ABOVE ALL

From the introduction to Country House Brewing in England 1500-1900:

To what extent, for example, was beer a staple drink at different times and for different classes of people? Did household beer retain its appeal longer for country households than others? Can we see in their accounts illustrations of the process by which beer-drinking moved away from being a staple to its more modern position as a luxury? Were drinking patterns episodic or daily? Were servants restricted to weak beer or were they allowed stronger drink? Were there other issues of gender or status which divided beer-drinkers? To what extent was the beer allowance system supervised? Who were the brewers? Were they male or female? What were the reasons for building private brewhouses? Were they provided by only the wealthiest country house owners? Why did they bother to make their own beer when they could have bought in their supplies? More technically, when did permantent built-in boilers become coommon? Or when did hand pumps begine to lighten heavy labour? Or lead-linings come to the 'aid' of hygiene? Today we accept almost without question a picture of brewing in the past as being a highly seasonal activity; is this accurate? Above all, how strong was the drink, how much did people drink -- and were they in a permanent alcoholic haze?

THE NUT-BROWN ALE

Cup found in the ruins of glastonbury abbey

The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
Puts down all drink when it is stale!
The toast, the nutmeg, and the ginger
Will make a sighing man a singer.
Ale gives a buffet in the head,
But ginger under-props the brain;
When ale would strike a strong man dead
Then nutmeg tempers it again.
The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
Puts down all drink when it is stale!

John Marston (1575?-1634)

OBJECTIONS TO BREWING SMALL BEER FROM THE HOPS AND MALT LEFT AFTER BREWING STRONG

Having occasion to dine at a large country inn, in a market town, I requested some small beer in preference to strong. Judge my surprise, when I was informed that there was none to be had, except a pale sort in butts, which, I was told, they sold at the same price as strong. Judge my surprise, when I was informed that there was none to be had, except a pale sort in butts, which I was told, they sold at the same price as strong. Of this, nevertheless, I called for a pint, but could not drink it, for I found it to have been brewed from the malt and hops left from the brewing of strong beer, and boiled with the latter, which had communicated such an unpleasant earthy taste to it, as well as an unwholesome quality, that I could not touch it.

Drink brewed in this manner, I am enabled to distinguish in the dark, if I only taste it, by the earthy, phlegmatic nature of the refuse grains and hops it is made from; for after the malt has been washed with several parcels of hot water, to make strong beer with, what can remain in the grains but much earth? for it is the floury spirituous parts of the malt that are first extracted. And another evil, not less pernicious, is that of adding the refuse hops, which often go through two or several violent boilings in strong beer wort, before the are used for small beer; and the what else remains in them but a rank, ill-tasted bitter, which when mixed in a great degree with such cloudy small-wort, is enough to turn one's stomach, instead of recruiting nature; and which according to the opinion of our eminent physicians, corrupts the blood, cloys the stomach, and brings on sickness.

W. Brande's cites an unnamed individual in his 1830 work The Town and Country Brewery Book, who makes some good points about the production of small beer. It would be good to hear a counter argument, but it's hard to imagine he is wrong, particularly about the reuse of hops.

THE GREATEST CALAMITY

The dark time between the 18th and 21st Amendments

They brewed for other countries as well as their own, and for the small beer they sent abroad, received large returns of Westphalia hams, neats' tongues, hung beef, and Bolonia sausages, red herrings, pickled sturgeons, caviare, anchovies, and everything that was proper to make their liquor go down with pleasure. Those who kept great stores of small beer by them without making use of it were generally envied, and at the same time very odious to the public, and nobody was easy that had not enough of it come to his own share. The greatest calamity they thought could befall them, was to keep their hops and barley upon their hands, and the more they yearly consume of them, the more they reckoned the country to flourish.

Continuing from Bernard De Mandeville's Parable of Small Beer.

MIDGET BREWERY

All the operations of a modern beer-making plant are carried out in a working model eight feet high and covering an area of less than five square feet, recently completed for Birmingham University, England. Call the world's smallest brewery, the miniature establishment will test hops, barley, and yeast, and carry out experiments in brewing research. The model consists of four independent units, capable of producing one gallon of beer apiece from each brew. Brewing conditions in any given plant may be simulated, and it is possible to duplicate any local variety of beer or ale.


From Popular Science Magazine, February 1936. No doubt we are still benefiting from the noble knowledge gleaned from this miniature establishment.

A CURIOUS SURVIVAL

A curious survival of an old-time institution exists in some remote places in England, viz., the official ale-taster. The ale-taster takes an oath to "try, taste, and assize the beer and ale put on sale" in his district "whether the same be wholesome for man's body." The old ale taster's method of "analyzing" beer for the purpose of detecting the addition of sugar to the liquor was rather primitive. Like most men in those times, he wore leather breeches, and, when he went to test the ale for the presence of sugar, a pint of fluid was spilt on a well-cleaned bench, and the taster sat upon it till it dried. if, on rising, the seat of the breeches stuck to the bench, then sugar was present, but if not the beer was pure.

