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History of the Week

9/1/2017

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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!

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History of the Week

8/18/2017

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Alcohol History Links August 11 - 18
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Sophocles

Early Greco-Roman words for beer from your translation of the week!

Yankee Ways of Canada

Continuing research into the American influence on the Whisky industry in early Canada and how an influx of British immigrants easily adopted to the 'New World' ways of life.

Fascism and Beer

A snippit of racism and fascism present within the brewing industry (Now I'm really never drinking  a Coors, on the rare off chance Im offered one).

San DIego Archives

Efforts are now underway to preserve and archive the craft beer history of San Diego.
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Ol Photos

A nice collection of old brewing and brewery photos from Cleveland.
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From last week
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More on Witchcraft and Alewives

My apologies, this one slipped through the cracks, and I feel its too important to let it slide! 

"As both Bennett and Hester have argued, it is hard to know whether alewives were accused of being witches because they were alewives or due to their poor social position-little extant evidence remains to be able to discern this without a doubt. However, what is very clear, is that both the language used to describe alewives and accused witches, and the socio-economic position of the two groups, is remarkably similar, as we have seen."
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History of the Week

8/11/2017

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Alcohol History Links August 4 - 11
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Recipes

A new recipe book is out from Ron Pattinson!

The Lantern Tankard

Chronicaling the downfall and subsequent revival of the 10-sided mug from Britain.
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Softening Ivory with Beer

Your translation for the week! This time, Plutarch mentions (albeit in passing) how beer can be used to soften ivory.
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Origins of Brewers Yeast

An analysis of last year's paper from Gallone et al. on the genetic history of yeast.
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Adding Steam

Further research into the term 'steam', and its common usage during the 1800s.

Witches Brew

An interesting look into how Alewives might have aided into the development of the iconic 'witch' image. 
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Coaching Inns

A history of the coaching inns of Britain.
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History of the Week

8/4/2017

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Alcohol History Links July 28 - August 4
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A look at 20th Century Pubs

A new book from the good folks over at Boak & Bailey is up for pre-sale!

Full strength brews for Egyptians

Your weekly Greco-Roman beer-themed translation for the week!
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Pioneer Inns and Taverns

"“Pioneer Inns and Taverns” is a landmark five-volume work published by the Canadian historian Edwin C. Guillet (1898-1975), a native of Cobourg, ON. His ancestors arrived in Upper Canada in the early 1800s from Jersey. Mr. Guillet was of distant French Huguenot origin. He claimed in fact a blood connection to another distant son of Jersey and writer, Henry David Thoreau."
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Reid Brews

A look into porter and stout recipes from the Reid Brewery in 1845.

Ancient Brews

Beersmith podcast interview with Dr. Patrick McGovern!

Conrad Seipp

An investigation of Seipp, his wealth, and how he used brewing to build a Victorian mansion.
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Pirates LIfe

A brief history of rum!

John Lemp

Another story about a German migrant who gained fortune through brewing.
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Documenting the Brewing in Greensboro

Efforts of a local univerity library to document the history of brewing in Greensboro, from 1890 up to the craft beer movement.
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History of the Week

7/28/2017

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Alcohol History Links July 21 - 28
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Drinking with the Ligurians

Translation from the writing's of Strabo reveal how the people of Liguria drank a barley beer!
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Future brews with Bog Myrtle

An update to the Brewing Nordic website and how they plan to brew gruits with bog myrtle come August.

Historic Lager Fest

Ron Pattinson has the dream of putting on a historic lager festival! A festival I could get behind. Hope it will happen!
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Brewer's Bucket

Analyzing what Shakespeare meant by the phrase “He shall charge you, and discharge you, with the motion of a pewterer’s hammer, come off and on swifter than he that gibbets on the brewer’s bucket”.

Origins of Whisky in Canada

A thorough argument stating that the boom of whisky in the country is rooted to the immigration of Americans who settled in Upper Canada.

Developing Methods for Lipid Residue Analysis

A recently published paper on improving methods used to detect food within the archaeological record.
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Lagers of Idaho

The history of brewing in Idaho, including bakeries that were attached to brewhouses.

Lunch box in the Alps

Seeing as Switzerland is my new home, this article was particularly interesting to me. 

"Dr Francesco Carrer, from Newcastle University, said: "This evidence sheds new light on life in prehistoric alpine communities, and on their relationship with the extreme high altitudes. People travelling across the alpine passes were carrying food for their journey, like current hikers do. This new research contributed to understanding which food they considered the most suitable for their trips across the Alps."

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History of the week

7/14/2017

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Alcohol History Links July 7 - 14
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Brewing History

The folks over at Lost Lagers have started a homebrew class focusing on historic brews!

An 1800's Guide to Drinking

A look at 'The Original' periodical, where author Thomas Walker recommended which types of beers to drink during your meal.

Grains of Gaul

A translation of Strabo's work about grain usage by the Gauls.
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Jopenbier

A look into the Danziger Jopenbier style, a spontaneously fermented, low-level alcoholic brew from Germany.

