Wine Press used by Assyrian Elite Discovered...
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/wine-press-dating-back-2-700-years-discovered-in-northern-iraq/ar-AAQedgE?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531
John
Oh God! I think I had a bottle from that press the other evening.... :-[
::)
Seems questionable whether it would be older than this one (http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/59580) - both possibly 8th century.
unless it was just for grape juice..... ;)
Quote from: Holly on November 03, 2021, 02:43:23 PM
unless it was just for grape juice..... ;)
You're the brewer dave. Would they have had the technology to prevent the grape juice from fermenting (natural yeasts and all that)?
NO.....spontaneous fermentation would occur naturally albeit slowly :)
Quote from: Holly on November 03, 2021, 02:51:57 PM
NO.....spontaneous fermentation would occur naturally albeit slowly :)
Somewhere there is a clay tablet telling the king that attempts to make healthy grape drinks were thwarted by poor hygiene at the press and all the pressers got ratted instead :)
I can only imagine the hieroglyph
Quote from: Holly on November 03, 2021, 02:51:57 PM
NO.....spontaneous fermentation would occur naturally albeit slowly :)
home pressed apple juice spontaneously ferments into cider 8)
Normally, Moldova and Georgia have a fist fight over which has the oldest vinicultural tradition, but I don't know whether truly ancient presses have ever been identified in either country. Some jars with wine residue from circa 6000 BC were found in Georgia a few years ago IIRC, and wine making troughs have been semi plausibly identified at Neolithic sites in Turkey, Jordan and Armenia at the very least.
As for the natural fermentation of cider, I remember the scam pulled by Mr Prentis during Third Year Biology. Every boy had to bring in two apples. These were cut up and crushed into a large jar and allowed to ferment. In due course, every boy was given a tiny thimble's worth of the liquid to taste and test for alcohol content. The remaining 98% of the jar's content disappeared into the back room of the science block...
Quote from: Jim Webster on November 04, 2021, 09:41:32 AM
Quote from: Holly on November 03, 2021, 02:51:57 PM
NO.....spontaneous fermentation would occur naturally albeit slowly :)
home pressed apple juice spontaneously ferments into cider 8)
does indeed as does pineapple interestingly
My high school has a still running behind the art room, during the punk years.
And the day before graduation one of the masters proceeded to instruct us on how to buy dope
Explains a lot I guess
::)