From Popular Science Magazine, September 1879.

A PARABLE OF SMALL BEER

Beer cans forming garage gutter and downspout

In old heathen times there was, they say, a whimsical country, where the people talked much of religious, and the greatest part as to outward appearance seemed really devout: the chief moral evil among them was thirst, and to quench it a damnable sin; yet they unanimously agreed that every one was born thirsty more or less: small beer in moderation was allowed to all, and he was counted an hypocrite, a cynic, or a madman, who pretended that one could live altogether without it; yet, those who owned they loved it, and drank it to excess, were counted wicked. All this while the beer itself was reckoned a blessing from heaven, and there was no harm in the use of it: all the enormity lay in the abuse, the motive of the heart, that made them drink it. He that took the least drop of it to quench his thirst, committed a heinous crime, whilst others drank large quantities without any guilt, so they did it indifferently, and for no other reason than to mend their complexion.

From A Parable of Small Beer by Benard De Mandeville.

A PANEGYRIC ON OXFORD ALE

Balm of my cares, sweet solace of my toils,
Hail Juice benignant! o'ver the costly cups
Of riot-stirring wine, unwholesome draught,
Let Pride's loose sons prolong the wasteful night;
My sober ev'ning let the tankard bless,
With toast embown'd, and fragrant nutmeg whiffs
Tobacco mild improves. Divine repast!
Where no crude surfeit, or intemperate joys
Of lawless Bacchus reign; but o'er my foul
A calm Lethean creeps; in drowsy trance
Each thought subsides, and sweet oblivion wraps
My peaceful brain, as if the leaden rod
Of magic Morpheus o'er mine eyes had shed
Its opiate influence. What tho' for ills
Oppress, dire want of chill-dispelling coals
Or chearful candle, (fave the make-weight's gleam
Haply remaining) heart-rejoicing ALE
Chear the fad scene, and every want supplies.
Meantime, not mindless of the daily task
Of Tutor sage, upon the learned leaves
Of deep SMIGLECIUS much I meditate;
While ALE inspires, and lends its kindred aid,
The thought-perplexing labour to pursue,
Sweet Helicon of Logic! But if friends
Congenial call me from the toilsome page,
To pot-house I repaire, the sacred haunt,
Where ALE, thy votaries in full resort,
Hold tires nocturnal. In capacious chair
Of monumental oak and antique mould,
That long has stodd the rage of conquering years
Inviolate, (not in more ample chair
Smoaks rosy Justice, when th' important case,
Whether of hen-roost, or of mirthful rape,
In all the majesty of paunch he tries)
Studious of ease, and provident, I place
My gladsome limbs; while in repeated round
Returns replenish'd, the successive cup,
And the brisk fire conspires to genial joy:
While haply, to relieve the ling'ring hourse
In innocent delight, amusive Putt
On Smooth joint-stool in emblematic play
The vain vicissitude of fortunes shews.
Nor reck'ning, name tremendous, me disturbs,
Nor, call'd for, chills my breasts with suddent fear;
While on the wonted door, expressive mark,
The frequent penny stands descib'd to view,
In snowy characters and graceful row.--
Hail, TICKING! surest guardian of distress!
Beneath they shelter pennyless I quaff
The chearful cup, nor hear with hopeless heart
New oysters cry'd:-- tho' much the poet's friend,
Ne'er yet attempted in poetic strain!--
Nor proctor thrice with vocal heel alarms
Our joys secure, nor deigns the lowly roof
Of pot-house snug to visit: wifer he
The splendid tavern haunts, or coffee-house
Of JAMES or JUGGINS, where the grateful breath
Of loath'd tobacco ne'er diffus'd its balm;
But the lewd spendthrift, falsely deem'd polite,
While steams around the fragrant Indian bowl,
Oft damns the vulgar sons of humbler ALE:
In vain-- the Proctor's voice arrests their joys;
Just fate of wanton pride and loose excess!
Nor less by day delightful is thy draught,
All-pow'rful ALE! whose forrow-soothing sweets
Oft I repeat in vacant afternoon,
When tatter'd stockings ask my mending hand
Not unexperience'd; while the tedious toil
Slides unregarded. Let the tender swain
Each morn regale on nerve-relaxing tea,
Companion meet of languor-loving nymph:
Be mine each morn with eager appetite
And hunger undiffembled, to repair
To friendly buttery; there on smoaking cruft
And foaming ALE to banquet unrestrain'd,
Material breakfast! Thus in ancient days
Our ancestors robust with liberal cups
Usher'd the morn, unlike the squeamish sons
Of modern times: Nor ever had the might
Of Britons brave decay'd, had thus they fed
With British ALE improving British worth.
With ALE irriguous, undismay'd I hear
The frequent dun ascend my lofty dome
Importunate: whether the plaintive voice
Of laundress shrill awake my startled ear;
Or barber spruce with supple look intrude;
Or taylor with obsequious bow advance;
Or groom invade me with defying front
And stern demeanour, whose emaciate steeds
(Whene'er or Phoebus shone with kindler beams,
Or luckier chance the borrow'd boots supply'd)
Had panted oft beneath my goring steel.
In vain they plead or threat: All-pow'rful ALE
Excuses new supplied, and each descends
With joyless pace, and debt-despairing looks:
E'en SPACEY with indignant brow retires,
Fiercest of Duns! and conquer'd quits the field,
Why did the gods such various blessings pour
On hapless mortals, from their grateful hands
So soon the short-liv'd bounty to recall?--
Thus, while improvident of future ill,
I quaff the luscious tankard unrestrain'd,
And thoughtless riot in unlicens'd bliss;
Suddent (dire fate of all things excellent!)
Th' unpitying Barfar's cross-affixing hand
Blasts all my joys, and stops my glad career.
Nor now the friendly pot-house longer yields
A sure retreat, when night o'ershades the skies;
Nor SHEPPARD barbarous matron, longer gives
The wonted trust, and WINTER ticks no more.
Thus ADAM, exil'd from the beaueous scenes
Of Eden griev'd, no more in fragant bow'r
On fruits divine to feash, fresh shade or vale,
No more to visit, or vine-mantled grot;
But, all forlorn, the dreary wilderness,
And unrejoicing solitudes to trace:
Thus too the matchless bard, whose lay refounds
The SPLENDID SHILLING'S praise, in nightly gloom
Of lonesome garret pin'd for chearful ALE
Whose steps in verse Miltonic I pursue,
Mean follower, like him with honest love
Of ALE divine inspir'd, and love of song.
But long may bounteous Heav'n with watchful care
Avert his hapless lot! Enough for me
That burning with congenial flame I dar'd
His guiding steps at distance to pursue,
And sing his favorite theme in kindred strains.

