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were priestesses of the temple, thus connecting beer and religion for the first time. As monasteries took over the brewing of beer, women's involvement began to wane, and brewing became a male-dominated process. The monks were intensively concerned with making beer because they wanted a pleasant tasting, nutritious drink to serve with their meals, which could be lacking, especially during periods of fasting. As the consumption of liquids was not considered to break the fast, beer was always permitted. The consumption of beer in the monasteries reached astounding levels. In many monasteries, historians report that each monk was allowed to imbibe 5 liters of beer per day.
We can see in many paintings of the period that the monks enjoyed their beer, nonetheless, after a short time they began to brew more than for their own consumption. Upon payment of a fee, the monks received the right to sell beer and with this many monasteries developed into well managed commercial enterprises. The beer was sold in monastery pubs. Because the monasteries actively promoted beer brewing, their beer was of high quality and popular. After the Reformation and the weakening of the church, brewing became the responsibility of the commercial brewer. These "entrepreneur" brewers often brewed under "Royal" license and supplied the rising merchant class. Because people were inclined to support local endeavors, the art of brewing developed and became a respected trade.
The local sovereigns introduced beer taxes which rapidly began to add to their wealth. As the monastery pubs did not have to pay these taxes because of their older, privileged brewery status, they adversely affected this new source of income and many were quickly closed by the dukes and princes. Emperor Sigismund (1368-1437) was the first emperor to issue such a decree. Even though many monastery breweries were closed by the rulers, we owe much to the monks for being the first to scientifically develop the brewers' art. Monasteries had become the centers for brewing as a result of their already being the centers of learning and, as we know, because the local water supply was often contaminated, beer provided a safe drinking source and was promoted by the authorities. There was the low strength "everyday" beer and the higher alcohol beers brewed for special occasions. In the weddings of ancient England, a special "bride's ale" would be brewed for the bride by her family. The term "bride ale" became the present "bridal." Throughout the Middle Ages, hops became widely used as a way to make beer refreshing and also as a natural preservative. In fact, in France and Germany, hops were documented as being cultivated in the ninth century. Hops are said to have first been used to flavor beer in Brabant monasteries in what is now Belgium. This explains the legend falsely attributing the creation of beer to the Brabant king Gambrinus.
"In life be I called Gambrinus, King of Flanders and Brabant. I have made malt from barley and first conceived of the brewing of beer. Hence, the brewers can say they have a king as master brewer."
King Gambrinus is still revered today as the patron saint of beer. The use of hops in the making of beer started a "bitter" argument about the so-called Flavorings License ("Grutrecht" in old German). Grut was a mixture of all sorts of herbs used to flavor beer. The flavoring license was similar to a patent, allowing a brewery to produce its own flavoring mixture and became the legal basis for every brewery and ensured a monopoly position for the respective brew master. With the advent of hops as a flavoring, Grut was no longer necessary and therefore the monopoly position of the breweries were endangered. For this reason, the use of hops was often simply and forcibly forbidden. Among other things, juniper berries, sweet gale , blackthorn, aniseed, bay leaves, yarrow, thorn apple, gentian, rosemary, oak bark, wormwood, caraway seed, tansy, Saint-John's-wort, spruce chips, pine roots and henbane (the hallucinogen Alkaloid is produced from henbane during the brewing process.) found their way into these mixtures. Some of these herbs were poisonous. This could well be the reason that superstition played an important role around the brewing kettle. The main victims of this superstition were the Beer Witches.
Because things often went wrong with the beer brewing which nobody could explain with the body of beer brewing knowledge available in early times, the guilty parties were often sought in the mystical realm. Many wondrous herbs and cult objects still surrounded brewing kettles into the late middle ages. Superstition went so far that brewing failures were blamed on "brew witches" or "beer witches".
The last known burning of a "brew witch" took place in 1591. The end of this superstitious era came when the use of hops caught on. Even though often forbidden at first, this practice prevailed in the long run. For one thing, the beer became less perishable and the brewing process more stable because of hops. Things didn't go wrong as often and fewer witches had to be hunted.
With the use of hops the beer revealed its "clear character". Beer began to closely resemble the modern product range, both in taste and appearance. In order to guarantee a high level of reliability, quality and consistency, the Duke of Bavaria, Wilhelm IV, proclaimed the German Beer Purity Law (Rhienheitsgebot) in 1516. This decree established for the first time that only barley (later malted barley), hops and pure water could be used to brew beer.
The use of yeast was not yet known at that time. The success of the fermentation process was left to chance, as the brewers unknowingly relied on yeast particles in the air. Today this Beer Purity Law is the oldest still valid food law in the world. In the eyes of the European Union, however, this law was inhibitive to competition. Now, as a result of the EU ruling, beer may be imported into Germany which was not brewed in accordance with the Beer Purity Law, as long as this fact is clearly stated. The German brewers still abide by their centuries-old tradition. Of course the Beer Purity Law had its predecessors. A regulation promulgated in 1493 by the Duke of Bayers-Landshut, for example, stated that:
"Herewith shall beer brewers and others not use anything other than malt, hops and water. These same brewers also shall not add anything when serving or otherwise handling beer, upon penalty to body and chattels."
Together with the quality improvement, the distribution and export of beer also increased. The worldwide export was carried out by the Hansa of the Hanseatic League fame. As time passed, export took on an ever increasing role. Regular brewing centers developed. In the 14th century Bremen was the primary beer supplier for many countries. Hamburg also developed into one of these brewing centers. In 1500 there were 600 breweries in Hamburg alone. The Hansa even exported beer to far away India. In the small middle German and Maerkish (Brandenburg) communities of this period,
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