.

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.084 (20.2°P)
FG: 1.015 (3.8°P)
IBUs: N/A
ABV: 9%

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