By a Gentleman of Trinity College. I have trouble following some of this, but from what I gather this guy really likes beer.

LAMBS WOOL

An Ale Wife

Lambs Wool is merely a variety of the Wassail Bowl, and although not common in Oxford, is a great favourite in some parts of England. The following is the origin of the term Lambs Wool, as applied to this particular beverage. Formerly the first day of November was dedicated to the Angel presiding over fruits, seeds, &c. and was therefore named La mas ubal, that is, The day of the apple fruit, and being pronounced lamasool, our country people have corrupted it to Lambs Wool.

Lambs Wool was anciently often met with in Ireland, but is now rarely heard of in that country, having been entirely superseded by the more intoxicating liquor called Whiskey.

Recipe.

Mix the pulp of a half a dozen roasted apples with some raw sugar, a grated nutmeg, and a small quantity of ginger. Add one quart of strong ale made moderately warm. Stire the whole well together, and, if sweet enought, it is fit for use.

The mixture is sometimes served up in a bowl, with sweet cakes floating in it.

FAMILIAR LETTERS OF JAMES HOWELL

James Howell leaning against a tree

It is without controversy that in the nonage of the world, men and beasts has but one buttery, which was the fountain and rive, nor do we read of any vines or wines till two hundred years after the flood; but now I do not know or hear of any nation that hath water only for their drink, except the Japanese, and they drink it hot too; but we may say that whatever beverage soever we make, either by brewing, by distillation, decoction, percolation, or pressing, it is but water at first; nay, wine itself is but water sublimed, being nothing else but that moisture and sap which is caused either by rain or other kind of irrigations about the roots of the vine, and drawn up to the branches and berries by the virtual attractive heat of the sun, the bowels of the earth serving as an alembic to that end, which made the Italian vineyard-man (after a long drought, and an extreme hot summer which had parched up all his grapes) to complain, `For want of water I am forced to drink water; if I had water I would drink wine'. It may also be applied to the miller when he has no water to drive his mills.