McGovern's New Book

As I am sure it is to no major surprise to anyone, Dr. Patrick McGovern has released a new book, at least according to the plethora of articles about this new book. Not sure how it differentiates from his previous work, but it certainly will promote the brewing archaeology field! And, perhaps, more funding (which it really needs).

Sumerian Brews

A nice write up on brewing in Mesopotamia.
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Jame Cook's brew

Apparently, the famous explorer James Cook brewed a mean Spruce ale.
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The Holy Spirit

On the history of distilled spirits.
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Field Museum's Chinese brew

Off Color Brewing teamed up with the Field Museum to brew a beer based off an ancient Chinese recipe.
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History of the Week

6/23/2017

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Alcohol History Links June 2 - 23
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Right! So I know I have been on and off with the blogging, the cause of which will be laid out in a further post. I also went back home to show the lady friend around California. Given the copious amounts of drinking and jet lag, I couldn't really post too much. So, let's catch up on what we missed! ​

June 16 - 23

Crafted Commodity

Using a passage from 1757 on the adulteration of Porter to reflect on the current state of craft beer, via A Good Beer Blog.

Brewery from Dunkirk

"That brewery, founded 1888 and always very small, closed in 1985. Despite its size and obscurity, or perhaps because of it, the brewery was purchased in 1982 by another small, northern brewery, Vaux of Sunderland, England, a story unto itself." Via Beer et seq.
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Gimmicks In Beer History

"Most of the world's dominant mass-market brands promote their historical importance as a matter of PR, but we needn't accept it at face value." Via Beervana.
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Tartan Keg Bitter

A case of a brewery re-blending their beer for resale. Via Boak & Bailey.
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Barley-Wine

Your translations for the week brought to you by Brewing Classical!
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Pre-Prohibition Beer Styles

A look into brewery names and beer styles being produced in Oregon before prohibition. Via the Oregon Hops & Brewing Archives . Be sure to give their Feminism and the Beer Industry a read as well!
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Birth of an Heir

A look into Majority Ale via Shut up about Barclay Perkins.
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A look into Arak

A quick tour of an Arak distillery, Via World of Booze
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Beer Culture in Africa Exhibit

An exhibit on African Beer vessels! Yet another reason I need to visit Colorado.
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Local Brewer To Behemoth

A history of SABMiller and its recent acquisition by AB InBev.
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Lightning Round!
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June 9 - 16​

Fermented Donkey Milk
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Beer history from Luxembourg
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Brewing Museum in Milwaukee
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June 2 - 9

A look into Theresa McCulla
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Jefferson's Ginger Beer
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Mixed Yeast Culture in Sorghum Beer
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Brewers Yeast Design and Development
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Kenosha Brewing 
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...whew
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History of the Week

5/26/2017

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Beer History Links for May 19 - 26
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Aftertaste

A look into how marketeers used the term aftertaste for their branding and how the term couples with the so-called Evans Ale in the 1930s.

"Those who know the beer palate well generally like a good aftertaste including one where the hop resins are telling. Yet, humans are conditioned not to like bitter tastes, probably because many poisons are bitter, so bitterness in beer has long been a challenge for brewers and marketers who, after all, need a larger market to survive. "
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Cassius Dio

Your weekly translations for the week! This time about another group of millet and barley beer drinkers, the Pannonians.

Boak & Bailey Support

The good folks over at Boak & Bailey have begun a Patreon page! They do some good research into the pubs of England, so please support if you can!
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Döllnitzer Gose

A translation of Grenell's publication on the Gose-style from 1907.
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Dark n Stormy

A brief look into the history of the Dark 'n Stormy cocktail.

"When the seamen and women retire from the Royal Naval Dockyard for an evening drink, the beverage they'll most likely have in hand is the Dark 'n' Stormy, the unofficial drink of Bermuda and of the global boating and sailing community."
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Sake

Efforts to promote the study of Sake in Japan.
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Beer from Louisiana

First time I heard about so-called 'city beer'. Will have to look into this more!

"Brewing in Louisiana, as it was everywhere in America, was mainly created in personal homes and city taverns. The first beers were “city beers”, beer that had such a short shelf life it couldn’t be sold outside the city. Lagers were too difficult to produce in our climate and lack of ingredient access, so city beers were created and sweetened with local molasses. "
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Relics of the forgotten beer styles

A collaboration event between a brewery in Asheville, N.C. and Ron Pattinson of Shut Up About Barclay Perkins fame. 

Gluek Beer REvival

A prohibition era lager is to be brewed for its would-be 160th anniversary.

"“This beer has a real history,” Holcomb. “It was the first manufacturing company in Minneapolis. It was the first to patent malt liquor in the U.S. It was one of just three breweries to supply beer to the U.S. Army in World War II."
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Storz-ette

A look into early attempts to market beer towards women.

