Beer and other fermented alcoholic beverages have a long history. For ritual, for recreation, or for a myriad of other reasons, alcohol has shown its importance in cultures throughout time and space. It helped with having a renewable, potable water source, as a method of preserving and utilizing grains during off-growing seasons, and a method in connecting with the non-human world. And my goodness, my Guinness, does it taste like the nectar of the gods when done well. The debate between what came first - beer or bread - will likely last into perpetuity, but in either case it’s an easy path to Grain+Water+Preservatives+Yeast = "That’s tasty, let’s keep doing that thing."
So then how did it come to be that being a not-male, while at the same time liking, knowing about and being ever-curious about beer (a typically working-class-male aligned drink) became deviantized for others?
Who or what gets to decide when something is made “deviant” in society? Is it criminality or unlawfulness? When do such laws get "approved" and consequently upheld? Is deviance just “being weird” or something that seems off from what society has deemed as “typical”? It can be difficult to form a singular definition of what we consider outliers, because it depends on what a group finds valuable.
While there are few things that we can agree on that are deviant, such as someone who causes another harm, there are more that are not agreed on and even more that are tacit or underlying in daily life in various cultures around the world. There is an ever-changing set of rules and definitions of what any society or culture finds “normal” and what we don’t. But! Is it really the masses that decide? Rather, this idea of deviance and conformity is more often determined by those in power (or those with a cult of personality wishing to gain more power). Yes, we may have power in numbers, but this doesn’t necessarily equate to being able to make rules etc. Think of it in terms of what you get to wear to work in an office. Like, if you were told on your first day of work not to wear purple, and no one in your office wears purple, you probably wouldn’t veer off the norm (even though purple is your favourite color, and you really really really want to wear it - I mean it kind of defines your personality - but maybe you’ll just settle for purple underwear and socks). You may even come to realize over months that a whole group of you loves purple, except The Boss, and so now no one gets to wear it because of one person's vendetta against Barney.
And of course, look at how piercings and tattoos were viewed a century ago, versus now. In many places it wasn’t “illegal” or against a set of laws, but was ostracized (and more strictly where there were religious standards, for example). But nowadays, if you don’t have something poked or inked when you imbibed too much at a far-away-land music festival, you might stand out.
So, let’s take this concept of deviance and shift back a few hundred years, specifically to the widespread panic surrounding witchcraft. Throughout much of Europe, from East to West, North to South, there appears to have been a fairly wide consensus that people, mostly women in most countries, were outright worshiping, serving, romancing (and otherwise canoodling…) the Devil (as well as those that were even rumored or thought to) - these were ultimate baddies. But what if they were just bad asses instead? What if the narrative was built by those in power, who simultaneously wanted to tarnish the reputations of those who they felt threatened by?
Fast-forwarding from pre-history and into the archaeological record, paint a little Bob-Ross picture with me: brewing was considered kitchen (read: women’s) work until very recently. Because of its close affiliation to standing over a hot stove, and doing some often-boring measuring, heating, stirring and testing, it was part of the banal chores, such as baking bread or sweeping - and not considered a working man’s task. While it is noted that women are often portrayed in historical depictions as making beer, such as in ancient Egyptian or Mayan civilizations, it’s been relatively more recently that we’ve gotten the short end of the mashing paddle. When we start to focus on Western and then Global North culture, especially Europe during the Middle Ages (let’s say around 1400-1700 CE), we see something quite sinister occur when it comes to pushing women out of the brewing world by deviantizing the feminine overall (however, it should be noted many cultures origin stories have Woman being the ever curious, dangerous side of humanity e.g. Eve, Pandora etc).
From the late 1400s to the 1700s, there are estimates of about 40,000-100,000 or more deaths of those considered to be witches. They can now be recognized to be scapegoats for many of society’s social issues which were poorly understood at the time, such as poor harvests, infected grains, vermin infestations, disease spreading, poor weather etc. One major societal issue that often gets tossed to the wayside, is that witches were a symbol for a rising European phenomenon: the independent woman. Mid-wives, herbalists, the sexually active (especially those without the desire to procreate), brewsters…they were all part of the problem (If that’s the case sign me up for the Devil May Care membership, sounds like a fun group). But you read that right - brewsters. It’s not just an OG Edmonton brewery, but also a term steeped in historical tradition for women who (often professionally) brewed beer.
So keep in mind, little if any evidence was required to publicly out someone as a witch. I mean the devil isn’t just taking out classified ads in the Goody Tribune: “WANTED: one fine Beelzebub Bae”. Instead, it was more about luring children to make into stews and then consume, making potions to seduce the townsfolk and other secretive, soul-tainting hobbies. When someone was accused of being a witch (male or female - yes, there were both, but women got the brunt of the bad public rap) a trial was typically held to you know…be fair..or see reason… or something (we roll eyes here). The formal trials relied on witness' testimony (sometimes a jilted lover, sometimes a jealous "friend", industry competition), hearsay, social relations and jury decisions, and straight up confessions under torture. So yeah, if someone just didn’t want you putting their lackluster Oyster Stout to shame anymore with your epic English Mild you could easily be “taken care of” by a couple of lax accusations and finger pointing. And the way out of an accusation? Usually a double-edged sword (not literally, but…who knows, considering the Witch’s Chair or Scold’s Bridle - look em up if you dare): most claims were unfalsifiable (there’s no way to prove that Goody Smith wasn’t drinking a dry, full bodied red and stargazing with Satan…), and most “tests” to prove you weren’t slow dancing with the Devil to the medieval version of Six Pence None The Richer would lead to death, even if you were “innocent”.
