TN: Resurrecting Sumerian beer

Some time ago, a group of Assyriologists met in Helsinki for a big congress. We had spoken with a Finnish brewer about some terms relating to the famous Hymn of Ninkasi*. The brewer thought that on the basis of this text and a few other fragments that he could resurrect Sumerian beer.

Beer TN:

We called the beer Enkidu after Gilgamesh's friend and made a cute label for the beer and served it at the final day of the conference. We tasted it in the morning and it was very nice and rather like Sahti: sweet but refreshing, very malty and spicy and fruity. Just a couple hours since being bottled, the beer deteriorated completely. It tasted like it had continued fermenting in bottle and it tasted of alcohol and rotting fruit.

It was a fun experiment, but I hope it would have kept better.

Cheers,
Otto


* Translation:
1. Given birth by the flowing (or abundant) water [rest of the line broken]
2. Well looked after by Ninhursaga
3. Ninkasi, given birth by the flowing (or abundant) water [broken]
4. well looked after by Ninhursaga
5. Having founded your town on wax
6. she [then] made perfect its great walls for you.
7. Ninkasi, having founded your town on wax
8. she [then] made perfect its great walls for you.
9. Your father is Enki, lord Nudimmud,
10. your mother in Ninti, the Lady of Abzu, the subterranean sweet-water ocean.
11. Ninkasi, your father is Enki, lord Nudimmud,
12. your mother is Ninti, the Lady of Abzu, the subterranean sweet-water ocean.
13. You are the one who shovels the SI and the dough with a big shovel,
14. mixing in a hole the honey with the fermented dough.
15. Ninkasi, you are the one who shovels the SI and the dough with a big shovel,
16. mixing in a hole the honey with the fermented dough.
17. You are the one who bakes the fermented dough in a big oven,
18. and who organizes the piles of hulled grain.
19. Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the fermented dough in a big oven,
20. and who organizes the piles of hulled grain.
21. You are the one who waters the malts that cover the ground,
22. noble dogs guard it from the prince(?)
23. Ninkasi, you are the one who waters the malts that cover the ground,
24. noble dogs guard it from the prince(?)
25. You are the one who soaks the mash(?) in a jar,
26. waves rise and waves fall.
27. Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the mash(?) in a jar,
28. waves rise and waves fall.
29. You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
30. heart and coolness pass by the grain ear (a very obscure line, no idea about the transl.)
31. Ninkasi, you are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
32. heart and coolness pass by the grain ear
33. You are the one who holds the big DIDA with both hands,
34. brewing it together with honey and wine.
35. Ninkasi, you are the one who holds the big DIDA with both hands,
36. brewing it together with honey and wine.
37. 4 lines too fragmentary to translate
38. You place the the nice sounding fermenting vat
39. on (or in) a LAHTAN-vat.
40. Ninkasi, you place the the nice sounding fermenting vat
41. on (or in) a LAHTAN-vat.
42. You are the one who pours the strained beer of the (or in) the LAHTAN-vat,
43. it is like the flood of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
44. Ninkasi, you are the one who pours the strained beer of the (or in) the LAHTAN-vat,
45. it is like the flood of the Tigris and the Euphrates.

[James Roscoe]

You were missing water from the Euphrates. I suppose that is a little hard to get. Wouldn't you need rather larger clay pots? Experiments like this always tickle the intellect. What was the recipe?

You were missing water from the Euphrates. I suppose that is a little hard to get. Wouldn't you need rather larger clay pots? Experiments like this always tickle the intellect. What was the recipe?

Bugger! Now you tell us - we used water from the Tigris.

[James Roscoe]

You were missing water from the Euphrates. I suppose that is a little hard to get. Wouldn't you need rather larger clay pots? Experiments like this always tickle the intellect. What was the recipe?

Bugger! Now you tell us - we used water from the Tigris.

Geez, everyone knows the Tigris is shite for beer making!

It tasted like it had continued fermenting in bottle and it tasted of alcohol and rotting fruit.

It was a fun experiment, but I hope it would have kept better.

Sound like some type of bacterial or wild yeast infection. Beer is a lot more susceptible than wine to get nasties growing in it due to its relative high pH and lack of preservatives like SO2. The alpha oils from hops help somewhat as a preservative, but only to a point. Check your brewing sanitation procedures to see where you may have allowed unwanted visitors into your beer.

Sound like some type of bacterial or wild yeast infection. Beer is a lot more susceptible than wine to get nasties growing in it due to its relative high pH and lack of preservatives like SO2. The alpha oils from hops help somewhat as a preservative, but only to a point. Check your brewing sanitation procedures to see where you may have allowed unwanted visitors into your beer.

Alan, Thanks for this! Could this happen in such a short time, though? It was brewed and bottled the same day! If we can arrange to do this experiment again, I'll certainly ask for advice again, beware!

Otto wrote:

Just a couple hours since being bottled, the beer deteriorated completely.

That seems extremely young to me. Back in my beer making days, I'd bottle with a bit more corn sugar added and set the beer back for 3 weeks or so. If you are opening it immediately, it very well might have still been fermenting.

Richard