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The Conestoga Area Historical Society is honoring the humble ale Saturday, with visits to a local brewery, ale tastings, seminars on the history of taverns in the area and demonstrations of how ale was brewed in colonial times.
Back in the 18th century, ale was considered the staff of life in Lancaster County.
Men, women and children drank it all day long.
No beer distributors back then. You could get it everywhere. Most people grew hops in their gardens and made ale themselves. And plenty of people sold it.
"I went back through area records and I was amazed at the number of taverns that were scattered throughout the Penn Manor area," says Ken Hoak, president of the Conestoga Area Historical Society, which covers the area that makes up the Penn Manor School District.
But don't think the good citizens of the Conestoga area were stumbling around drunk all the time.
They drank ale for health reasons.
Really.
"In many instances, you couldn't trust the water, so they brewed a lot of ale," says Phil Coolman, of the historical society. "Generally, it was not as strong as it is today."
Typically, brewers went through three brewing cycles.
"The first extraction was fairly strong," explains Hoak. "Men usually drank that. It was done again and it was a much weaker commodity, which the women drank and then, before the malt was fed to the hogs or cows, it was brewed a third time and a very weak beverage came out of it. This was what the children drank."
Ale was easier to make than other types of beer because it could be fermented at warmer temperatures than lager.
"Once refrigeration came along, lagers predominated," says Matt Keasey, owner of the Spring House Brewing Company, on Main Street, outside of Conestoga, where much of the festival will take place.
The brewery is located in a barn on the grounds of an 18th century farm house.
The Spring House continues the tradition of brewing seasonal ales, using the fruits that are prevalent at the time. Brewers were known to use everything from pumpkins to strawberries — whatever fruits or vegetables that would give them sugars for fermentation.
"We have a special beer we're bringing out for the festival," Keasey explains. "It's a Belgian-style ale that aged on blackberries and raspberries."
The Lancaster Brewing Company, Ed Stout Brewery and Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant will also have ales for sampling.
Colonial brewing techniques will be demonstrated by Rich Wagner, of Philadelphia, who will be decked out in historic garb.
At the Conestoga Area Historical Society, Hoak will speak about those numerous taverns in the Penn Manor area at 1:30 p.m.
At 3 p.m., the Gen. Reynolds Cornet Band will perform, playing beer polkas.
Local brewery bottles from the collection of Sam Nolt will be on display.
And there will be music from the band Ripe and students from the Pennsylvania Academy of Music.
A shuttle bus will take people from one site to the other throughout the day.
Old-time Ale Festival
Sat. 1-6 p.m. $15, includes
four tasting tickets and souvenir glass
Conestoga Area Historical Society
51 Kendig Road, Conestoga
872-1699 or 872-2454
(95)
