Brewing & beer - archaeologically speaking

Feasting in the Bayeaux Tapestry

You probably know that the English people drank quite a lot in medieval times – but did you know that it is estimated that in 1300 an average man drank nearly a gallon of beer per day?  People across Europe drank heavily in the era – the Vikings of Scandinavia have been described as, ‘men of some thirst’ – but England in particular was known at the time for her peoples’ heavy consumption of food and beer, and the church didn’t approve.  Bishop Wulfstan in 1014 blamed overeating and drinking for the fall of all England. Aside from medieval monasteries, the majority of beer was brewed in homes, domestically. Who made this homespun beer? The medieval surnames ‘maltster’ and ‘brewster’ are in the female form, indicating that nearly all home-brewing was conducted by women! 

Anglo-Saxons drank an awful lot of beer. We know from historical records that they even allowed children to drink a weakened version. A good host was one whose guests left with the smell of beer on their breath.

We often hear people say that drinking beer was safer than drinking water but recent research has claimed that water in the era was mostly safe to drink – the Anglo-Saxons just liked ale – on an ‘oceanic’ scale!

Image from Wikipedia

The stages of beer making have remained mostly unchanged for thousands of years. The key ingredients for beer are a starch source, normally cereal grains, water and herbs (for flavour and their preserving qualities). Modern brewers almost always use barley for their cereal source, and hops as a flavouring and preservative. Let’s look first at the stages of beer making and then think about how Anglo-Saxon brewing differs from modern brewing in some really significant ways.

Stage 1. Soak the cereal grains in water

Stage 2. Lay out the wet grains to germinate (tiny roots and shoots begin to grow from the grains) releasing enzymes inside the grains

Stage 3. After a few days, heat the grain to prevent further germination but not too hot so to retain the enzymes

Stages 1 to 3 are together called ‘malting’.

Stage 4. The grains are ground and added to warm water. The enzymes begin to break down carbohydrates and turn them into sugar.

Stage 5. Boil the mixture, adding herbs and yeast. The yeast converts sugars into alcohol. Hooray! You now have beer!

Which of the following ingredients did Anglo-Saxons use to flavour their beer?

• Hops
• Cinnamon
• Eggs
• Milk
• Fish

The Anglo-Saxons used a variety of ingredients to flavour beer, including nettles and pine resin and yes, eggs and milk! They did not use hops. Hops benefit the beer with flavour but also preservative qualities. Without hops, the Anglo-Saxon beers would have had a short shelf-life so quick consumption would be encouraged. Beer without hops would have tasted much less bitter and medieval beers would have differed from area to area depending on local availability of different herbs.

It is very hard to find structures used to make beer because most equipment would be wooden and just not preserve in the ground. However, archaeologists can interpret much from archaeobotanical remains. If plants get burned or dried or waterlogged they can be preserved for thousands of years. Hannah is always very excited to find burnt grains with little burnt shoots which, when associated with other remains, provide evidence of germinating at the beginning of the brewing process.

Hannah’s research at Sedgeford has revealed much about how beer was produced and consumed in this region during this time. From botanical remains found in the archaeological deposits, she can determine that the Anglo-Saxon owners of this site were mostly malting rye. This is an unusual finding for England where rye is very rare although it was commonly grown in medieval Europe – for bread as well as beer.  Rye would make a very cloudy beer because it is high in proteins. It could be that the bulk of the rye malt produced here was shipped to mainland Europe from the new international trading port at nearby Ipswich.

Hannah works with a flotation tank - charred or burnt plant remains float to the top and are collected in nets to dry for later analysis

A germinated archaeological wheat grain from Sedgeford. Photo by Hannah Caroe