Hoib's Dump #25 Continued: "Beer and Marriage"
Alewifes and Honeymoons.
You're probably thinking that the connections between a wedding and drinking will be limited to the usual drunken carousing that you see at most weddings today. This is certainly part of it but there is more to it than you may know. Whether it's the broken glasses at a Jewish wedding or the traditional series of champagne toasts, there is usually some kind of ceremony steeped in alcohol.
Besides fishermen and Bostonians, the term 'alewife' is one that many people don't dwell on too much. It's either a kind of fish or the end of the red line of the Boston mass transit system. However, For those who are familiar with the history of brewing it refers to the female brewers who were typically responsible for the small batches that sustained households, villages and clans. Beer was preferable over water because of the unknown contaminants that lurked in water versus the beer sanitized by boiling and fermentation. Hence it was very important to have an alewife of quality in your family or village. This of course gives new meaning to the typical husband's "beer me" request to his wife.
When people got married in Olde Englande ('e's make words look olde), a special beer would be made by the bride in preparation for her wedding feast. This beer would be above average when compared to the typical brews of the day in recognition of the special occasion. The beer was called 'Bride Ale" and gives us the word 'bridal' as we use it today. Coincidentally, Mike, the groom this weekend, is a homebrewer who will be serving his own beers at the reception. An odd reversal of roles in light of the 'bride ale' tradition but hey, these are very different times. Regardless, you can be sure that I'll have one in hand when I make my dreaded toast.
One of the oldest traditions associated with weddings gives us the term 'honeymoon'. Originally it referred to the cycle of the moon following a wedding when the newlyweds were given mead to drink every night. The practice was thought to induce fertility, whether they believed that the mead had a biological or social effect is anyone's guess but the practice was followed faithfully. Mead, a brew made from fermented honey, is a cousin to beer and in olde times was more commonly drank. Its production is very similar in that you take a sugar, add yeast, water and some flavor and let it ferment. The mead drank during the honeymoon was often a gift from local rulers as part of their obligation to their subjects. If only that idea hadn't gone out of style?
As you can see, many of the wedding traditions we have today and indeed some of the terms we use have their root in beer and drinking. We all have great stories about getting drunk and having a great time at weddings. In fact for some of us we may have had our first drunken experiences at weddings when older cousins and uncles fed us beers on the sly. Whatever the case, you can take comfort in the fact that the practice is not a new one. For each drunk wedding guest out there today, there are thousands of years worth of predecessors.
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread
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