The vine doth so abhor cold, that it cannot grow beyond the 49th degree to any purpose; therefore God and nature hath furnished the north-west nations with inventions of beverage. In this island the old drink was ale, noble ale, than which, as I heard a great foreign doctor affirm, there is no liquor that more increaseth the radical moisture, and preserves the natural heat, which are the two pillars that support the life of man. But since beer hath hopped in amongst us, ale is thought to be much adulterated, and nothing so good as Sir John Oldcastle and Smugg the smith was used to drink. Besides ale and beer, the natural drink of part of this isle may be said to be metheglin, braggot, and mead, which differ in strength according to the three degrees of comparison. The first of the three which is strong in the superlative if taken immoderately, doth stupefy more than any other liquor, and keeps a humming in the brain, which made only one say, that he loved not metheglin because he was used to speak too much of the house he came from, meaning the hive. Cider and perry are also the natural drinks of parts of this isle. But I have read in some old authors of a famous drink the ancient nation of the Picts, who lived betwixt Trent and Tweed and were utterly extinguished by the overpowering of the Scot, were used to make of decoction of flowers, the receipt whereof they kept as a secret and a thing sacred to themselves, for it perished with them. These are all the common drinks of this isle and of Ireland also, where they are more given to milk and strong waters of all colours. The prime is usquebagh, which cannot be made anywhere in that perfections, and whereas we drink it here in aqua-vitae measures, it goes down there by beer-glassfuls, being more natural to the nation.

So rambles James Howell the 17th century historian in a letter "To the Right Honourable the Lord Cliff" in 1634. The thesis of which appears to be that each region of the world has a natural alcoholic drink of its own (except for Japan). I think it's a good thesis. The letter goes on and on, and we may yet come back to it.

BROWN BETTY

BROWN BETTY

Dissolve a quarter of a pound of brown sugar in one pint of water, slice a lemon into it, let it stand a quarter of an hour, then add a small quantity of pulverized cloves and cinnamon, half a pint of brandy, and one quart of good strong ale; stir it well together, put a couple of slices of tasted bread into it, grate some nutmeg and ginger on the toast, and it is fit for use. Ice it well and it will prove a good summer, warm it and it will become a pleasant winter, beverage. It is drank chiefly at dinner.

It seems, perhaps, we have lost a great deal of knowledge on the mixing of beer. The above recipe is from the 1847 catalog of cocktails Oxford Night Caps, A Collection of Receipts for Making Various Beverages by Richard Cook.

TEWAHDIDDLE

The Black Boy Inn

TEWAHDIDDLE.

A pint of table beer (or ale, if you intend it for a supplement to your "night-cap"), a tablespoonful of brandy, and a teaspoonful of brown sugar, or clarified syrup; a little grated nutmeg or ginger may be added, and a roll of very thin cut lemon peel.

Obs.-- Before our readers make any remarks on this composition, we beg of them to taste it; if the materials are good, and their palate vibrates in unison with our own, they will find it one of the pleasantest beverages they ever put to their lips,-- and, as Lord Ruthven says, "this is a right gossips' cup, that far exceeds all the ale that ever MOTHER BUNCH made in her lifetime."-- See his Lordship's "Experiments in Cookery," &c., page 215. 180mo. London, 1654.

FLIP

Keep grated ginger and nutmeg with a little fine dried lemon peel rubbed together in a mortar.

To make a quart of flip:-- Put the ale on the fire to warm, and beat up three or four eggs with four ounces of moist sugar, a teaspoonful or grated nutmeg or ginger, and a quartern of good old rum or brandy. When the ale is near to boil put it into one pitcher, and the rum and eggs, &c., into another; turn it from one pitcher to another till it is as smooth as cream.

OLD BOSTON TAVERNS AND TAVERN CLUBS

The Royal Exchange Tavern, State Street

The famous remark of Louis XIV., "There are no longer any Pyrenees," may perhaps be open to criticism, but there are certainly no longer any taverns in New England. It is true that the statutes of the Commonwealth continue to designate such houses as the Brunswick and Vendome as taverns, and their proprietors as innkeepers; yet we must insist upon the truth of our assertion, the latter of the law to the contrary notwithstanding.

No words need be wasted upon the present degradation which the name of tavern implies to polite ears. in most minds it is now associated with the slums of the city, and with that particular phase of city life only, so all may agree that, as a prominent feature of society and manners, the tavern has had its day. The situation is easily accounted for. The simple truth is, that, in moving on, the world has left the venerable institution standing in the eighteenth century; but it is equally true that, before that time, the history of any civilized people could hardly be written without making great mention of it. With the disappearance of the old signboards our streets certainly have lost a most picturesque feature, at least one avenue is closed to art, while a few very a ged men mourn the loss of something endeared to them by many pleasant recollections.

The above, taken from Walter K. Watkins' 1917 work, Old Boston Taverns and Tavern Clubs, only makes me think we had lost our way terribly indeed somewhere there in the midst of the industrial revolution. Long live the tavern!

ALE POSSETT

Mug House

ALE POSSETT.

Boil a pint of new milk with a slice of toasted bread, sweeten and season a bottle of mild ale in a china basin or dish, and pour the boiling milk over it. When the head rises serve it.

