Beer : Health and Nutrition

34 Chapter Two
In Norman times ale was used for casting out devils: the trick was to mix some
herbs with ‘clean ale’, sing seven masses over the drink, add garlic and holy water and
then drink it from an inverted church bell (King 1947). Ale was popular. William of
Malmesbury wrote of the English in the early twelfth century (King 1947):
Drinking was a universal practice, in which occupation they passed entire nights
as well as days. They consumed their whole substance in mean and despicable
houses; unlike the Normans and French who in noble and splendid mansions lived
with frugality. They were accustomed to … drink till they were sick. These latter
qualities they imparted to their conquerors.
Religious origins
All monasteries and abbeys featured breweries. The symbols X, XX and XXX were
used as a guarantee of sound quality for beers of increasing strength (Savage 1866;
King 1947).
The monasteries passed on their skills to those brewing in their own homes (notably
the women: ‘ale wyfes’) and by the Middle Ages ale had become the drink at all mealtimes.
Out of the domestic brewing scene came the development of breweries, each
selling their own beer in a room at the front – they would be known today as ‘brew
pubs’. They produced two main products: ‘strong beer’ fermented from the rst runnings
from the mash and ‘small beer’ from the weaker, later runnings.
In the early fourteenth century there was one ‘brew pub’ for every 12 people in
England. In Faversham in 1327, 84 out of 252 traders were brewers. All ale was sold
locally because of transport limitations and the dif culty of keeping beer for any length
of time. Ale was sold in three types of premises: inns, where you also sought food and
accommodation; taverns, which also sold wine; and ale-houses (Dunn 1979). And yet
90% of ale was still ‘home-brew’.
One of the earlier attempts to regulate standards of quality was in Chester, where the
penalty for a woman brewing bad ale was a drenching in the ducking chair (King 1947).
The number of ordinances and regulations in the middle years of the second millennium
that dealt with beer were nearly as many as dealt with another staple, bread (Drummond
& Wilbraham 1958). In the Liber Albus of 1419 compiled by John Carpenter and Richard
Whittington (of cat fame) there is mention of the ‘aleconners of the Ward’ whose job
was to taste each brew and report on it to the Mayor.
In Medieval times ale was associated with festivals and family events – thus there
were lamb-ales, bride-ales (bridals) and so on. A bride could sell ale on her wedding
day and take the proceeds (King 1947).