Quick Search

 
or
Browse by Subject

Trade Sales

Sale Bargains &
Special Offers

Distributed Titles

Conference Timetable

Request Catalogues

Vacancies at Oxbow

Beer in the Middle Ages & Renaissance

Unger, Richard W.

Unlike today, beer in the Middle Ages was regarded as nutritional and medicinal, rather than largely recreational, and was consumed by men, women and children as part of their daily routine. This study of beer and beer-making examines archival material from the Low Countries and England relating to the `business, art and governance of brewing'. Representing an alternative when clean drinking water was not available, a cheaper alternative to wine and a profitable commodity for the state, beer was a necessity for all levels of state and society. Richard Unger's study looks at how beer was made as far back as the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, through to the Romans, the early Middle Ages and its increasing commercialisation in the late medieval period. He goes on to discuss the transitions in the brewing industry from the household to commercial scale, patterns in the development and organisation of the industry across Europe, investment and innovation, changing markets and consumption. 319p, 12 tbs, 22 b/w illus (Pennsylvania UP 2004, pb 2007)

Browse other Medieval Social History books

Browse other Food & Cooking books