LIKE DRINKING IN A CORNER

Henri Mission covers everything about England from drinking healths to debauchery and whores

Whereas in France drinking of Healths is a Custom almost out of Date among People of any Distinction, it being equally impertinent and ridiculous;, here, on the contrary, it still subsists in its full Strength. To drink at Table, without drinking to somebody's Health, especially among middling People, would be like drinking in a Corner, and be reckon'd a very rude Action. There are two principal Grimaces which are universally observ'd, upon this Occasion, among Persons of all Degrees and Conditions: The first is, that the Person whose Health is drank, if an Inferior or even an *Equal, must remain as still as a Statue while the Drinker is drinking. If, for Instance, you are about to help your self to something out of the Dish, you must stop suddenly, lay aside your Fork or Spoon, and wait without stirring any more than a Stone till the other has drank: After which, the second Grimace is to make him a low Bow, to the great Hazard of dipping your Peruke in the Sauce upon your Plate. I own, that to a Stranger these Customs seem ridiculous; he thinks nothing can be more pleasant than to see a Man that is just going to chew a Mouthful of Victuals, cut a Piece of Bread, wipe his Fingers, or any Thing of that Nature, in a Moment put on a grave serious Face, keep his Eyes fix'd upon the Person that drinks his Health, and grow as motionless as if he were taken with an universal Palsy, or struck with a Thunderbolt. As Civility absolutely requires this respectful Immobility in the Patient, so there is some Caution to be used on the Part of the Agent: When you would drink a Man's Health, you should first keep your Eye upon him for a Moment, and give him Time, if possible, to swallow his Mouthful, that you may not reduce him to perplexing and uneasy Necessity of putting a sudden Stop to his Mill, and so fitting a good while with his Mouth cramm'd with a huge Load of Victuals, which commonly getting all to one Side, raises his Cheek as high as an Egg, so forming a large kind of a Wen, often shining with Grease, equally distorted and unseemly. The usual Kick is, for the Men** to drink the Women's Health, and the Women the Men's; and if any one in Company should break this Law, 'twould be reckon'd intolerable Rudeness.

* Unless they live together in a very great Familiarity.
** Upon some certain Occasions they drink round

Now we are getting somewhere. The above, from Henri Mission de Valbourg's 1719 work, M. Misson's Memoirs and Observations in his Travels over England with some Account of Scotland and Ireland, originally published in French and translated to English by Mr. Ozell, give us our first real glimpse it what drinking healths was really about at that time. Obviously, this was not a custom to be taken lightly and there was a great deal of formality and civility about it.

This gives some perspective on why someone who was concerned about the practice for reasons of religion or public safety would feel the need to rail so intensely against it. It seems they were fighting quite an uphill battle indeed.

As a side note, I quite like that at least by translator Mr. Ozell, the person being drunk to is the "Patient" and the drinker the "Agent".

SOCIAL INTERCOURSE

An automatic beer truck

The latter days are but a repetition of the former. `As it was ... so shall it be also. They did eat, they drank.'

Social life is intimately connected with the social or festive board; in short, with eating and drinking, because these are a necessity of nature. Other customs and habits may be fleeting, but men must eat, men must drink. Food ministers not only to the principle of life, but to that of brain force also. Thought is stimulated, activity is excited, man becomes communicable. He then seeks society and enjoys it. Thus has social intercourse gathered round the social board. Eating and drinking are two indispensable factors in dealing with the history of a nation's social life. Adopting the adage by way of accommodation, `In vino veritas,' truth is out when wine is in, once know the entire history of a nation's drinking, and you have important materials for gauging that nation's social life.

So does Richard Valpy French continue in his introduction to Nineteen Centuries of Drink in England.

CONDENSED BEER

Novel containers for beer

A process for condensing beer, recently patented in England, is described as follows in the English Mechanic: Beer or stout is taken at any stage of fermentation, though the process is better applied when it is fit for drinking, and evaporated in a vacuum-pan until it becomes a thick, viscous fluid. The alcohol and water of course pass off in vapor, which, in turn, is condensed in a receiver, and the alcohol recovered by redistilling the liquid. This alcohol may be mixed again with the condensed beer. By this process of condensation, the beer is reduced to one-eight or one-twelfth of its original bulk, and as the fermentation is suspended by the heat employed, the condensed mixture will keep in any climate for any length of time. The process of reconverting the mixture into beer is also a simple one, consisting merely in adding the bulk of water originally abstracted, and setting up fermentation again by the use of a small quantity of yeast or other ferment. Within forty-eight hours the beer may be drawn from the tap for use, or bottled in the ordinary way; or, without using any ferment, the beer may be bottled, and charged with carbonic-acid gas.