"So the company shrank the can size from 12 to 8 ounces. The cans were packaged in sets of four, or “Princess Paks.” Using marketing language that would make Peggy Olson of “Mad Men” cringe, the beer was labeled “beerette” and “bitter-free” and “calorie-controlled.”"
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Medieval Brewery

Recent discovery of rectangular structures covered in soot suggests a malting facility was discovered in Lincoln.

"But what were they used for? One clue is in the smoke-blackened floor and flue (gap in the stones) on one side: the likely explanation is that hot air from a fire passed into this space, gently warming a wooden floor above, and that the buildings were malt kilns, where barley was turned slowly into malt, to be brewed into beer."
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Missed from last week
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FLorida Cream Ale

Missed this one by accident, sorry about that!

The folks over at Lost Lagers brewed up a historical cream ale local to Florida for a recent fundraising event.

"Hubner and Falco got together at last April's Craft Beer Conference in D.C. Falco wanted to brew a historical beer. They decided to revive the old recipe for a fundraising event on May 7 at Lincoln's Beard for the Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing World War II veterans to see the national monuments in D.C."
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History of the Week

4/7/2017

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Alcohol History Links March 31 - April 7
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Planter's Punch​

A print of an old punch recipe which is giving me strong rum cravings...

"A Washington, D.C. newspaper in 1903 gives a recipe for Planter’s Punch which is both simple and very good. This has to be one of the older references to the drink in the U.S., perhaps the oldest."
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A Thracian reference to beer

A reference to Thracian beer from the play Lycurgus.

"Although beer was rife with such additions in antiquity, it is unclear what and when the additions were added to beer according to Thracian beer culture."
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The Brewer Pollard

The story of David Pollard, one of Britain's first-wave microbrewer.
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More on Cream Ale

A dig into some records concerning cream ale, and what it really means.

"If style can be applied to the concept at all, cream ales at best probably represented styles. They were not a response to pilsners as they predate Gillig and were in mass production happily in their own right though the mid- and latter 1800s."
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Taxes, everyone's favorite topic

But they're really important, at least to brewing history. This is a look into taxes around the 1870s.
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This land, Your land, My land exhibit

For those out in Oregon, there is an exhibit coming up on May 3rd which explores minority land ownership, featuring a talk from the OHBA!

Celebrating 450 years

The oldest pub in Devizes will be celebrating its 450th anniversary with a special beer on March 30th - April 1st.
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tchoukoutou

Antimicrobial properties of the starter culture for the indigenous brew Tchoukoutou.
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Prehistoric Pottery

A quick how-to video on making prehistoric pottery.
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History of the Week

3/31/2017

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Alcohol History Links March 24 - 31
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On how to run a Pub

Boak & Bailey review a book from 1965 which details how to properly care for a pub.

"He opens the book with what we now recognise as the traditional ‘Abandon All Hope’ warning:

So you fancy entering the Licensed Trade? You have thought it over and made up your mind that serving drinks to an unappreciative and sometimes downright rude public is just the life for you? … To make a real success of Barmanship you have got to like it… From the customer’s side of the bar some very strange ideas prevail about the ‘wonderful life’ behind the bar. These often stem from semi-alcoholics who think it must be heaven to be surrounded by unlimited drink."

Pondering on Cream Ale

An ad from the Jewish Daily News from November 1916 promoting Wiedenmayer's Imperial Cream Ale.
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Millet Beer Tasting

Brewing Classical Styles taste their millet beer they brewed a few weeks back! Also be sure to check out their weekly translation, this time from Athenaeus's Deipnosophists.

Mr. Reynolds of New Haven

The wine and liquor merchant from New Haven, Mr. Hugh J. Reynolds, and his fight against calling neutral spirits Whiskey.

"And so, a local paper devoted many column inches in 1911 to Reynolds’ opinions on the now-resolved whiskey labelling question. In summary, he approved of long aging of straight whiskey, not even four years (a modern industry standard), but between 10 and 12 years."
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Bert Grant's Brewpub

An attempt to find the first brewpub to open in the US in Yakima, Washington.

Brewing in 1869 era London

A brief look into the brewing industry of London.

"Assuming two bushels of malt to a barrel of beer, I calculate that in 1859 around  3.9 million barrels were brewed in London, an average of around 26,000 barrels per brewery. In total, 19,152,564 barrels were brewed in the UK in 1859*, leaving around 15.3 million barrels brewed outside London. Dividing that by the 38,976 brewers outside London gives an average of just 392 barrels per brewery. Clearly brewing in London was on a much grander scale."
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Musselburgh brewing

From April 6 to June 3, the Scottish Brewing Archive Association is putting on an exhibit on the history of brewing in Musselburgh.
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Smithsonian Brewing Historian begins

Theresa McCulla  begins her trip through the US researching American brewing history.

