English ale and brewsters - Lecture 3

This video discusses the history of beer in medieval England: women who brewed, major changes in the aftermath of the Black Death, and by the lecture’s end, England will have adopted the use of hops and men will be the primary producers of beer in the kingdom.

[@woodynightshade2285]

Is there any record of when the malting process was first understood by Europeans? I would imagine that it probably happened by accident, with some farmer roasting barley to arrest the grain's beginning to germinate, after having become wet.

[@HopsandHistory]

What I can say is that ancient people in Sumeria and Egypt understood the malting process. They didn't have scientific language to describe it, but they understood the mechanics of soaking grains so they sprouted and stopping that process with heat. When I think about European malting, the English were the first maltsters to use coke instead of firewood as the heat source for drying the malt. That was a big advance since firewood imparted undesirable smells to the malt. Those advances are well-documented.

[@stuartjackson8091]

They invaded as much as migrated, well they just invaded, like Europeans have in the Americas.