Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance / Richard W. Unger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Unger, Richard W.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Beer--Europe--History--To 1500.

Beer.

Beer--Europe--History--To 1500--16th century.

Brewing industry--Europe--History--To 1500.

Brewing industry.

Brewing industry--Europe--History--16th century.

History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

xvi, 319 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2004]

Summary:

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 European 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.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Understanding the History of Brewing 1

2 Early Medieval Brewing 15

3 Urbanization and the Rise of Commercial Brewing 37

4 Hopped Beer, Hanse Towns, and the Origins of the Trade in Beer 53

5 The Spread of Hopped Beer Brewing: The Northern Low Countries 74

6 The Spread of Hopped Beer Brewing: The Southern Low Countries, England, and Scandinavia 89

7 The Mature Industry: Levels of Production 107

8 The Mature Industry: Levels of Consumption 126

9 The Mature Industry: Technology 143

10 The Mature Industry: Capital Investment and Innovation 166

11 Types of Beer and Their International Exchange 184

12 Taxes and Protection 195

13 Guilds, Brewery Workers, and Work in Breweries 207

14 Epilogue: The Decline of Brewing 231

Appendix On Classification and Measurement 247.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [251]-312) and index.

ISBN:

0812237951

OCLC:

55055450