Friday, November 8, 2013

Oast Houses - Anglophile Friday


Last week we talked about Stilton cheese. You may remember how I got carried away with that topic. Well, anyway, I have no idea how I happened upon this photo of oast houses, but I'd never seen anything like it before and had to find out more.

BUT, before we get into that, for those of you who are not familiar with oast houses (as I wasn't), I will tell you that they are buildings that contain a kiln in which to dry hops. SO, I wrote a little limerick to help you remember how to pronounce 'oast.' Pronunciation is one of those obsessive things with me, and I can't trust British pronunciation to be what it looks like (to an American, anyway). No offense intended, dear British friends.

So, here goes:


There once was a man with an oast
'Bout which he'd annoyingly boast
'Til one fated day
He happened to stray
While all of his hops became toast.

  • Ale is brewed without hops. Beer is brewed with hops.
  • Ale has been brewed in England since Roman times or before. Beer wasn't introduced until 1400 or so.
  • An oast contains three rooms: The kiln, the drying room, the cooling room.
  • In 1840 there were as many as 50,000 brewers in England; today there are only appx. 200.
  • Why the peaked roof? To create a good draft (or 'draught' if you're from Britain) for the fire- you know, like a tall chimney.
  • Seems that most hops are now imported.
Check this out!  You can stay at an oast house in Herefordshire!


Have a great weekend, everyone!

***


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22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now these I do know about, but confess that for a long time thought they were called post houses!

Susie said...

Thank you for this post..I just learned some things and I love learning. Good photo. xoxo,Susie

Unknown said...

Great Limerick, Judy!! And thanks for the history lesson too.. I love that I can come here and actually learn something new :)

Mike@Bit About Britain said...

Hope you make it to Kent sometime to see oast houses in situ!

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Fascinating!

Angela said...

They remind me of the trulli in southern Italy! http://www.understandingitaly.com/puglia-content/trulli.html

TexWisGirl said...

i knew that word only from my crossword days. :)

Mike@Bit About Britain said...

Hi Judy - looking forward to reading more - and thank you for following A Bit About Britain. I've visited Chartwell several times - I don't know if this link will work http://bitaboutbritain.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/chartwell.html

SImple and Serene Living said...

Great post about the oast. Sorry couldn't help myself. xo Laura

laurie said...

So interesting!

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HI Judy Marvellous post about the ast Houses. Have a great wweekend.

Terri D said...

How interesting, and I had no idea that ale isn't brewed with HOPS. Now I can throw that out at a party someday and they will think I'm brilliant....and can properly pronounce oast!!

Ruth Kelly said...

Did you do a tour?

Pamela Gordon said...

Thanks for the history lesson Judy. I have heard of Oast houses and seen pictures of them before but didn't know what they were used for. They are very attractive looking I think. Have a great weekend!

podso said...

Very interesting! Such prettiness too! Never knew about this before, and loved your limerick!

Deborah said...

The oast houses look so cool. I think one of them would make an awesome art studio.I would love it! :-)

Lynn Blaylock said...

Nice bit of history. The picture was very interesting.

Donna said...

What interesting looking buildings!

RURAL said...

Nope, I didn't know Oast...but now I do.

And it's always good to learn new stuff...hopps, ale, beer, I'm in.

Jen

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I had to check out a post called Anglophile Friday. Enjoyed the Oast House. Stopping by from I Should Be Mopping and I'm a new follower http://georgielee.blogspot.com.

J_on_tour said...

Thanks for the lesson, something a bit alien to me as I've only ever been in Kent once and that was on a night train to further afield.

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