"Embarking on a research trip is always an exciting time for a historian, but this trip is especially important to me because it's the first one I'm making as brewing historian for the Smithsonian's Brewing History Initiative. I'll be on the road in northern California conducting oral histories with brewers, touring their operations, and delving into storage rooms to identify objects for possible future collection."
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Century old Czech Beers

(I never thought I'd link to a Daily Mail article) Recently, researchers uncovered three beers which were stored in a brewery cellar around World War I. According to the sensory analysis team, the flavors ranged from fecal to fruity.

Serbian Beer History

Apparently I need to go to Serbia.

"Beer has been steadily gaining in popularity in Serbia and two new beer museums have opened in the last few years alone. A third is set to open in 2018."
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History of the Week

3/17/2017

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Alcohol History Links March 10 - 17
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Nova Scotia Prohibition

The 100-year push for Prohibition in Nova Scotia.

"From a religious base, the movement transformed to a political and popular one, which legislators ignored at their peril. The idea was to re-make society bolus-bolus, re-engineer it to banish the evils associated with drink such as poverty, domestic violence, and workplace inefficiency. From settlement to about 1825 there was a kind of golden age for liquor (perhaps similar to what exists today), but after 1825 pulpit and parliament worked steadily to root out alcohol from the social fabric of the province."
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British Beer in Belgium

A few highlights from the Red Barrel magazine, containing info about a British brewery in Belgium.
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Furta

Weekly translations, with Roman beer bashing! Still, useful information as it tells us that brewing is occurring in Britain and Iberia.

Chinese Strong Flavor Liquor

Stumbled across this article which determines the fermentation techniques of Chinese 'strong liquor'. I will need to read into what that is exactly.

"Chinese strong-flavor liquor (CSFL) is fermented in cellars lined with pit mud (PM). This PM, specific fermented clay, contains microbes that play important roles in CSFL production."
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History of the Week

3/10/2017

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Beer History Links for March 3 - 10
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Future Post

A research paper by Gary Gillman (of Beer Et Seq. fame) on 'musty ale' is to be published soon by the Brewery History Society!
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American Culture vs Zoigl

There was a recent twitter scuffle on the legitimacy of calling a beer 'Zoigl' since it was brewed outside of the Zoigl region in Germany. Now, I am usually in the mind that if friggin Champagne gets protective rights, so should beer. But this post sums up nicely how I've felt as an American living in Europe, having to deal with European stereotypes of my home country.
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Inula in Beer

A translation of an entry by Pliny shows how Inula can be used to counterbalance overly sweet (i.e. wine) foods. More excitedly, the Brewing Classical crew are planning to brew a millet beer with it!
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Bock

Last Friday was this months Session, this time all about Bock beer. This post briefly delves into the history of the style...
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Post Bock

...while this one is an excerpt from Brewing Battles, describing Bock in pre and post prohibition era America.
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Scottish Beer

New book on Scottish beer by Ron Pattinson!
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False Belgian

"​It’s a small error, as they go, but it has been around for at least 40 years, and it appears everywhere from Michael Jackson’s World Guide to Beer to the labels on bottles of Harvey’s Imperial Extra Double Stout, so let’s try to stamp it to death: Albert Le Coq was NOT a Belgian."
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Beer Historian?

A good description of what we're all doing.

"​For the professional historian, by contrast, beer is less an end in itself than a means for telling critical stories about broader subjects such as gender, capitalism, and empire."
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A dying Art

If I had another life to live, and was born in the right country, I'd pick up this trade in a heartbeat.
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History of the Week

3/3/2017

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Alcohol History LInks Feb 24 - Mar 3
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Top Fermenting German Beers

A thread to follow, to be sure. On various types of top fermenting beers from Germany.
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Taming Elephants

Weekly translations from the good folks over at Brewing Classical. This time with elephants!
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Cider making in Wales

This one came my way thanks to Cider News. A study group on Welsh cider, whose aims are to:

1. Work with 14 community groups to regenerate old orchards and/or identify areas for new plantings. 

2. Explore and record Welsh Heritage cider and perry fruit through DNA fingerprinting, qualitative observation of trees, and single variety juice fermentation trial to produce a comprehensive online catalogue. 

3. Tell the modern story of orcharding and cider making in Wales through the collection of oral histories and digital stories. 

Be sure to check out the videos on their vimeo page here!
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Oregon Hops

A brief overview of Dr. Peter Kopp and his recent book ​Hoptopia: A World of Agriculture and Beer in Oregon's Willamette Valley (California Studies in Food and Culture).
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History of the Week

2/24/2017

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Alcohol History Links for Feb 17 - 24
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Hops in Benton County

The Oregon Hops & Brewing Archives are diving into the history of hop farming in Benton County, Portland.

"I​’m currently in the midst of a quest to learn more about the history of hops in Benton County, more specifically the land in south Corvallis owned by the Lilly and Seavey families. That’s a post for another day, but in talking to folks about hops in Corvallis and digging into some research on labor for a food history guide, I got distracted by the story of German POWs who picked hops during WWII. Again, a story for another post. Looking for info about POWs in Salem didn’t lead in a straight line to my field trip to Independence, but it did FINALLY get me to the Heritage Museum."
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Cuneiforms

Great piece on exploring Mesopotamian cuneiform text.

