Re: Live water thing... didn’t medieval Europeans drink wine and beer over water partly for safety? Or is that a just-so story?
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development of brewing is so widespread & early that it would be surprising if it weren’t nutrition/fun instead of just hygiene
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Well the safety affordable might have helped spread even if original invention was for fun.
Coffee started as a recreational upper before it turned into a productivity hack
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True. My Belgian family tell me that until recently a super-weak beer. I believe that one of the key moments in John Snow's early epidemiology was related to monks in London drinking beer (and not getting cholera) rather than pump water.
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Oops - interrupted tweet. Belgian beer (weak) served to school children within living memory I'm told.
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Absolutely not a just so story and still true in some countries with poor water like Haiti. The boiling at the very least in the creation of beer ensures its pretty safe compared to maybe-got-cholera water.
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TRUE. There were creatures in the water like cholera. Alcohol killed the little beasts.
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It’s BS from what I’ve read. I think it’s popular because we like to think of Middle Ages as a descent from Rome until Medici restoration.
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I must be wrong. But I thought the culture grew with sailors who needed a liquid that won't 'spoil' at sea or is potable as spoilt. The barrels worked.
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I thought so until recently. Here's an older article saying that beer was a source of calories. slate.com/blogs/quora/20
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