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--16th century.

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

Brewing industry.

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

Physical Description:

1 online resource (338 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2004.

Language Note:

In English.

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 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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Tables

Preface

Abbreviations

Chapter 1. Introduction: Understanding the History of Brewing

Chapter 2. Early Medieval Brewing

Chapter 3. Urbanization and the Rise of Commercial Brewing

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

Chapter 5. The Spread of Hopped Beer Brewing: The Northern Low Countries

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

Chapter 7. The Mature Industry: Levels of Production

Chapter 8. The Mature Industry: Levels of Consumption

Chapter 9. The Mature Industry: Technology

Chapter 10. The Mature Industry: Capital Investment and Innovation

Chapter 11. Types of Beer and Their International Exchange

Chapter 12. Taxes and Protection

Chapter 13. Guilds, Brewery Workers, and Work in Breweries

Chapter 14. Epilogue: The Decline of Brewing

Appendix. On Classification and Measurement

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [295]-312) and index.

ISBN:

9780812203745

0812203747

OCLC:

859161009