Take the “swimming test” as one of the more famous examples. I would get into it here, but typing “Witch Swimming Test” into ye olde Google machine will tell you everything ridiculous about “logic” and reasonable doubt.
But! I hear you cry, what about the males of the community who might have stood against such obviously discriminatory behavior toward the innocent-but-odd independent woman? What about those who just wanted to drink a good brew? Well, thanks to legislation, such as The Witch’s Hammer (1487), any claims that tried to refute those thought to be witches were immediately discredited, called on for heresy, blasphemy, deemed suspicious, and often brought to trial themselves as being in league with the accused/Devil.
The concept of witches depicting savagery toward humans, such as casting spells, eating human flesh etc. was influenced by other multiple European folklore, such as vampires, werewolves and peoples from the Americas deemed “Other”. Add to this the concept of visual images spreading via new technologies like printing - so creating more vast differences from oral literary tradition. The images of the witch and her violence towards the physical human body during these centuries were symbolic to concerns and anxieties of the social, religious and political body and fears over potential disintegration. This meant that violent reactions were to stopping said witches, thought to overcome “morally righteous' ' societies at the time, was for the benefit of everyone. This was in addition to the growing divisions within Europe (especially between Flemish, Dutch and French), as well as the growing prosecution of infanticide (relates to the often-named connection between witches and young children). Dismemberment and destruction of bodies through cannibalism seemingly symbolized the exploitation of the human body, along with the reduction of the Christian identity during the centuries in question. Cannibalism was one of the markers of those foreign (read: non-European) lands, who did not appear civilized. Over all, this stereotypical image of a witch often contradicts the typical image of women at this time: while she was feminized, even sometimes overtly sexualized, the witch is not nurturing or life-giving and does not express sorrow over dead children (those often specified as the victims of witches in visual images at this time). The threat of witches is said to be associated more with an inner-societal anxiety, than from external forces. It’s interesting how a narrative can be co-opted by different interested parties. Say you were a brewster making a good side hustle at the local market. You brewed the best English Mild and you were rated 5 pineapples on the most popular town hall poster board in the land.
Now take the idea that alcohol is heavily intertwined with religious ritual, that alcohol intoxicates or bewitches, and that the local group of up-and-coming brewers want to remove the competition from their market share.
It would have been fairly easy to besmirch a reputation at the time, no less that of a woman, or a single woman. Much of how witches were labeled and treated came from the grand narrative medieval religious approach to mental disorders as well. The medicalization of mental disorders began centuries ago in Europe, where religious discourse dominated and shaped treatment. Many conditions and their symptoms were thought to be tangible signs of the devil, via possession and/or allegiance. “Madness” was seen as a moral issue, and thus required religious punishment for a sin, and a renewed test(s) of faith and character.
There were remedies thought to work at the time, such as Galen’s Theory of the Four Humors, though of course these were more one-off flukes, if they ever did truly work.
By the 18th century, there were still remnants of religiously inspired witch hunts, but scientific explanations for behaviours started to replace religious ones. As time moved on into more recent centuries, the concept of having to “tame” the afflicted through trial and punishment shifted to shutting many away in “madhouses'' and “workhouses” became a newer form of medicalization. This would continue until the start of the “deinstitutionalization movement” of the 1960s. Unfortunately the methods and ideals of a witch and her* behavior was already in the widespread cultural lexicon.
*Accusations of witchcraft were heavily in womens’ direction. While some men did get accused of practicing, here is one of the most blunt examples of the marketing/smear campaign working against a specific group.
Reputation meant everything back in the years before anonymity, when you lived and worked in a small square kilometer area for your entire life. If your name was tarnished, it would have been difficult to carry on day to day necessities, such as finding work, going to religious ceremonies etc.
This Early Modern era of Europe was rife with religious protocol in even minute parts of life.
The trial of witches was overall, throughout countries and time, a battle for power. Those who had it were afraid of losing it, and those who wanted it knew how to denigrate those they believed would become too powerful. Women who worked in beer were cultural icons of their time. Brewing not only for their homes and families, but also for their communities and often for their local markets. Nowadays, many women working in the beer industry are still often mocked and brushed aside (we got over fear and ridicule…but it feels like tomato-tomato tbh), either way this one of the world's most widespread smear campaigns worked better than Goodman Whatshisname ever thought.
Don’t get me wrong though, there were many reasons why people were persecuted and accused of witchcraft during this time. From accidentally eating or serving infected grains, a persecution of midwives, and classic ol’ misogyny, women were held to a set of power dynamics constantly shifting, and a panic about witchcraft allowed for an easy outlet from those willing to utilize it.
The stigma and fear of witches, for whichever reason individuals were labeled as such, moved more into folklore and urban legend in recent centuries, but to this day has a firm grasp on their tacit marginality on society, and women’s space on the margins of beer.
