Drink Like A Roman
If you like Roman history, you’ve probably heard they drank wine. At the high point of the Roman empire’s history of wine, around the first century AD, it has been [..]
Category: Bygone Brewing
Ancient Law: Ireland, Beer and Mead, Malt and Honey
The Irish were great ones for writing their laws down, and the many existing law-texts, whole or in fragments, give us enticing glimpses of how things were done as far [..]
Ancient law: Charlemagne and the bees
In Charlemagne’s far-reaching regulation of agriculture, he included bees and their wax and honey. His Capitularies, circa 794AD, give very specific guidance on estate and farm management, revenue collection for [..]
Nottingham Cave Brewery Complex
Nottingham has a complex network of brewing caves that used to support a thriving malt export tradeI have recently found pictures of medieval English malt kilns, and have been poking at [..]
The Economics of Medieval English Brewing: The Handout
St. Paul’s Cathedral’s brewhouse grain bill for Anno Domini 1286, from the Domesday Book. I mean, how cool is this? For those of you who read the paper of Karl [..]
The Economics of Medieval English Brewing by Karl Hagen
If you are a medievalist, and a brewer, I would recommend you read this paper. I think so strongly enough that I’m putting it here in several forms – pick [..]
Gods of Mead: Roger A. Morse
One of my very first books on mead making was Making Mead (Honey Wine): History, Recipes, Methods and Equipment by (Dr.) Roger A. Morse. I’ve seen references to his name [..]
Gods of Mead: Have you met Brother Adam?
I first heard of Brother Adam of Buckfast Abbey in one of my very first mead books – Acton & Douglas, perhaps, or Roger Morse. he was this mysterious figure, a [..]
Thor Ewing shares a riddle
Historical Storyteller Thor Ewing posted this on his website back in 2002 – another supposedly from the Exeter Book, originally in Anglo-Saxon. I’m beginning to think its riddles are infinite, [..]
Answer Me This Riddle
The Anglo-Saxons were great riddlers. An author I genuinely respect, Cindy Renfrow, says this is Riddle 25 from the Exeter Book, or Codex Exoniensis, a tenth century book of [..]
Can you answer this riddle?
Can you answer this riddle? I am man’s treasure, taken from the woods, Cliff-sides, hill-slopes, valleys, downs; By day wings bear me in the buzzing air, Slip me under a [..]
The first time Hops met Beer
If you’re interested, the first documented instance of hop cultivation is in 736 in the Hallertau region of modern Germany. The first mention of using hops in brewing in Germany [..]