Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

by Richard W. Unger

The beer of today—brewed from malted grain and hops, manufactured by large and often multinational corporations, frequently associated with young adults, sports, and drunkenness—is largely the result of scientific and industrial developments of the nineteenth century. Modern beer, however, has little in common with the drink that carried that name through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Looking at a time when beer was often a nutritional necessity, was sometimes used as medicine, could be flavored with everything from the bark of fir trees to thyme and fresh eggs, and was consumed by men, women, and children alike, Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance presents an extraordinarily detailed history of the business, art, and governance of brewing. During the medieval and early modern periods beer was as much a daily necessity as a source of inebriation and amusement. It was the beverage of choice of urban populations that lacked access to secure sources of potable water; a commodity of economic as well as social importance; a safe drink for daily consumption that was less expensive than wine; and a major source of tax revenue for the state. In Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , Richard W. Unger has written an encompassing study of beer as both a product and an economic force in Europe. Drawing from archives in the Low Countries and England to assemble an impressively complete history, Unger describes the transformation of the industry from small-scale production that was a basic part of housewifery to a highly regulated commercial enterprise dominated by the wealthy and overseen by government authorities. Looking at the intersecting technological, economic, cultural, and political changes that influenced the transformation of brewing over centuries, he traces how improvements in technology and in the distribution of information combined to standardize quality, showing how the process of urbanization created the concentrated markets essential for commercial production. Weaving together the stories of prosperous businessmen, skilled brewmasters, and small producers, this impressively researched overview of the social and cultural practices that surrounded the beer industry is rich in implication for the history of the period as a whole.

Genres: History, Beer, Nonfiction, Renaissance, Food, Brewing, Audiobook

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Josh Friedlander · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book opens with a preface that knows what you're thinking:

The mention of the history of beer always brings a laugh or at the very least a snicker. The history of beer for most people is not a serious topic of study. It seems to them frivolous and hardly worth more than a few diverting minutes of anyone’s time. Beer, after all, is a drink for leisure, for young people, generally men, and associated with sports and student life. That perception of beer is a case of historical myopia, of an inability of many people at the beginning of the twenty-first century to conceive of a world different from their own. The prevailing presentism makes it difficult for many to comprehend a world where beer was a necessity, a part of everyday life, a drink for everyone of any age or status, and a beverage for all times of the day from breakfast to dinner and into the evening.

Unger covers the development of beer mainly around the time of professionalisation, after a brief overview of the ancient history of beer (various intoxicating beverages were known to the ancients, but malted beer seems to originate in Sumer). In this period brewing went from women's work to a male industry. The great innovation, the fulcrum of the book, was the switch to hops as a bittering agent instead of gruit. Also the German Reinheitsgebot, which, uh, indicates that the history of beer isn't edge-of-your-seat stuff. There might be some fun stories here, but Unger is mainly interested in the economics: a lot about taxation, guilds, trade and consumption statistics, and regulation.

The story ends with beer being upstaged by newer drinks like brandy and better wines, and the modern technological innovation, where we can brew consistent good beer year round in any climate with artificial refrigeration. But beer is a much smaller part of our lives than it once was.

[Karen Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're at all interested in the history of ale, beer and brewing, specifically as it developed in Europe and England from roughly the 1200s through the 1600s, then this book is for you. Richard Unger delivers a well-researched but very easy to read book full of facts and some suppositions about the changing nature of one of the most important drinks in human history and how it altered from being a domestic product, replete with all sorts of medicinal wonders, to a heavily commercialised one that was governed and taxed and, for a long period, thrived, to being ubiquitous across parts of the Northern hemisphere.

The introduction is broad and does establish the fact that the book is very focussed on beer production in Europe during this period - England is really only an adjunct if you're seriously wanting to learn more about brewing there. Explaining the various process of brewing, from malting to mashing to worting, Unger really describes what occurs, the equipment used and the variations between regions very well. Distinguishing between beer and ale as well, Unger sets the pace and tone for the rest of this fascinating book.

Providing a brief history of beer making beyond his main focus, the reader is, in the first chapter, taken back to 7000 BC, to Sumeria, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, being brought forward to the Roman period before arriving in the Middle Ages.

The different additives put in brews, their names (gruit for example) and the importance of hops to the growing beer industry, the way it utterly transformed it, are explored very well. As is the resistance to hopped beer in England and other parts of Europe by ale-makers. Legislation increases as brewing metamorphoses into a commercial venture and governments recognise a profit to be made. Unger analyses this in detail and with accompanying tables which reveal consumption, exports and imports and other facts. The rise of guilds is touched on and the rapidly decreasing role of women in an industry that once dominated is, disappointingly, only given a few pages (though Judith Bennett dedicates an entire book to this). Price-fixing is also discussed as is, in the final pages of the book, the slow decline of beer and brewing as the consumption of spirits, wine, coffee and tea began to challenge beer's dominance.

