Andal - A recipe for beer

A recipe for Andal beer1

Ingredients

  • 600 gr whole rye flour
  • a teaspoonful of salt
  • 25 gr yeast
  • another 25 gr yeast
  • 200 gr sugar (or a large jar of honey)
  • 20 gr fresh mint or 10 gr dried mint (and optionally other herbs you like; don't use hops!)
  • 50 gr raisins
  • 5-6 liters of water

    Make a dough from rye flour, salt and yeast (mixed with water and a spoonful of honey), let it rise in a warm place for a few hours, and bake a loaf of bread.

    When cooled, break the bread in lumps or slice it and toast the lumps or slices in the oven. Don't burn it.

    Put the toasted bread in a kettle or barrel, pour over boiling water, cover and set aside for 3 or 4 hours. Strain, and add the yeast, rubbed together with the sugar, and the mint and herbs.

    Cover the kettle with a cloth and let it ferment overnight. When a foamy head appears, strain again, and pour into bottles (Grolsch swing-top bottles work well). Put some raisins into each bottle.

    Seal the bottles, lay them flat, and let the beer ripen for a few days in a cool place. It may be wise to put the bottles in a plastic bag, since some of them will definitely leak, making a mess in your cellar.

    Footnotes

    1. Adapted from: Russkaya Kuchnya, A Krasheninnikova, Mir Publishers, Moscow, 1978

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    © Copyright 1998 Boudewijn Rempt.