Beer History – braciatrix

I Wrote A Book- Introducing ‘The Devil’s In The Draught Lines: 1000 Years of Women in Britain’s Beer History’

Hi Friends, I know I have been very quiet on the blog lately, that is because I have been busy writing a book, well two books to be specific, but let me not get ahead of myself. I have been working on The Devil’s In the Draught Lines: 1000 Years of Women in Britain’s Beer […]

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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 […]

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#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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Margery Kempe and Her Failed Brewing Enterprise

Known as an Christian Mystic, Kempe is most famous for writing The Book of Margery Kempe, completed around 1438, wherein she described her life, her flaws, her discussions with God, and her pilgrimages. One such instance was of her brewing. According to her own account, she began to brew ‘out of pure covetousness and in […]

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Pints and Protests: Women’s History Month

So. I had this grand plan of writing about a woman, or group of women, a day for Women’s History Month. But then it decided to snow. And I got stuck in Heathrow…. For five days. Without any of my notes. Or resources. Or computer. That’ll teach me to leave my work at home. So […]

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Nope, Medieval Alewives Aren’t The Archetype For The Modern Pop Culture Witch.

I know, I know, this post is super late! I spent a big chunk of September being sick- turns out I am allergic to my own house. So. Much. Fun. And then I spent the beginning of October in Belgium drinking beer. Poor me! *eyeroll* But here it is! And themed! *** HALLOWEEN IS HERE!! […]