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Renegade:
The last batch of beer is working very well, and the batch of ginger ale is highly alcoholic. But, I'm too lit to continue typing. :P

Renegade:
Here's an interesting post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/2n5pam/til_that_if_you_did_not_brew_beer_in_the_viking/

Source: The earliest Norwegian laws

This law was written down in the older gulathing law . The reason for this law was because of the old tradition of drinking "jol" to remembrance and as a ritual drinking offer to the old gods. This was not in accordance to christianity, but all the people of Norway was so accustomed to drinking jol that Olav Trygvasson said/made a law that more or less said "You shall keep your traditions of brewing beer and drinking it, but you have to bless it in the name of Christ and holy Mary".
Also, Jol was celebrated as long as there was beer to drink. After 20 days of celebrating, all the beer had to be consumed and eveything regarding christmas had to leave the house. But some kept the tradition of celebrating as long as there was beer in the house.

Here is the transcript from the older gulathing law.

"Hvis det ikke er færdigt til den fastsatte tid, skal man betale 3 øre til biskoppen, men dog holde gildet, selv om det er senere. Hvis nogen ikke brygger og findes sandskyldig i det, at han sidder således i 12 måneder uden at iværksætte sammenskudsøl, da skal han bøde 3 mærker til biskoppen for det.

Endnu en ølbrygning har vi lovet at gøre — bonde og husfrue af lige store mængder — og signe det på den hellige nat til Kristi og den hellige Marias tak til år og fred. Men hvis det ikke bliver gjort således, skal der bødes 3 mærker til biskoppen for det. Hvis han sidder således i tre vintre, at han ikke iværksætter ølbrygningen — og findes sandskyldig deri — og ikke udreder de bøder, som vi har pålagt for vor kristendoms skyld, da har han forbrudt hver en penning af sin ejendom, som skal tilfalde halvt vor konge og halvt biskoppen. Men han skal have mulighed for at gå til skrifte og bøde over for Krist og så forblive i Norge; hvis han ikke vil det, skal han forlade vor konges land."

In english:

Now the next is this, that we have promised an ale feast, such as men call a "neighborhood ale"; [there shall be] ale from one measure of malt for each freeman and another for his wife. And let three householders at the fewest give the ale in common, unless the live so far out among the isles or so high up on the mountainside that they are not able to bring their brewing to the homes of other men ; in such cases they shall brew as much ale singly, Magnus: "as would be their share". Olaf "as all three should".

But if a man occupies a farm supporting fewer than 6 cows or [needing] less than six salds of seed grain he shall give the ale feast only if he wishes to do so. Both: "This ale shall be given before the mass of All Saints at the lates. The ale shall be blessed with thanks to Christ and Saint Mary for peace and a fruitful harvest; and if one fails to do this at the appointed time, he shall pay a fine of three "øre" to the bishop and shall give his ale even if it [has to] be at a later time. If he fails to do it and if he is accused and convicted of having allowed a twelvemonth (year) to pass without sharing in a neighborhood ale, he shall pay a fine of three marks to the bishop.

We have also promised that every husbandman and his wife shall join in an ale feast, all sharing equality, and bless it on Holy Night with thanks to Christ and Saint Mary for peace and a fruitful harvest. And if this is not done, they shall pay a fine of three marks to the bishop. And if a man allows three winters to pass without giving an ale feast, and he is accused and convicted of this, or [if he fails to heed] the penalties that we have added to our church law, he shall have forfeited his goods to the last penny ; and the king shall have one-half of it, and the bishop one-half. But he has the choice of going to confession and doing penane; [then he may] remain in Norway ; but if he refuses to do this, he shall depart from the king's dominion.
--- End quote ---

tl;dr - It was illegal to not brew ale. ;D


In other news, I've got a new batch of ginger ale on the go. I've been too busy for too long to manage to get it started, but Saturday I finally had time.

Once that's done, next on the list is a beer.

But this ginger ale recipe is quite different from anything I've tried so far. I'm really curious how it will turn out. I'll post the recipe later when I find my notes again. I still need to write down the SG (1.096).

Renegade:
Some may enjoy this. Just know... the Mountain King is a beer drinker!

Renegade:
http://gizmodo.com/what-a-170-year-old-beer-uncovered-in-a-shipwreck-reall-1689446524

What 170-Year-Old Beer Uncovered From a Shipwreck Really Tasted Like
--- End quote ---


In other news, my last batch of hard ginger ale was AWESOME! 8) 

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