"Which leads to another thought. Is that pattern a constant? Four grades of beer naturally created solely by the relationship between the sparge fluid and mash?  Following these rules you will have a 11%-ish beer, a 4%-ish one and a 1.25%-ish one. As well as whatever the heck double double was to create all that toil and trouble. A constant pattern. Could be. Could be."

Moving a Brewery

"Back in the early 1950’s Edinburgh city council had rather grand plans for redeveloping the Holyrood Palace end of the Royal Mile. Which was home to several breweries, including the Abbey and Holyrood breweries of William Younger."
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Pictures from the 60's

Boak & Bailey just scored some photos of pubs in the 1960's.
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Lentil Beer

Some tasting notes for the lentil beer brewed by the Brewing Classical crew.
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Symposium

A look into the definition and history of the symposium.
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African Beer Extinction

I feared this would come up eventually. Hope it doesn't happen!

"Traditional South African beer, brewed for centuries by peoples such as the Xhosa, is in danger of disappearing, according to Slow Food International, an organization trying to revive local food cultures."
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History of the Week

2/17/2017

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Alcohol History Links Feb 10 - 17
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A Letter from Isaac Bobbin

Investigating brewing terms found in a letter dated on 1720. 

"Just bask in that passage for a moment. It’s (i) a contemporary that British beer was prepared for transport to warmer climates and (ii) among a few other techniques, the intentional deadening a beer followed by bottling was a technique used for export. Burton was, after all, brewed for export. As was Taunton for Jamaica’s plantations. The British simply shipped beer everywhere. IPA was not unique. Was there a beer brewed for Hong Kong that we’ve also forgotten about?"
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Vatting an Ale

An old technique used to quickly sour ales.

"​First, he distinguishes true vatting from the later method, which was to ferment beers at high temperature and rouse them (to permit air to enter the fermenting wort). These practices had the result of producing acidic beers in a relatively short time, perfect for blending, but they lacked the “ethereal” taste of beers stored a year or two as ales and stouts used to be stored. "
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Egyptian Love for Drink

Weekly translation from the good folks at Brewing Classical.
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Mackeson Stout

Brewing up a sweet stout from the 1960's.

"Associated with old codgers sat in the corner of the pub with a half, Mackeson became as fashionable as the Bay City Rollers. Along with Brown Ale and Light Ale, Sweet Stout was a bottled beer that suddenly fell from favour. So much so that it’s hard to imagine now the enormous quantities of it that were sold."
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Thunder Bay Brewing History

A brief review of the history of the brewing industry at Thunder Bay, Ontario.
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History of the Week

2/10/2017

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Alcohol History Links Feb 3 - 10
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Immigration and the American Brewing INdustry

Brian Alberts (of Brewed Culture fame) thoughts on the recent Budweiser super bowl ad.

"Beer also holds another legacy that the advertisement overlooks—how modern American beer, the kind that millions of Americans will consume on Sunday, is a product of immigrant activism and entrepreneurship. In the 1850s, beer became a cultural battleground for German immigrants to defend not only their right to participate in American political and economic life, but also their very presence in the U.S."

Be sure to catch his interview with Michael Smerconish!
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Adolphus Busch

Getting past the clever marketing and revealing the real life of Adolphus Busch.

"​As always, reality, even in a brewing context, is sobering: he came from a well-off family; he received a “patrimony”, or inheritance, which permitted his start in business; and he retained significant links to the country of his origin, where he passed away at a castle he owned after years of a debilitating illness."
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Red Casks

Boak & Bailey try to answer the question as to why some cask ends were painted red.
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Millet Wine

Your weekly translation from the good folks at Brewing Classical, following their millet theme. 
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Austrian Farmhouse Ales

A look into farmhouse ales in Austria, and why it seemed to not catch on.

"So, for centuries, brewing in parts of Austria has been absolutely dominated by cities and market towns, which had exclusive brewing rights. Already towards the end of the middle ages there were efforts to stop farmers from brewing beer, and since no farmhouse brewing is recorded since then, it seems like it was quite successful."
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Chinese Beer

Archaeology students brew some beer in accordance to available technology and recent residue analysis from Chinese ceramics.
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Brewing in Portsmouth

A new book detailing the history of brewing in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Evolution of Yeast

A look at yeast genomics and how it relates to the history of beer.
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Brewing on Display

To show the importance bread and beer played in past societies, PhD student Lara Gonzalez Carretero put together an exhibit at the Petrie Museum at University College London.

"​We chose a loaf of bread from Hatshepsut’s tomb in Deir el Bahri (ca. 1458 BC), beer residue from inside a ceramic vessel and emmer wheat spikelets. Emmer, an ancient crop originated in the Near East, was domesticated 12,000 years ago in Syria as new archaeobotanical research has recently shown (Arranz-Oteagui et al. 2016); and it was also, together with barley, the staple crop in ancient Egypt used by the community on a daily basis."

