Homemade Beer

Photo: Creative Commons

Captians Lewis and Clark rationed whiskey and brandy to the men along the early part of the Expedition. But what about beer?

As the Corps worked their way down the Columbia River in late October 1805, William Clark tucks a short and somewhat strange mention of beer in his daily journal entry: “…one of our party J. Collins presented us with Some verry good beer made of the Pa-shi-co-quar-mash bread, which bread is the remains of what was laid in as [a part of our] Stores of Provisions, at the first flat heads or Cho-pun-nish Nation at the head of the Kosskoske river which by being frequently wet molded & Sowered &c.

It seems Private Collins had realized that some camas bread obtained several days before from the Nez Perce had become wet, moldy, and “soured.” So, being resourceful, he made a little trail-brewed beer. Some of you may recall that Collins seemed to be a fan of a good drink – he earned 100 lashes for stealing whiskey and drinking on sentry duty back in June 1804.

Since Clark says it was “verry good beer,” you have to wonder why Collins wasn’t allowed to make more of it from time-to-time during the remainder of the journey.