Beer and Brewing in Medieval Culture and Contemporary Medievalism is a cross-cultural analysis of the role that alcohol consumption played in literature, social and cultural history, and gender roles in the Middle Ages. The volume also seeks to correct or offer new insights into historical beer production. By drawing on the expertise of scholars of history, archaeology, Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and Medieval and Early Modern literature, the book shows how historical medieval beer and brewing has influenced nostalgic post-medieval nationalism and romanticized visions of the medieval ale-house seen in beer marketing today. The essays describe alcohol consumption in the Middle Ages across much of Northern Europe, engage with the various myths employed in modern craft beer advertising and beer production, and examine how gender intersects with beer production and consumption. The editors also raise certain critical questions about medievalisms which need to be interrogated, particularly in light of the continued use of the Middle Ages for white supremacist and colonialist ideals. The volume contributes to the study of the popular and historical understandings of the Middle Ages as well the issues of race and gender.
Author(s): John A. Geck, Rosemary O’Neill, Noelle Phillips
Series: The New Middle Ages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 413
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Beer Culture: Five Theses (A Modus Bibendi)
Beer Enchants and Disenchants
Beer Builds Communities and Dismantles Communities
Beer Includes and Excludes
Beer Dismantles Hierarchy and Rebuilds Hierarchy
Beer Connects Us to the Past and Also Reminds Us of Our Distance
Conclusions
Works Cited
Part I: Historical Perspectives
Chapter 2: Beer and Ale in Early Medieval England: A Survey of Evidence
Brewing Beer and Ale
Ale and Its Consumption
The Place of Drinking: The Economy of the Ale House
Works Cited
Chapter 3: Reconstructing Medieval Gruit Beer: Separating Facts from Fiction
The Importance of Gruit
Assumption and Misidentification
The Alternate Ingredients
Hopped Beer and the Gruit
Narcotic Herbs and Adulterated Beer
The Elusive Ingredient of Gruit
Conclusion
Works Cited
Chapter 4: Baptized by Beer: Continuity and Change in the Religious Use of Alcoholic Beverages in Medieval Norway and Iceland
Works Cited
Part II: Nostalgias
Chapter 5: Codex Cervisarius: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Medievalism of Craft Beer in Quebec and Ontario
Introduction: Manufactured Brewing Histories
Navigating Nostalgias and Inebriate Myth-Making
Nostalgic Medievalisms in Ontario and Quebec
Medieval-Nostalgic Breweries
Brimstone Brewing Company (Ridgeway, ON)
Microbrasserie Kruhnen (Blainville, Quebec)
Colonist-Nostalgic Myths: Historical Brewing in Ontario and Quebec
Colonist-Nostalgic Breweries
Unibroue (Chambly, Quebec)
Lake of the Woods (Kenora, Ontario)
Sincerity and Irony of Nostalgic Magpies
Mill Street Brewery (Toronto, Ontario)
Bellwoods Brewery (Toronto, Ontario)
Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company (Vanleek Hill, Ontario)
Brasseurs du Monde (Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec)
Conclusion
Works Cited
Chapter 6: Nostalgic Medievalism in the 1642 and 1646 Versions of the Ex-ale-tation of Ale
The Ex-ale-tation of Ale as Traditional Song
Early to Late Medievalism in the Ex-ale-tation
Gambrivius: A British Beer Icon?
Scots and “Heather Ale”
Ale, Beer and Prejudice
Conclusion
Works Cited
Chapter 7: Latvia’s Labietis: Modern Craft Brewing Across the Pagan–Christian Threshold
Introduction
In Paganorum Frontaria: A Brief Historical Background on Faith and Identity in Latvia
The Craft of Labietis: Drawing on the Past, Brewing for the Future
A Medieval Mouthfeel? Gustatory Lessons in Latvian History
Beyond the Beer: Labietis’ Medievalism on Display
Works Cited
Chapter 8: “God Wotte What Liquor”: Brewing History and Memory in Early Modern England
Reforming Ale and Beer in Early Modern England
Historical Brewing and Brewing Historicism in Early Modern England
Cider, Climate, and Arboreal Transformation in Early Modern England
English Brewing, National Character, and International Trade
Material Culture and Early Modern Brewing Histories
Works Cited
Part III: Gender
Chapter 9: Playing with Vikings: Ludic Medievalism and Craft Beer’s Transformation of the Norsemen
Pop-Culture Vikings
The Ugly Side of Viking Medievalism: Misogyny and White Supremacy
Craft Beer and Vikings
Viking Heritage and History in Craft Breweries: Community and Belonging
Works Cited
Chapter 10: From Tapsters to Beer Wenches: Women, Alcohol, and Misogyny, Then and Now
Misogyny and Drink Work in Late Medieval England and Scotland
“The comyn tapster of Bury”: Transgressive Sexuality and Misogynist Hostility
“Serve Me, Wench!”: Contemporary Tapsters and Misogynist Medievalism
Works Cited
Chapter 11: Devil’s Brew: Demons, Alewives, and the Gender of Beer in the Chester Harrowing of Hell and Contemporary Craft Beer Branding
The Damned Alewife
The Demons of Craft Brewing
Conclusion: Toward a More Inclusive Craft Beer Industry
Works Cited
Part IV: Communities
Chapter 12: The Wonders of Ebrietas: Drinking and Drunkenness in Old English and Anglo-Latin Riddles
Works Cited
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Chapter 13: Alcohol, Community, and Chaucer’s Pardoner: Ale as a Populist Antidote to Alienating Avant-Gardism
Simultaneous Love and Rivalry Under the Sign of Ale: Of Ale-Stakes and Tale-Telling
When the New Jet Meets the Old: Harry, Populism, and the Pardoner’s Opting for Ale
Undone by Temporariness: The Dramatic Failure of the Pardoner’s Ale Outreach
Works Cited
Chapter 14: “Harsh, Violent, and Muddy,” or Ale, Wine, and Liquor in Adam Thorpe’s Hodd
Introduction
Medievalism and Neomedievalism of the Novel
The Oldest Robin Hood Tradition: Fasting and Praying, Feasting and Drinking
Degeneration and Disgust in Hodd: Filth and Sensory Descriptions of Corruption
Hodd as Bacchus
“So Coarse of Word and Ill-Smelling with Sweat Corrupted by Her Scaled and Glimy Produce”: Social Status and Gender
Reversed Pastism
Works Cited
Chapter 15: Afterword
Works Cited
Index
