This uses a much stronger alcohol % for beer than I’ve read previously. Many sources have put “small beer” (ie the weakest, and drunk through most of the day) at 0.5-2%. I only saw mention of the...
This uses a much stronger alcohol % for beer than I’ve read previously. Many sources have put “small beer” (ie the weakest, and drunk through most of the day) at 0.5-2%. I only saw mention of the medium and strongest beers.
Other than that quite an interesting article (a tip: if you get the pop up urging you to subscribe, x out and click the link again - it disappeared for me and I could read it normally).
It’s my understanding that above ~3.0% ABV the alcohol will have more of a dehydrating effect than the hydration of the water present in the beer, so your small beer percentages make sense for...
It’s my understanding that above ~3.0% ABV the alcohol will have more of a dehydrating effect than the hydration of the water present in the beer, so your small beer percentages make sense for something that was drank all day.
An effect of advancing technology that I didn't see mentioned is reliable access to clean drinking water. Modern sewer infrastructure developed roughly congruent to the same period, and so I...
An effect of advancing technology that I didn't see mentioned is reliable access to clean drinking water.
Modern sewer infrastructure developed roughly congruent to the same period, and so I wonder if that had an impact.
The "drinking beer because water is unsafe" seems to be largely a myth. Most people going back to the middle ages seemed to have access to clean drinking water, and wasn't the main reason they...
The "drinking beer because water is unsafe" seems to be largely a myth. Most people going back to the middle ages seemed to have access to clean drinking water, and wasn't the main reason they would drink beer.
This is the crazy thing about human history, to me. For my entire life I've been told about the importance of having access to clean drinking water, staying hydrated, drinking 8 glasses of water a...
This is the crazy thing about human history, to me. For my entire life I've been told about the importance of having access to clean drinking water, staying hydrated, drinking 8 glasses of water a day, and so on. I think of it as a base necessity for human survival. I take it for granted.
And then I read things like this that say that for essentially all of recorded history our ancestors were at least mildly buzzed, basically all the time. It kind of calls into question everything I think I know about important historical figures, and intellectual movements and the like. How much clarity of thought were our forebears actually able to muster? How did anyone get anything meaningful done? How was fetal alcohol syndrome not rampant? (Or was it?)
It does help explain some historical atrocities though, I guess. The absolute brutality of history 500+ years ago makes a little more sense if the marauders were just completely plastered all the time.
I don’t know if you know many alcoholics, but for people who are drinking all day every day they really don’t come across as “drunk” most of the time. Technically they are, but they’re usually not...
I don’t know if you know many alcoholics, but for people who are drinking all day every day they really don’t come across as “drunk” most of the time. Technically they are, but they’re usually not stumbling around and are often not noticeably impaired with thinking either, especially if they’re drinking something that is very low % at a steady rate through the day rather than pounding back spirits. As I said above some of the beer was as low as 0.5%, which in many countries can be labeled “non-alcoholic”
Tbf the “hydro homie drink 8 glasses of water” thing is mostly a placebo and doctors say that you can hydrate yourself to healthy levels by drinking when you’re thirsty. That being said, it’s...
Tbf the “hydro homie drink 8 glasses of water” thing is mostly a placebo and doctors say that you can hydrate yourself to healthy levels by drinking when you’re thirsty. That being said, it’s harmless.
More people had access to clean-ish water than you’d think. There’s a reason so many ancient cities were built near rivers. There was not as much chemical contamination then as well, so boiling was more effective.
This uses a much stronger alcohol % for beer than I’ve read previously. Many sources have put “small beer” (ie the weakest, and drunk through most of the day) at 0.5-2%. I only saw mention of the medium and strongest beers.
Other than that quite an interesting article (a tip: if you get the pop up urging you to subscribe, x out and click the link again - it disappeared for me and I could read it normally).
There's also a button on the popup to not subscribe. It's just not an x in the top right.
Oh thanks, I missed that!
It’s my understanding that above ~3.0% ABV the alcohol will have more of a dehydrating effect than the hydration of the water present in the beer, so your small beer percentages make sense for something that was drank all day.
That’s interesting, I’ve never seen the percentage where it crosses that line!
An effect of advancing technology that I didn't see mentioned is reliable access to clean drinking water.
Modern sewer infrastructure developed roughly congruent to the same period, and so I wonder if that had an impact.
The "drinking beer because water is unsafe" seems to be largely a myth. Most people going back to the middle ages seemed to have access to clean drinking water, and wasn't the main reason they would drink beer.
https://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/dispelling-some-myths-dirty-water-drink-beer
https://www.lancasterbrewery.co.uk/news/why-everyone-in-england-drank-beer-for-breakfast
Well, there you go. Thank you for sharing!
This is the crazy thing about human history, to me. For my entire life I've been told about the importance of having access to clean drinking water, staying hydrated, drinking 8 glasses of water a day, and so on. I think of it as a base necessity for human survival. I take it for granted.
And then I read things like this that say that for essentially all of recorded history our ancestors were at least mildly buzzed, basically all the time. It kind of calls into question everything I think I know about important historical figures, and intellectual movements and the like. How much clarity of thought were our forebears actually able to muster? How did anyone get anything meaningful done? How was fetal alcohol syndrome not rampant? (Or was it?)
It does help explain some historical atrocities though, I guess. The absolute brutality of history 500+ years ago makes a little more sense if the marauders were just completely plastered all the time.
I don’t know if you know many alcoholics, but for people who are drinking all day every day they really don’t come across as “drunk” most of the time. Technically they are, but they’re usually not stumbling around and are often not noticeably impaired with thinking either, especially if they’re drinking something that is very low % at a steady rate through the day rather than pounding back spirits. As I said above some of the beer was as low as 0.5%, which in many countries can be labeled “non-alcoholic”
Tbf the “hydro homie drink 8 glasses of water” thing is mostly a placebo and doctors say that you can hydrate yourself to healthy levels by drinking when you’re thirsty. That being said, it’s harmless.
More people had access to clean-ish water than you’d think. There’s a reason so many ancient cities were built near rivers. There was not as much chemical contamination then as well, so boiling was more effective.