I’ve known for a long time that initially, women were the ones who brewed beer: a family staple, brewing often fell to them.
Some, as you might expect, got good enough at it that they started selling it at markets.
And I’d always figured that, with the industrial revolution, men just muscled their way into the field and pushed women out.
Buuuuut…no, No of course it’s a little worse than that.
They found what is possibly the oldest brewery.
I mean. Either you find that sort of thing interesting or you don’t but if you don’t…I’m not sure what else I can tell you, while you’re here.
So, they found a beer cave in Missouri. I guess the notion of men hiding out in caves to drink beer and avoid life goes back farther than I’d thought.
Then again, if we’ve got scientists recreating medieval ale from the walls, maybe scientists can learn something from how beer was made in the 1800’s, too.
OK, this is really cool: they’re reviving a beer made from one of the first ever Black owned breweries in the US. Such a great way to honor history and bring it into the present.
This article on the 20 most influential beers of all time caught my attention because it really delves into the history of beer and craft brewing. That puts it head and shoulders above most lists of this type, so check it out.
Pretty cool interview with Charlie Papazan who is credited with re-starting the American homebrew (and by extension, craft brewing) scene.
So they made a really interesting discovery-ancient beer, in lead bottles.
A drinkable substance. Contained in lead.
There is definitely an irony in pointing out how glad I am we got that whole ‘don’t ingest lead’ thing figured out in an era where cities in America have unsafe drinking water, and maybe even a good joke.
But I’m not savvy enough to make that joke.
Reading this story about what is probably the most expensive pint in the world, I really hope that scientists are able to use what’s in those cans to analyze yeast and other materials to tell us more about how things have changed.
It’s a cool piece of history, no question and I’m glad they’ll be on display somewhere, too. I just am hoping that a little more will come of it.
Maybe I’m being naive though and there’s just no way to examine the cans and contents without ruining what makes them valuable. That would be unfortunate but I can certainly understand why they wouldn’t be given further examination.
I’m not in Washington DC anytime soon but hey, maybe you will be and can check out the current exhibit on craft brewing at the Smithsonian.
