HERB - Timeline of Food

[Rhiannon Meaduewolf]

This is from my Laurel in brewing.  Enjoy!!!!
Rhiannon
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Hops were used in England for many years before 1525, they were just
illegal. This reference comes from a poem that tells that revolution and
hops came in the same year.  Andrew Boorde quotes it in his Doctor
Physike.

When ale was brewed in England, the popular stuff was made with a gruit
(herbs and spices) that the recipe for was a closely guarded secret.
The license was owned by the Catholic Church and dispensed by the
Guilds.  This represented a huge income for these institutions, so when
the Flemish showed up with hops, which worked better at preservation,
and made the beer even more palatable, the Bishops immediately made them
illegal to use in ale.  The fight was on, and hops are quite a bit like
kudzu, they grow prolifically just about anywhere.

This same fight was going on on the mainland also.  In Cologne it was
very well documented, and really quite fascinating.  Lord Dieter and I
had a wonderful time researching this for a talk he gave.  We may even
write something up for people to read.

As an aside, the Guilds caused London to just about double in size when
the Flemish were making this horrid stuff across the Thames where the
City Charter had no effect.  So the City was doubled in size to put them
out of business.  There were other reasons too, of course, but this was
the main one - greed.

When they finally accepted that hops were here to stay, they split the
Guild into two, one for Ale (no hops) and Beer (hopped).  The word Beer
comes from the German bier and was used to differentiate the use of
hops.  Today Ales are less hopped than beers, though this is not
universal.

As for the thought that hops were bad, I have a book from 1781 that
still denigrates hops!

Now, the use of hops in herbalism is mainly in their soporific
properties.  They are used in pillows to help a person sleep with nice
dreams.  Still are today.

Arundel

Reference:
>Hops introduced to England from Artois			1525



Doug Baden    My opinions are my own. 
When I see "And it is obvious that" I know that
I have many hours of work to see the obvious...


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