From The Popular Science Monthly, December, 1875. This doesn't seem like a very good idea, but I supposed it is encouraging that they knew they'd need to save the alcohol.

THE HAPPY FELLOW

Advertisement for an ale yeast with many alleged health benefits

With my jug in one hand, and my pipe in the other,
I drink to my neighbour and friend;
My cares in a whiff of tobacco I smother,
For life, I know, shortly must end.
While Ceres, most kindly, refills my brown jug,
With good ale, I will make myself mellow;
In my old wicker chair, I will sear myself snug,
Like a jolly and true happy fellow.
Like a jolly, like a jolly, like a jolly and true
happy fellow.

I'll ne'er trouble my head with the cares of the nation,
My own being all I need mind,
For the cares of this life are but grief and vexation,
To death we must all be consign'd.
Then I'll laugh, drink, and smoke, and leave nothing to pay,
But drop, like a pear that is mellow,
And, when cold in my coffin, I'll leave them to say,
"He' gone! What a hearty good fellow!"

English poetry.

DRINKING HEALTHS RUSTIC DARK ALE

First pour of Drinking Healths Rustic Dark Ale

This is the first of Drinking Healths' line of "historic Ales and Porters."

Though we'll be taking inspiration from a range of historical sources, English and American, we start by considering a modern offering from right here in 21st century Boston. Pretty Things' Saint Botolph's Town Rustic Dark Ale has to be poured and tasted to be believed. We thought we'd do something of a tribute to the concept without trying to clone it exactly, because, well, you can just drink it directly for that.

And indeed the first pass at our version of a rustic dark is ready for drinking. Made with light and dark malt extract, decoction mashed with a blend of dark and crystal malts, roasted barley and malted oats, boiled with a modest quantity of Kent hops, chaptalized with dark sugars and molassess, open fermented in Boston air with a mix of English and Belgian ale yeasts, and finally dry conditioned with a small amount of Sovereign hops, the resultant dark, silky ale weighs out at 6.6% ABV.

Be sure to ask a Drinking Healths staff member for a 22 oz. sampler bottle!

ALE-HOUSES ARE HELL-HOUSES!

The Green Dragon Tavern, Boston

And, Oh! that the drinking-houses in the town might once come under a laudable regulation. The town has enormous number of them; will the haunters of those houses hear the counsels of Heaven? For you that are the town-dwellers, to be oft or long in your visits of the ordinary, 'twill certainly expose you to mischiefs more than ordinary. I have seen certain taverns, where the pictures of horrible devourers were hanged out for the signs; and, thought I, 'twere well if such signs were not sometimes too significant: alas, men have their estates devoured, their names devoured, their hours devoured, and their very souls devoured, when they are so besotted that they are not in their element, except they be tipling at such houses. When once a man is bewitched with the ordinary, what usually becomes of him? He is a gone man; and when he comes to die, he will cry out, as many have done, "Ale-houses are hell-houses! ale-houses are hell-houses!" But let the owners of those houses also now hear our counsels. "Oh! hearken to me, that God may hearken to you another day!" It is an honest, and a lawful, though it may not be a very desirable employment, that you have undertaken: you may glorifie the Lord Jesus Christ in your employment if you will, and benefit the town considerably. There was a very godly man that was an innkeeper, and a great minister of God could say to that man, in 3 John 2, "Thy soul prospereth." O let it not be said of you, since you are fallen into this employment, "Thy soul withereth!" It is thus with too many: especially, when they that get a license perhaps to sell drink out of doors, do stretch their license to well within doors. Those private houses, when once a professor of the gospel comes to steal a living out of them, it commonly precipitates them into an abundance of wretchedness and confusion. But I pray God assist you that keep ordinaries, to keep the commandments of God in them. There was an Inn at Bethlehem where the Lord JESUS CHRIST was to be met withal. Can Boston boast of many such? Alas, too ordinarily it may be said, "there is no room for him in the Inn!" My friends, let me beg it of you, banish the unfruitful works of darkness from your houses, and then the sun of righteousness will shine upon them. Don't countenance drunkenness, revelling, and mis-spending of precious time in your houses; let none have the snares of death laid for them in your houses. You'll say, "I shall starve then!" I say, "Better starve than sin:" but you shall not. It is the word of the Most High, "Trust in the Lord, and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed." And is not peace of conscience, with a little, better than those riches that will shortly melt away, and then run like scalding metal down the very bowels of thy soul?

What shall I say more?

Cotton Mather, going on a rant, in Magnalia Christi Americana.

