Homebrew Recipe
Historic Foraged Pennsylvania Swankey
- Method:
- All Grain
- Style:
- Specialty: Historical Beer
- Boil Time:
- 90 min.
- Batch Size:
- 5 gal.
- Boil Size:
- 6.5 gal.
- Efficiency:
- 0
- Rating:
- Source:
- Brew Your Own
- Source Notes:
- December 2019, Vol. 25, No. 8 page 40. Pennsylvania swankey is a unique style that was made by German immigrant farmers in western Pennsylvania and was just about obsolete by the end of the 1800s. This mild table beer was brewed by farmers, usually by the gallon, and, as far as we can tell, was not brewed commercially for distribution. It was a true, historic homebrew beer style. The recipes varied based on what was available on the farm during the time of brewing.
- Notes:
- Boil roughly 1.25 gallons of water and dough in the mash tun with the wheat bran. Rest 15-20 minutes then measure the temperature. Add roughly 1.25 gallons of room temperature water a little at a time to bring the temperature to around 156F. This extra water will allow you to break up the bran easier while mixing to thin out the mash and ensure that there are dough balls. Add 6-row malted barley to reach a target mash temperature of about 150F, then rest for 60 minutes. Sparge with 172F water (mash tun will rise to 168F), and lauter to 6.5 gallons in the kettle. Before kettle heat is turned on, add the hops and half (~5 qts) of the alehoof. Total boil time is 90 minutes, adding molasses at 10 minutes until flameout. Stir well to mix the molasses into solution and then add remainder of alehoof. At 5 minutes until flameout add the crushed star anise. When the boil is complete, allow the wort in the kettle to naturally cool to about 98F. Then transfer to the fermenter and pitch yeast. Once fermentation is complete, transfer the beer over to a bottling bucket or keg for packaging. Bottle or keg condition to 2.8 volumes of CO2 using brown sugar. You must accurately measure the volume of beer needing to be primed to hit your target. Dose the brown sugar at a rate of 1.37 oz. per gallon and let rest at room or ambient temperature for about three days to condition.
Brew Numbers
| OG | FG | ABV | SRM | IBU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.03 | 1.004 | 3.5 | 12 | 15 |
Fermentables
| Name | Amount | % Grain Bill |
|---|---|---|
| Pale Malt - 6-Row | 1.8 lbs. | 100.00 |
| Notes: 6-row malted barley | ||
| Total: | 1.80 lbs. | |
Other Ingredients
| Name | Amount | Time | Use | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alehoof | 10 qts. | 90 minutes | Boil | Flavor |
| Notes: Add half prior to boiling, then half at 10 minutes left in the boil. | ||||
| Light Molasses | 1.7 lbs. | 10 minutes | Boil | Flavor |
| Wheat Bran | 1.8 lbs. | 20 minutes | Mash | Other |
| Fleischmann's Active Dry | 1 package | 1 week | Primary | Other |
| Notes: Or similar bread yeast | ||||
| Brown Sugar | 6.85 oz. | 3 days | Secondary | Other |
| Notes: If priming. | ||||
Mash Steps
| Step | Name | Temp | Time | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wheat Bran | 196 | 20 | All Grain |
| Notes: Boil roughly 1.25 gallons of water and dough in the mash tun with the wheat bran. Rest 15-20 minutes then measure the temperature. Add roughly 1.25 gallons of room temperature water a little at a time to bring the temperature to around 156F. | ||||
| 2 | Single Infusion | 150 | 60 | All Grain |
| Notes: Add 6-row malted barley to reach a target mash temperature of about 150F, then rest for 60 minutes. | ||||
| 3 | Sparge | 168 | 10 | All Grain |
| Notes: Sparge with 172F water (mash tun will rise to 168F), and lauter to 6.5 gallons in the kettle. | ||||