History of the Week

Alcohol History Links September 16 - 23
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Ale for the Romans

Description of the Vindolanda site in England. One of the key literature references to drinking in Roman-era Britain stem from these ‘grocery lists’ for the soldiers. 
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Teetotal Literature

​Deep analysis into temperance movement literature

“His main book, 1924’s Saloon Survey New York City, was a detailed statistical examination of various liquor and sociological issues five years after Prohibition. It looked for example at the number of shops selling distilling equipment or wine for sacramental reasons, at the incidence of illegal public drinking, the new uses the old saloons were put to, comparative rates in hospital admissions for drunkenness, and the effect on real estate values of saloon closures. He often sought to show the new businesses employed more people than the saloons had.”
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Norwegian Farmhouse Ales

​New book on Norwegian Farmhouse Ales! In Norwegian, though.
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Iowa Beer History

History of beer in Iowa

“While some might have regarded the attacks on beer as an assault on German culture, the reason for the 1884 riots was largely economic. More than 120 breweries could be found across the state at that time. They hired people to brew beer, store it, transport it, produce the barrels that held it and much more — creating deep community as well as economic ties. Ending the production of beer not only threatened the large brewers but also their workers, the urban populations they supported and even the surrounding farmers.”
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Iowan Oktoberfests

Another piece on Iowan beer history, but also promotes a local Oktoberfest.

"Located below the sidewalks at the intersection of Market and Linn Streets and the adjacent Brewery Square is a web of underground beer caves, serving as a reminder that Iowa City’s highly involved relationship with beer began long before the Iowa-Iowa State weekend.

The beer caves were initially used during the fermentation process of the three breweries — Union, Great Western, and City, commonly referred to as the “German Beer Mafia” — that used to call Market Street their home."
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Jolly Good Ale and Old

Depiction of a typical ‘Jolly Good Ale and Old’ event, hosted by the Intoxicants Project, and how they approach the question: were early modern people perpetually drunk?

“It’s a thorny issue, to which the response is too often a knee jerk cliché about the weakness of early modern ‘small’ beer and its status as a low-alcohol alternative to polluted water supplies (which, we know now, were actually pretty clean). Instead, to address the question properly, one of our expert panel – our own Dr James Brown, Research Associate on the Intoxicants and Early Modernity project – draws on recent work by Professor Craig Muldrew in his book Food, Energy, and the Creation of Industriousness (2011), which tackles the question head-on.”
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Olympia Brewing Company

​A brief history on the now defunct Olympia Brewing Company.
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Oregon's Beer History

A description of a talk which Tiah Edmunson-Morton of OHBA fame will be giving. Although not too informative, it does give info on historic brews like Wahoo and Pompion beer.
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Old Cellar

​A cellar from a brewery operating in 1865 has been discovered.
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Roman Brewery

​A Roman brewery in Towcester! 

“The remains of a number of buildings were identified, two of which contained evidence indicating they were used to prepare grains for malting and brewing. Pottery and other artefacts recovered from amongst the surviving elements of the buildings reveal that the process was being carried out during the 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD.”
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Teaching Alcohol in History

​Experiences on teaching a class on alcohol in American history

“As the class progressed, these problems continued. On one hand, much of the energy and interest of the class came because students could personally relate to the class material about alcohol and attitudes about it. I want students to feel invested in the course material, but it was very difficult to get many of them to consider what it meant that people in the past thought about alcohol very differently than contemporary Americans do.”