Expert: Ed Westemeier - 2/26/2011

Question
Hello,


I am a member of  an online community concerned with the raw, palaeolithic diet. I mentioned to other members that real ale, while unfortunately grain-based, is 100 percent raw unlike most other beers, and that it was chock full of bacteria, and therefore more acceptable for our dietary community than other kinds of alcohol. However, another member stated that, to make real ale, you've got to boil the wort with hops for about 1 hour; then you add the yeast and the fermentation begins. Is this true or can real ale be made without ever boling the hops/wort?

Thanks.

Geoff

Answer
Your friend is correct, in terms of the real ale available today.
If you go back a few thousand years, a lot of ale was still being made without either hops or boiling. In fact, medieval England was very slow to accept the use of hops, which only became popular there about 600 years ago.
If you go back over about 8 or 9 thousand years, ale was made with wild grains (before cultivation caught on).

Bottom line: I consider it a very natural product, and really pretty healthy for you, but strictly speaking it probably doesn't meet your criteria.

If you wanted to brew your own ale at home without boiling, you certainly could. The drawback is that you would probably find it sweeter than you like, since the boiling is what converts the bittering elements of the hops, giving balance and drinkability to the ale. The other major reason for boiling was for safety, since much water in early times was unsafe to drink due to harmful bacteria.