IN PRAISE OF ALE

Table

TIME out of mind, Beer has been the National Beverage, and its history, as embodied in songs and stories, will give a fair reflex of the manners and customs of the various periods at which they were written. I had intended originally to have classified my facts and fancies in a very severe manner, after the style of the Learned Smelfungus or Dryasdust, but I found objections to that plan. To have made my facts as bald as billiard balls, and have arranged them in parallelograms, would have deprived them of much of their charm. A book like this does not come under the hard and fast laws of editing, or the strict canons of criticism, but is rather like a song, without beginning or ending-- a book to be taken up at odd moments, and opened at any page, without undue strain on the reader's consecutive attention.

From the preface of "In Praise of Ale" or "Songs, Ballads, Epigrams, & Anecdotes Relating To Beer, Malt, And Hops," "With Some Curious Particulars Concerning Ale-Wives and Brewers, Drinking-Clubs and Customs," collected and arranged by W. T. Marchant, 1888.

Aside from the fantastic title and great opening paragraph, I suspect we'll be citing this source quite regularly here at Drinking Healths. And about that opening paragraph: we will be attempting to channel exactly that sentiment going forward.

RELATING TO MEMORY HEALTHS

Pouring malt liquor upon the ground in remembrance

If instead of drinking in remembrance of him, CHRIST had by express and positive institution appointed Pouring wine upon the ground for the same purpose; would you then pour wine upon the ground by way of Remembring any other other person whatsoever, absent or departed?

That which shews the aptness of the Supposition, I make use of is, that both Drinking, and Libation, or pouring wine upon the ground, were commonly among the Heathen performed in honour of their Deities; in a grateful remembrance of their Benefactors, and departed Heroes; for the Health of their Kings and Emperors; and to the Success of publick and private affairs, as is fully shewn in the late book upon Healths above-mentioned.

But now under the Gospel, the Action of drinking in Remembrance, and not that of Libation, is by the Wisdom of GOD made choice of, to express our grateful and thankful commemoration of CHRIST; it is adopted into Christianity for the worship, the most solemn worship of the true GOD. Whether he had appointed the one or the other, our obligation to the performance had been the fame; and if he had appointed Libation, all the arguments we should have used with respect to the Sacredness of the action; the consequences drawn from applying it to civil use; the horror we should have conceived from any misapplication of it to a meer man, are all now applicable to the action of Drinking in Remembrance, which CHRIST hath made choice of, and actually appointed; and therefore ought to touch our consciences as feelingly.

On that supposition, pouring wine on the ground would have been the Sacramental action; and the performance of it by way of Honour, or Praise, or Thankfulness, or Remembrance in the mind, would have been the most solemn act of Divine worship; and to be performed with the fame concurring action of the mind and with that intent or purpose, to none by CHRIST, as GOD: And therefore performing that Action in Honour, or Gratitude, or Remembrance of any absent or departed Friends or Benefactors, you would pronounce Profane, Sacrilegious, and Idolatrous.

The above is from John Floyer's "Question I" in his "Letter to a Reverend Gentleman" previously discussed here at Drinking Healths.

The gist of it is, memory healths, whether in the form of raising a toast for a loved one who has passed, or pouring malt liquor on the ground in the name of dead homies in the ground, are sacrilegious because they are a form of false idol worship.

Given this, he despairs terribly that the practice of drinking healths has caught on with Christians at all:

Now do but transfer with me the same reasoning and language to that other action of drinking to any of these purposes, and then we shall alike wonder how Healths should ever have obtained so generally among Christians; however they might prevail among Turks, and Jews, and other Infidels.

Nonetheless, he is still very aware of the common doubts people might express of his opinion. He next addresses those in two "Objections" to his own argument and further responds to those with his own retorts. We will take a look at these objections and responses in a future posts.

ON HOSPITABLE THOUGHTS INTENT

Satan

It must interest every thoughtful being to know how our national life and national customs have come to be what they are. They have not sprung up in a night like a mushroom. They have been forming for ages. Each day has contributed something. The great river of social life, ever flowing onward to the ocean of eternity, has been constantly fed by the tributaries of necessity, appetite, fashion, fancy, vanity, caprice, and imitation. Man is a bundle of habits and customs.

With some, it is true, life is mere routine, a round of conventionalities; literally `one day telleth another;' with others, each day is a reality, has its fresh plan, is a rational item in the account of life. To these nothing is without its meaning; there is a definiteness, a precision, about its hours of action, of thought, of diversion, of ministering to the bodily claims of sustenance by eating and drinking. Around the latter, social life has fearfully encircled itself. The world was, and still is, -- `On hospitable thoughts intent.'

The above, taken from a tome which I suspect we will cite often here at Drinking Healths, is one Richard Valpy French's 1884 work, Nineteen Centuries of Drink In England.