While it brushes on the social history of beer, it doesn't really examine this in detail - that is left to other books, such as A Lynne Martin's Alcohol, Sex and Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. I wish Unger had spent more time on this, however, as I feel he would have been able to offer some insights. At times, I admit, I found footnotes missing where I felt they should have been and some of the "facts" conflicted with other studies I have read. But overall, this is an excellent account of a cultural beverage that has both united and divided the world for centuries.

[Igor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Оценка: 4 из 10

Общее впечатление: не понравилась. Первая книга лет за 5 , которую бросил не дочитав. Абсолютно отсутствует перспектива, структура и поэтапное раскрытие темы

Рекомендация: не рекомендую

Что понравилось: интересное/интригующее название книги

Что не понравилось:
-Абсолютно отсутствует перспектива, структура и поэтапное раскрытие темы
-скучное, хаотичное и занудное перечисление мелочей в каждом регионе/городе в каком-то периоде времени
-я понимаю что книга базируется на научной работе, но это не оправдывает абсолютно беспорядочную структуру изложения. книга очень контрастирует на фоне всех/почти всех книг написанных на базе научных исследований

Качество книги:
-приятная бумага, хорошая обложка
-перевод сухой (?)

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is an excellent monograph, the title does somewhat mislead what the focus is because most the time spent analysing the economics, governance and taxation and their impact on brewing practice. Still, I appreciate it concentrates on the factual aspects rather than cultural angles and commentary. As long as you think taxation can be an interesting topic I highly recommend it.

[Måns Sunesson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I now have more knowledge of beer taxes throughout history than I ever know what to do with! Informative and well written, yet a bit dry! (Oh the irony of calling a book about beer dry! 😂) If you are used to reading academic texts you'll be fine reading this, if not you'll probably struggle a bit.

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most pages of the book contain information about trading of beer and taxes. There is information about technology of brewing and its evolution, but not as much as I expected. So this book rather about history of trading beer, then about beer history in common

[Richard Gombert · Rating 2 out of 5]

An informative book.
I learned much about the history of taxes and beer.
However the major flaw is the author tries to talk knowledgeably abotu beer and fails. He constantly misuses the word quality when referencing beer. In his mind (obviously he is not a very knowledgeable beer drinker) the quality of Middle Age and Renaissance beer equates with it's alcohol level. He higher the alcohol, the better the beer.
He is capable of using the word quality correctly to describe the properties of other items.
He also fails to use the word quality to discuss the alcohol level of wine, brandy and other liquors.
Obviously he can not go back and taste the various beers. Nor, I suspect, has he tried any of the recreations that contemporary brewers have tried. Still the equating of alcohol to quality is a huge disservice to this history. He should have just discussed the alcohol level and left "quality" out.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

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This is fun, although the title is mediaevelly misleading because we do get a précis in recognition of the ancient nature of the craft.




Unabridged

[Blanca · Rating 2 out of 5]

A repository of numbers. Good for citing specific data, although I can't possibly source check the material since most of the archival sources come from England, Germany and the Netherlands. Mainly about beer consumption in Northern Europe and England. It was a bit hard to follow since it is not broken up chronologically. Again, if one day you need, NEED, the number of liters drank by the average Northern European, then this book is for you. It's just taxes, economy, nothing really about the culture of beer (if there was any) or any relationship between culture and beer besides taxes. The author does write a disclaimer that the source materials were scarce, so at least there's that.

[Redsteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is absolutely the driest book on alcohol that I have ever read. That being said, it is interesting and contains a lot of information that I was previously unaware of, including the existence of gruit, an additive to beer in the Middle Ages so common that systems of taxation were built around it. This book deals mainly with the economics of beer brewing and selling during these periods, including production, trade, taxation, and regulation. I give it a 2 for readability but a 3 for informational content.

[Joshua]

More than you probably wanted to know about the rise of hopped beer (in contrast to traditional ales), brewery guild structure, the 'international" beer trade, and the market competition between beer and wine. Enjoyable read for a scholarly text.

[Mouldy Squid · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dry but full of interesting facts, details and specifics of brewing, consumption and sale of beer. If you are familiar with reading academic works this book will be engrossing.

[Daphne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yawn. So, so yawn.

[Mo Coghlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique and interesting perspective on the history of beer, using economics and government legislation to explain changes in use of ingredients, styles, strengths and the import/export of beer.