Missed Post
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Brewing in Williamsburg

This one accidentally slipped through, but interesting nonetheless! Recent excavations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn found a few brewing caverns belonging to a Sebastian Schnaderbeck.
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History of the Week

2/3/2017

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Alcohol History Links Jan 27 - Feb 3
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The Prevalence of Juniper

A great analysis over the use of juniper in beer brewing throughout Europe.

"Juniper has definitely been widely used in farmhouse brewing in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. It's also definitely been used, probably widely, in Germany, Russia, and Austria. There are signs it may also include France and Poland, but we'll see. This is what I mean about the beer community somehow having missed a huge story.

What's more, it's possible that juniper was the main brewing herb from the Stone Age onwards, and that hops only eclipsed it at some point after the end of the Middle Ages. That, however, is going to be substantially harder to prove."
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Millet beer from Ethiopia

A brewing experiment inspired by the Greek Historian Strabo, utilizing both millet and barley for the malt bill.
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Michael Jackson's Work

To honor Michael Jackson as the 10th anniversary of his death approaches, Boak & Bailey are starting a list of all his publications from 1977 to 1986, in hopes to show how influential Michael was to beer writing. 

"The harder job, now, is tracking down the material he wrote for the national press in the same period. We have searched The Times and Guardian archives but if you have clippings, or perhaps have access to the Sunday Times archive online through your local library service, we’d welcome any tips."
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German Immigrants

This one came my way thanks to Brian Alberts over at Brewed Culture, and covers the role German immigrants played in the rise of the American Brewing Industry.

Temperance on the front lines

"In April, 1946, a Brigadier Brimblecombe wrote a letter to The News in Adelaide complaining that soldiers during the war drank too much beer and risked becoming enslaved to alcohol."
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Flour in beer

An odd note in an old brewer's notes, stating that flour adds clarity to their pale ale.
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Hidden Wine Cellars

A look into wine cellars that were built underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

A new Beer Historian

​Theresa McCulla has been announced as the new Beer Historian for the Smithsonian!
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History of the Week

1/27/2017

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Alcohol History Links Jan 13 - 27
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Classical Translations

The Brewing Classical team is back with their weekly translations!
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Australian Beer History

A look into beer reviews in Australia, with an interesting dichotomy.

"​Yet the 1844 story, written nine years after brewing commenced, praises Tooth`s all-malt beer and claims much local beer was sold as English and no one knew the difference. I cited sources earlier which argued (1860s) that Australian brewing was certainly up to the task, but social snobbery resulted in the product being viewed as second-class."
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Early British Lager

A look into newspaper clippings from the late 1800's on early signs of lager brewed in Britain.

Norwegian Farmhouse Ales

A great rundown of the brewing styles of Norway.

"In Norway the farmhouse ale used to be called "maltøl" in most of the country. The name simply means "malt beer," which might seem odd, since the definition of beer is that it's made from malts. However, a century ago "øl" (beer) was used for many different drinks: maltøl, sirupsøl (syrup beer), bjørkesevjeøl (birch sap beer), sukkerøl (sugar beer), and so on. In each case, the modifier in front stated what the fermentable was. It seems these were all considered beer simply because they were weaker than wine. In any case "maltøl" was the beer made from malts.

Let me make one thing very clear: kveik is the yeast, not the beer. If you want to say "Norwegian farmhouse ale" in Norwegian, then call it "maltøl." However, that's a bit like saying "English ale" or "Belgian beer". There are several styles, and they're very different from one another."
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Madam Gin

A brief look at the history of Gin in England, circa 1700s.
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Preserving Olympia Brewing Co.

Thanks to a $5,000 grant from the local historical society, a wealth of artwork and memorabilia from the Olympia Brewing Co. will now be cataloged and preserved at the Olympia Tumwater Foundation.
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Chhang

A nice introduction to a local beer style from Mechuka, India.
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History of the Week

1/13/2017

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Alcohol History Links Dec - Jan 13
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Gotlandsdricke

A great summary of the farmhouse ales brewed on Gotland, an island off of Sweden. I wish a full on archaeological review of Gotland would be carried out, seems like it could be used as supporting evidence for medieval brewing in Europe.
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Remembering Justin C. MacCartie

"I’d like Justin C. MacCartie to be remembered for his renaissance quality. And the brewing book is a good one, it shows in every line that he truly knew what good beer was – not all brewing writers do. This comes out in many ways. He supported use of native hops over the “trash” from England, not because English hops were inferior, but the voyage rendered them much lesser to what they were in England. He was prepared to say so when many were not, clearly."
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An interview with a Carlsberg Scientist

As I am sure some of you are aware, Carlsberg recently recreated one of their old recipes by using the original pure yeast culture and a historic strain of barley. The following is an interview with a scientist who worked on said project.
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Godin Tepe Hospitality

A good summary of the findings at the Godin Tepe archaeological site, with a nice mention of the residue analysis which showed that beer was being made on site.
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Brewing in Wisconsin

A great summary of the history of the brewing industry in Wisconsin.

