21st Amendment in San Francisco recently won first place in the newly created Indigenous Beer category at the Great American Beer Festival, for a beer called HQT. And, in part because who cannot pass along a story like this and in part because emmer was involved, here’s their press release:
HQT was a type of beer brewed in ancient Egypt, which is credited with being the birthplace of brewing. So, how does one pronounce HQT? “Heck if I can say it,” said (Nico) Freccia, to which (Shaun) O’Sullivan replied, “I think you mean ‘heket.’”
The Egyptians made the beer in clay pots using local ingredients including raw barley, honey and dates, but no hops. To start the fermentation, they tossed in a bit of Emmer wheat bread leavened with local yeast cultures. The resulting brew was a staple of the ancient Egyptian diet. In fact, it was given to workers in vast quantities – up to a gallon or more per day – to sustain them.
21st Amendment followed the ancient Egyptians’ recipe as faithfully as possible, even going so far as to grow heirloom English Pinnacle barley and Emmer wheat in old barrels on the rooftop of their San Francisco brewpub. They harvested the barley and wheat, then germinated it and dried it in the oven. According to Freccia, “We would have roasted it over hot rocks like the Egyptians did, but all the hot rocks in San Francisco were already being used by the spas.”
When a couple of buckets of fresh dates fell into Freccia’s lap, he presented them to 21A’s head brewer, Zambo, who incorporated them into the Egyptian brew, along with the barley and wheat, some local organic honey, and spices carefully selected at the San Francisco spice market. Staying true to the original recipe, he added no hops.
GABF judges appreciated the resulting elixir enough to award it a Gold medal. Curious beer drinkers on the East Coast will have a chance to pass judgment on it soon at 21A events in New York and Washington, DC.
The photo at the top was taken at Riedenburger Brauhaus, which uses variety of ancient grains such as emmer, dinkel and einkorn, all wheat-like and all grown under contract with local farmers.
According to Theory and Practice of the Preparation of Malt and the Fabrication of Beer these grains were most common in the south of Germany and Switzerland in the late nineteenth century and known as “Swabian Wheat.”
Riedenburger Brauhaus produces 20,000 hectoliters (17,000 barrels) of organic beer a year, widely distributing a gluten-free beer. Its Historiches Emmer Bier contains 50 percent emmer in the grist, as well at einkorn, spelt, barley and wheat malts. The amber beer pours with a massive head, spicy vanilla notes leaping out of the glass. It tastes somewhat of a dunkelweiss with dark fruity notes.
