History of the Week

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!