"​Wisconsinites can thank political upheaval in Germany during the late 1840s for the start of the state’s brewery boom.

According to brewery historian Rich Rossin, riots, famine and land disputes in Germany in 1848 led many young men with business aspirations to migrate to Wisconsin, the same year the state was admitted to the union.

“The first wave of German immigrants who came over here were called “’48ers,”’ Rossin said. “They spoke up against the political powers in Germany and were told to leave. In the 1850s, many German immigrants came to New York first and then eventually to Wisconsin. They used Milwaukee as a spring board into the rest of the state. Milwaukee had tons of German brewers in the 1840s and 50s. It became oversaturated."
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History of the Week

12/16/2016

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Alcohol History Links Dec 9 - 16
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Musty Ale

Unraveling the history of ‘Old Musty Ale.'
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A Brewing map of Norway

​A geographical look at the brewing traditions in Norway.

“I've collected enough evidence now that I'm beginning to get a picture of farmhouse brewing as it was practiced in Norway in the past. However, to understand how people brewed we have to start with the geography, because that determined everything else. The brewing was a tradition descending in unbroken line from the Stone Age to the present. There were lots of changes on the way, and these were transmitted from village to village. When you look at the resulting patterns on a map it's obvious that the geography was tremendously important for what influences went where.”
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Alonso De Herrera

​An account of the first European brewery to open in the Americas, circa 1540s.
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Spartan Barley

Reviving an old type of barley that was grown around 1916. 
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Green's Ancient Grains

Even more ancient grain use.
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Sioux City Breweries

Seems beer museums are becoming more popular. Sioux City Public Museum is putting up an exhibit on the town's brewing history that will go til March 2017.
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History of the Week

12/9/2016

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Alcohol History Links Nov 25 - Dec 9
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Right. After a host of guests, travellings to Poznan and Bamberg, and family visits, things have finally turned to normal. Just in time for winter vacations. Anyway, time to get back on track with posts! So here are the weekly links to posts about beer history.

Stone Age brewing in Britain

A nice overview of studying beer history and archaeology, and the trials therein, featuring a few friends of the blog!

Beer vendetta

Your weekly Greco-Roman translations from Brewing Classical Styles!
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Pitched Lagers

Evolution of taste in the early 1900s, how pitch played a role in flavour, and how that was judged by drinkers of the era. 

“This is normal as taste is relative if not almost arbitrary. We like a heavy and bitter-sweet beer because we want to, not because it is inherently superior to a light and almost tasteless one. At one time, and still for many, it is precisely the obverse.”
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Intangible Belgian Beer Culture

​A write up on the recent bestowment of Belgium’s beer culture scene as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
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The Rise of Pulque

A look at the pulque scene in Mexico.

"Today, pulque is available in numerous flavors and strengths and you are as likely to see a tattooed millennial couple sipping a liter container of strawberry-flavored pulque outside a hipster bar as the farmers in cowboy hats who make and drink it in the countryside."
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Holiday Recipes

A short list of recipes for the holiday table. 
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Nashville Brewing

A collector of beer memorabilia and author of a book on the history of brewing in Nashville has decided to revive an old brand - the Nashville Brewing Company.
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Montana History

Efforts to preserve the brewing history in Montana from 1980s - 2000s through local interviews.
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Reconstructing a brewery

Restoring an old brewery to its former glory in Kent, England.
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History of the Week

11/25/2016

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Alcohol History Links for November 18 - 25
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Pitching Barrels

A rundown of pitching barrels and why it was done, according to Julius Thausig circa 1882.
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German Beer and the Romans

​Your weekly translations from Brewing Classical - if anyone out there knows the color of Roman wine, please let them know!

Beer in America

​Stan Hieronymus stops by the BeerSmith vlog to talk about his new book, including a discussion about the start of the brewing industry in America.

Breweries in Alexandria

A timeline of breweries in Alexandria, Minnesota.
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Using an old strain of hops

Wild forms of an old hop yard were used in a batch of cream ale from ​TWB Cooperative Brewery, London.
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Reviving Meals

A write up on the recent efforts of reviving food and drink from residue analysis and historical recipes.
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Inverness Archaeological Finds

This one was brought to my attention by Merryn Dineley, and talks about a recent archaeological discovery of an old drying kiln. Although there is no mention of brewing, it was more than likely used to make malt.
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Barley Genome studies

A recent study makes the claim that the short dormancy periods in barley is more ideal for beer brewing.

"The wild barley’s long dormancy means that, initially, the grain will not germinate in response to transient moisture availability and will therefore survive hot, dry summers. As a result seeds like wild-type barley that undergo a long state of “dormancy” at maturity – during which they will not germinate –are favoured for food crops. In contrast a short dormancy is more efficient and preferable for beer making."
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History of the Week

11/18/2016

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Alcohol History Links November 11 - 18
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Things have cooled (or at least the fear has subsided) down this week, but still hard to wrap my head around whats been going on back home. Time to get back to researching and writing! Anyhow, your weekly history links:
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Malinthalle in Egyptian Brewing

Translations of a text from Theophrastus, stating how Egyptians use Malinthalle (Tiger nuts) in brewing. Be sure to check out the homebrew follow up!
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Pub documentaries

A few links from vimeo which document the current pub scene in Britain.

