Beer History – braciatrix

Scolteen: An Irish Hot Whiskey and Beer Cocktail

Its scenery is not stupendous- scarcely even anywhere bold; but it is ‘beautiful exceedingly’. Its boundaries are not mountains, but hills of sufficient elevation to form a picturesque and striking outline. The hill-sides, which in some places rise abruptly from the water, and which in others, slope more gently, are covered to a considerable elevation […]

by braciatrix

I Recreated a Four-Thousand-Year-Old Ale

A bit of background if you haven’t read my last two posts. I fell down a rabbit hole of epic proportions procrastinating researching cuneiform tablets and their inscriptions on beer. I used the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, which is an internet archive for cuneiform tablets from all over the world. This is an excellent resource […]

by braciatrix

#31BeerHerstories Mega List

Behold! The Mega List ™ of all the #31beerherstories all in one place for your reading pleasure. I hope it is somewhat useful to have them all in one place. I will also be posting some final thoughts on the themes I have seen throughout this project later on. I have essentially copied and pasted […]

by braciatrix

So I Made a Malt Tonic…

I have, as per usual this time of year managed to get a cold. So I’ve spent some time Googling the use of beer as medicine. For science. So this week in #beerhistory I am going to be talking about Malt Tonic! Before I get to the recipe, I am going to do the […]

by braciatrix

The Celts

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! For the day that’s in it we are going to go back to ancient Ireland and the group of people who populated the island milennia ago – the Celts. Scholars like Ian Hornsby have argued that these people are actually responsible for bringing brewing to what is now modern Ireland, but […]

by braciatrix

Saint Brigid and Her Miracle Ale

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, a celebration for a person who has certainly become synonymous with this country. People have arrived in Dublin from all over the world to catch a glimpse of the parade and, of course, to enjoy a few pints of local beer. But there’s another famous Irish saint whose stories have […]

by braciatrix

The Egyptian Goddess Hathor

These days there are a seemingly infinite number of beer styles and additives. Pineapple, oysters, heather, whiskey, and chocolate are just a few of the things popping up in your pints. Brewers are continually pushing the boundaries of what defines a beer and the materials they use- including harvesting yeast from beards. But these aren’t […]

by braciatrix

Gillian and the Brewsters of Exeter

In medieval England, while the brewing trade was dominated largely by women, especially in rural areas, those who maintained and enforced regulations were male. In particular the position of aletaster, that is a person who evaluated women’s brews and made sure they were keeping to regulations, was wholly male dominated – I have not found […]

by braciatrix

Ninkasi

Ninkasi was the Sumerian goddess of beer. Known as ‘the lady who fills the mouth’ an ancient tablet dating to around 1800 BCE contained a hymn to the goddess. [1] According to scholars like Ian Hornsby, brewing in Mesopotamian society was the only trade presided over by a goddess of some type.[2] Residing on Mount Sâbu (‘the […]

by braciatrix

Wari Brewing Women

Before the Inca, in the years 600-1000 CE the Wari empire dominated Peru and the Tiwanaku reigned in Bolivia. [1] [2] Both societies colonized Moquegua valley including the Cerro Baúl high mesa where the Wari erected monumental buildings, one of which, and arguably one of the most important, was a massive brewery. And who was […]