It’s kind of interesting watching Sam Calagione brew historic beer styles but I want to take the game up a notch: I sometimes read fiction in the ‘alternate history’ genre so I thought I would brew to a might-have-been style. I’m going to base my attempt on Eric Flint’s 1632 series of novels. It’s going to be a kind of Gotlandsdricke/Dunkel/Altbier hybrid. I think I’ve just about got the recipe down, and will post if it turns out well. Meanwhile, I think a have a really nice label designed:
http://www.vekturopis.com/pub_img/beer/ga1632.jpg
Cool! Covers most of my genealogy.
This kind of approach is what homebrewing is all about. While there are plenty of existing styles that I love, I’ve started many of my recipes on abstract ideas or culinary flavor combo’s that I thought would work in a beer. Sounds like you might have a good flavor combo between the styles. Cheers, I like the coyote arm warning on the label too.
Very cool…
Thanks for the kind words. I’m basing this mostly on my Gotlandsdricke recipe, which I really love. I figure to get a little Dunkel influence by having around 34% light Munich in my malt bill. Rather than the WY1028 London Ale that I used for the Gotlandsdricke I plan on WY1007 German Ale, ferment nice & cool (hence the Altbier influence). I’m going for a beer that you might find in Leipzig today if Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus had prevailed in the 30 years wars in the 1600s. May have to throw a teaspoon of Quick Grits into the mash in honor of West Virginia, but you have to read the books to get that reference.
p.s. - glad someone read the warning on the label 
Very nice label. I’ve read the first two of the books (hard to beat the first one).
I made a beer in a similar vein I call a “Double Nut Dunkel”. It’s basically an imperial version of a cross between a nut brown and a dunkel. It’s pretty good, but I’ve never entered it in a competition. There was no alternate history involved though, the name inspired the recipe. ;D
I love the 163X series, it’s super fun!
The label is great. Love the concept of an alt history beer.
For the scifi/fantasy folk, I’ve stumbled across this web site http://www.fantasybrewmasters.com/
Discussions of what an alien race would be drinking, or middle earth dwarfs session beers. Fun stuff.
Thanks for the cool link, beerrat. I’ll definitely be exploring that site. As far as brewing to style, I figure that I’m totally covered as a BJCP 22-B Other Smoked Beer.
Update: beerrat, I don’t know how well I can get a long with those Fantasy geeks. I’m a science fiction fan who goes into an insane range when they lump ‘Fantasy & Science Fiction’ together in the bookstore.