"The similarity in tone of these films and others — wistful, slightly sad — says something about how the pub is viewed in 21st Century Britain. We suppose it’s because it feels fragile or endangered as an institution that people feel motivated to document it, while they still can."
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The American Brewing Company

The history behind the American Brewing Company in St. Louis.

"One might think A.B.C. was a small player in 1903. Not the case. Kargau correctly explains that most businesses which gain success do so over a lengthy period, but there are “exceptions” and A.B.C. was one. As he showed, St. Louis actually counted fewer breweries in 1903 than 1860, when no less than 40 dotted the city. The reason was telling: the scale and technological sophistication required of brewing by turn of the century meant the future was for large, well-capitalized concerns. Small players could not survive, they hadn’t the time to grow slowly over decades."
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Politics and Beer

Although this doesn't divulge into brewing history, it is a nice short piece on the political situation in the US and the brewing industry.

​"But it's worth mentioning, on a week in which it at least feels like we've had a political earthquake, that elections do matter. And they can affect things as remote and unconcerned with politics as beer. We know this because the beers we drink were in so many ways shaped by politics, near and distant. The history of beer is a political one."
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History of the week

11/11/2016

1 Comment

 
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Alcohol History Links november 4 - 11
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What a week it was, too...Hopefully this will provide some distraction!
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John Willy from Chicago

Remembering the hotel guide writer John Willy:

"Modern-day pub crawlers, you have nothing on them.

The drinks described up to dinner point are various: whiskey, Champagne, sparkling burgundy (a pre-Pro favourite in America). But the group itself posed finally the obvious question: where’s the beer, we’re in Milwaukee!"
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Hints of Beer in Iberia

Translations of a quote from Strabo, mentioning beer from Iberia.
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The importance of Open Air Museums

"On the 8th and 9th of September (2016) our whole project team headed over to Sussex to participate in a ‘Knowledge Exchange Workshop’ with the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum. In basic terms this involved us telling museum workers some of our findings about work activities in early modern England, and in turn them showing us how some of the activities would have been done in the period. The event was fascinating and fun in equal measure, and I wanted to take the opportunity in this blog to provide a brief account of some of the highlights and offer some thoughts on how this type of interaction between ‘academic history’ and ‘living history’ can be particularly fruitful."
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Indiegogo

Crowdfunding campaign for a beer museum.
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1 Comment

History of the Week

11/4/2016

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Alcohol History Links October 21 - November 4
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No Hand-Pumps for Europe

The folks over at Boak & Bailey's graciously indulged my question as to why "the cask hand-pump system didn’t develop in mainland Europe? Or am I missing something?"  It's something I've always wondered, since its so prolific in England. Yet, as usual, the rabbit hole goes much deeper.
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P. Ballantine & Sons

​Breweries and distillers during the 1800s used to produce books discussing the history and evolution of their business. Although it was simply a marketing tactic, has proved to be an invaluable source of information about brewing history. This takes a look at a book “ from the former P. Ballantine & Sons, now part of Pabst. It has its own twist, however: the theme of revisiting the “inn” or “tap-room” of 1840. That was the year the brewery relocated to larger premises in Newark, NJ from its start in Albany, NY seven years before.”
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Vindolanda Tablets

Your weekly translation! But be sure to check out this ​spontaneous fermented ale write up.

Snug Beer

​Some thoughts on snug bars and winter warmers in the UK.
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Historic Brewing run-through

​18th century demonstration of brewing.
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Jewish Beer Recreation

Write up on the recent efforts to recreate a Jewish beer from Quebec, thanks in part to Gary Gillman!

See another write up here

Beer Revival

Recreating a braggot from residue analysis on a cauldron found in Tuebingen, Germany.
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A Knighthood in Beer

The founders of a bar in Atlanta, USA awarded knighthood by the Brotherhood of the Brewers Paddle in Belgium for promoting Belgian beers.

Norcia's beer monks

Earthquake destroyed historic basilica, which housed a recent monk-run brewery.
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New burton-beer book in the works

The announcement of a new book on the brewing history in Burton from Ian Webster.
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If you have memories of living with and working at Burton's breweries from any time from the 1940s to the 1980s, contact Ian Webster on 01283 343323, email [email protected] or find the groups on social media.
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archaeological dig at Gwynedd quarry

A recent dig at an ancient cemetery uncovered a few complete beakers.
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Baltimore History

A brief look into beer in Baltimore.
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    Jordan Rex

    Beer archaeologist

    From California, migrated to the UK to study,  drank in Berlin, now settled in Switzerland

    @timelytipple
    instagram.com/timelytipple/
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