Daydream Playbook Entry #34
from The Dogfish Head Book: 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures
As we celebrate the return of Midas Touch, let’s take it back to the beer’s inception! After the fated meeting of Sam Calagione and Dr. Pat McGovern, molecular archeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, the duo embarked on the quest to bring this ancient ale back to life. The first of Dogfish Head’s “Ancient Ale” series, what started as a one-off brew quickly became a runaway success. In this entry, learn how the pair recreated the 2,700-year-old recipe and crafted “the most expensive beer Dogfish ever brewed.”
In 1999 we also brewed a British version of fruited gruit based on an ancient recipe for British beer I uncovered at a local beer festival, the Roasting and Toasting Festival. It was kismet that this festival was held at the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Michael Jackson, the famous beer writer, was speaking at the event. After his session, he met Dr. Pat McGovern, a molecular archeologist based at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Pat, as he’s known, had recently made some scientific advancements that allowed him to analyze the residue found on shards of pottery in the University of Pennsylvania’s collection of artifacts, and identify on a molecular level what these ancient people were drinking. The result was a modern-day grocery list of ingredients that came from that research, that could be used to re-create those drinks. He explained all this to Michael Jackson who responded, “Well, there’s a guy in this room who makes all kinds of weird beers with coffee and licorice and pumpkin – this sounds like it would be right up his alley.”
Michael Jackson introduced me to Dr. Pat, who is now recognized as the world’s foremost expert on ancient fermented beverages. The first project of many that we worked on together was Midas Touch, whose recipe was based on the residue that was found in the shards of crockery in the dig site of the tomb that’s believed to have belonged to King Midas in modern day Turkey. The tomb was so well sealed and well preserved that when the excavators and archeologists first opened the tomb, they could see all the color of the room drain before their eyes. As the air went into that room, it instantly oxidized the color from all of the objects in the tomb, the tapestries on the wells, and even the skeletal remains of the King, which were laid out. The tomb also stunk. While the legend, of course, is that King Midas was buried with all this gold, there was, in fact, no gold in the tomb. The only gold that he was buried with was the liquid that was in the vessels in this tomb – a golden colored liquid that Dr. Pat learned through his molecular analysis had traces of honey, grapes, and barley in it.
There was also a petrified lamb stew in the tomb, which contributed to the odors that they encountered. We worked with Dr. Pat to bring this ancient ale back to life. We knew that the recipe came from an era 2,700 years ago when the tomb was built and sealed and that it predated hop cultivation. The climate in Turkey was also not conducive to hop growing, so we did the research of what other spices were growing in that area and saffron was the one that we believe was most likely prevalent. That is the spice that we use. You can imagine how expensive this 5-barrel batch of beer was. We sourced honey from Italy, saffron from India, and grapes from vineyards in California to make this beer. The most expensive beer Dogfish ever brewed. We thought we would only brew this recipe once, but we served it at a reenactment of Midas’ feast at the University of Pennsylvania 6 months after that fated day when I met Dr. Pat. The Penn Museum caterers re-created the lentil and lamb strew and we brewed the beer. Numerous media outlets and journalists were invited to the event and they all fell in love with the Midas Touch beer and asked to write about it. When the Philadelphia Enquirer asked, “Will you ever brew this beer again?” I responded, “No, no, it’s way too expensive, I can’t afford the saffron and honey. It was just a one-off brew.” By the next week, People and Food and Wine magazines were calling to do stories about Midas Touch. I could see it was in Dogfish Head’s best interest to figure out a way to mass produce Midas Touch.
From the very first Cherry Brew beer I brewed back in 1994 through 1998 with Raison D’Etre we were always seeking out world-class culinary ingredients from across America. We were inspired by the American food movement driven by luminaries like Alice Waters and James Beard. What made Midas Touch especially unique was that it was the first time that we looked globally to source exotic culinary recipes and culinary ingredients.