Salut !
According to Patrick McGovern, an archaeochemist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, throughout human history, alcoholic beverages have treated pain, thwarted infections and unleashed a cascade of pleasure in the brain that lubricates the social fabric of life.
Though it is impossible to tell just how many important decisions in world history were lubricated by a pint or two, the potent potable has played a role in at least a few milestone events, from the plagues of Medieval Europe to the founding of the United States.
New Jersey's Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company churned out the world's first beer can in 1935, stocking select shelves in Richmond. The idea was a succes and drinkers haven't looked back since then! Canned brewskies may have only hit shelves in 1935, but the drink's history goes back much further.
During the early Medieval Period, beer was being brewed in homes, and sometimes among communities. The brew probably tasted like a malted porridge of some sort, no way near what we have now.
In the begining was also probably much stronger in alcohol, since the preservative effects of hops had not yet been introduced. We can never be sure what herbs were used then, but many of those herbs were hallucinogens. They used any ingredient from oak bark, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, rosemary or berries could have been used (argh!). One recipe called cock ale uses "chicken" for flavor! The Domesday Book, Walter de Biblesworth, Chaucer and many other medieval authors write about ales and beer.
Beer was enormously popular in all civilizations, since grain was readily available and the fermentation process relatively easy. So in the Middle Ages even Medieval Monks began to make and drink their own stock during periods of fast as a way to avoid malnutrition.
Nowadays, this picture seems quite bizarre at the first time, I must agree. However, a beer is not supposed to contain alcohol like we already know. Talking about it, the first time I drunk a beer was in my childhood and it had no alcohol. It was made by my neighbour's mother, since the family (the Schmidts) descended from Germans. Although, they are not that kind of people who loves drinking beer (hic!)
In Medieval Europe, it was normal to see many households who did their own brewing and monastic beers were generally far superior and led many townspeople to visit their local monasteries for a mug of beer and a meal. The bed-and-brew houses that monks opened to accommodate pilgrims traveling through are considered the precursor to the modern hospitality industry, historians say.
Now it's not so strange that the Medieval Monks used to make and drink it. But they did it mainly because of the nutritional properties of beer remained important through the Medieval Period, when plagues made water sources questionable. Having gone through a cooking and boiling process, beer was considered a trusted alternative, offering some cherished calories to boot.
So Medieval Monasteries had the best brews, with monks becoming experts at brewing. The beer they served, no doubt, had the effect of cheer for the troubled population. Not only because it was free from the monks, but what made beer so cherished was also probably due to health reasons, since the process to make it was some how sterilized and it was a safe in that period.
" He who drinks beer sleeps well. he who sleeps well cannot sin. He who does not sin goes to heaven. Amen. " - Unknown monk
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