January 2016 Overconsumption

As we know beer was recommended as remedy for all kinds of illness and it's capability to help the sick was well known. If it was true or not that it acctually worked is a different matter, this is what people believed. Although it certainly helped in many cases since it contained things most people needed but didnt get enough of through their daily diet (unless they already drank their beer as they should).

Now, how about overconsumption and drinking more than what's good for you, did that ever happen? Absolutely! The beer that was recommended for medical purposes was usually rather weak, made from the second or even third mashing so that wouldnt have made you drunk or even intoxicated and thus not have the same ill effects as regular beer. But the consumption of regular beer increased and it was a cause for concern among people and it even went so far that William of Malmesbury wrote to pope Innocent III about overconsumption and his fear of what will become of his people if this wasnt handled properly. There are also records from the 8th century of Saint Boniface and Alcuin about the population was having problems with intoxication.

In the 10th century King Edgar, inspired by a monk named Dunstan, closed all alehouses except for one in each village. Now Dunstan wanted to close even more but that did not suit well with the people, not that closing that many alehouses was popular but it was doable, closing more was not. This was however something that was needed, to close that mane alehouses, since the damages done to people from drinking in excess over a long period of time is well known today but the knowledge was not as exstensive back then. If a person died due to heart failure because of excessive drinking for several years, well it was not certain that the doctors were able to determine the real cause for it. Also liver damage and other damage to internal organs was not easy to diagnose at that time, and knowing the cause of it was even harder.

Brewers wanted, however, people to keep drinking and to keep drinking the expensive and strong stuff since they could charge more for that type of drink. There are records from 1086 of beer where the mashing was done with beer instead of water. Imagine brewing a beer but instead of water you use already strong beer, the finished product of that is well something that would make your world spin. Now the rulers of the time was not slow to put more taxes on that, and also they realized that putting taxes on beer claiming that they are the good guys since they care about the people and not wanting them to die or become sick. After some propaganda it was quite easy to claim that the taxes was moraly right, making the people they ruled accept the taxes and the brewers situation became a delicate one as they wanted to sell beer but having to pay heavy taxes and perhaps not get the support from their customers as they might have wanted.