THE LATE DISCOURSE UPON HEALTHS

John Floyer Believed Fervently In The Benefits Of Cold Baths

Back in England, right around the time of Cotton Mather's death, the issue of drinking healths was being addressed as well. On July 24, 1728, influential physician John Floyer (who popularized the practice of taking pulses as well as being an early advocate for the merits of cold baths) published an open letter on the subject entitled, "A Letter to a Reverend Gentleman in Oxford, on the Subject of drinking Healths." From the introduction of that letter:

The late discourse upon Healths, which you are pleased to mention with so much approbation, being in the hands of few persons about you; and some of those not having leisure or inclination to afford it a ferious and attentive perusal: and because, as you farther intimate, there is no end of disputing upon this subject in common conversation; I have therefore contracted the substance of a longer reasoning into two short questions, with some remarks upon them. These you may make use of upon occasion, and communicate to such of your acquaintance as are in any disposition to be convinced of how great consequence it is to sink a pernicious custom; which is not only evil in the nature of the thing, but hath been subservient to the vileft purposes, no less than the safe and ready venting and encouraging a great variety of abominable wickedness under colour and disguise.

So John Floyer has given the matter a "ferious" and "attentive" perusal and has very much come to the conclusion that it is a destructive custom that encourages "abominable wickedness", despite the ongoing debate about the matter in common discourse. Further, he intends to present his arguments as to why he believes this in two separate questions along with remarks upon them which can then be used as arguments against those that would dispute the ill nature of the practice. We will consider these arguments in separate future posts.

COTTON MATHER

Cotton Mather's Encounter With Tibuta in the Salem Woods

In the previous post, we cited Cotton Mather's eminent work, Magnalia Christi Americana, in English usually given as The Ecclesiastical History of New England. It may be interesting too, to get a glimpse of what the man himself, who has been called the "keeper of the Puritan conscience", thought of the matter of drinking healths and more generally tavern culture at large. We won't get a full answer yet, but what small glimpse into his life we may will help set the stage for future exploration.

Barrett Wendell, in his biography of the aforementioned Puritan, published in 1891, Cotton Mather, the Puritan Priest, gives as an example of his good humor, the following anecdote in Mather's own words:

"a company of vain, wicked men, having inflamed their blood in a tavern at Boston, & seeing that reverend, meek, & holy minister of Christ... coming along the street, one of them tells his companion, `I'll go', saith he, `& put a trick on old Cotton.' Down he goes, & crossing his way, whispers these words into his ear: `Cotton,' said he, `thou art an old fool.' Mr. Cotton replied, `I confess I am so: the Lord make both me & thee wiser than we are, even wise unto salvation.'"

It's worth noting, perhaps, that when Cotton uses the word vain to describe these men, he likely does not mean they were having or showing undue or excessive pride in their appearance or achievements like some kind of colonial metrosexuals, but rather that they were irreverent and blasphemous and that they were living meaningless lives and that they likely were doomed to suffer in hell for all of eternity.

So these drunk troublemakers go a play a "trick" on old Cotton which culminates in telling him he is an "old fool". It's not clear if there was more to the trick than that. But as thoroughly humorous as the manner in which Cotton dealt with these men may have been, citing the Lord in the way that he did, it provides more a testament to Cotton's faith in his Calvinist way of living than it does illuminate his views on drinking culture. He may have found these men "wicked" and "vain", but that is well short of a complete denunciation of taverns or the tavern goers of the day.

We'll have to come back to Cotton Mather, perhaps after sketching in a little more detail some of the relevant contours of the time in which he lived.

DRINKING HEALTHS

John Winthrop

Here at Drinking Healths, we'll explore the spirit of our namesake custom, from cutting edge grog culture here in the New World to England's traditions of yore.

We begin with our Massachusetts Bay Colony founder John Winthrop's view on the matter. From Cotton Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, on the subject of Governor Winthrop's view on drinking healths:

There was one civil custom used in (and in few but) the English nation, which this gentleman did endeavor to abolish in this country, and that was the usage of drinking to one another. For although by drinking to one another, no more is meant than an act of courtesy, when one going to drink does invite another to do so too, for the same ends with himself; nevertheless the Governor (not altogether unlike to CLEOMENES, of whom it is reported by PLUTARCH he never urged the unwilling to drink,) considered the impertinency and insignificancy of this usage as to any of those ends that are usually pretended for it; and that it indeed ordinarily served for no ends at all, but only to provoke persons unto unseasonable and perhaps unreasonable drinking, and at last produce that abominable health drinking which the fathers of old so severely rebuked in the Pagans. Wherefore, in his own most hospitable house he left it off; not out of any silly or stingy fancy, but merely by his example a greater temperance, with liberty of drinking, might be recommended, and sundry inconveniences of drinking avoided. And his example began to be much followed by the sober people in this country until an order of Court came to be made against that ceremony in drinking, and then the old wont violently returned with a Niti mur in Vetitum.