History of the Week

Alcohol History Links August 25 - September 1
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Continuing Research

New evidence sheds light onto the case of Paeonian beers, as previous efforts to faithfully recreate the style couldn't exactly pinpoint certain ingredients. Be sure to follow this mini-series from the good folks over at BCS!
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More tales of Whiskey

Furthering his research into whiskey from Pennsylvania.

"This whiskey preceded rye distilling over the mountains in the southwest section, from Bedford to Greene counties as well as Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. It was the latter distilling, especially along the Monongahela river, that became known as Monongahela rye whiskey and acquired fame throughout the U.S. and beyond."
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Jim Koch

Calling into question whether Jim Koch is really good for craft beer, by overviewing his role within Boston Beer Company.

" I doubt you'd find anyone who would seriously argue he wasn't the best businessman in beer over the first three decades of his company's life. But good for craft beer? Committed to a "craft ethos" (whatever that is)? Cares only about beer? These claims aren't as straightforward as they seem."

A Life without Michael Jackson

In honor of the anniversary of his death, here is a nice collection of stories from those who encountered the legendary beer writer Michael Jackson, and whether or not he really mattered (spoiler: he did).

Micro Tales​

Some highlights of recent research efforts into an online newspaper database, covering a few court cases involving microbreweries fighting the 'big guys'.
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Ancient Wine

A brief article about residue analysis of Copper-Age pottery jars in Sicily. For those wanting something more in depth: this links to the original scientific publication.
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John Hauk

A book review centered around John Hauk, a local beer barron in Cincinnati.
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Makgeolli

Looks like there's a makgeolli festival in Korea, honoring the history and brewing traditions of the rice brew. Turns out, there's also a homebrewing school that teaches you how to make the yeast culture to properly brew the stuff. Now I really need to go to Korea!