Bonus: A Pint-Sized History of Beer and Brewing in the Low Countries

Why did the Dutch drink almost four times as much beer in the fifteenth century as they do today? Why would the Beer Drinking War be a better name for The Eighty Years War? And why is the longest-standing beer in Belgium not as old as the brewers want us to believe? Pour a glass of your favourite brew and join on a historic journey of beer and brewing in the Low Countries. Proost!

Enjoy this bonus episode of History of the Netherlands, made in conjunction with Ons Erfdeel. Check out www.the-low-countries.com for the high road to Dutch/Flemish culture.

Sources

Germania by Tacitus

Beer in the Middle Ages and Renaissance by Richard Unger

The Embarrassment of Riches by Simon Schama

A History of Beer and Brewing by Ian S Hornsey

The History of the Beer and Brewing Industry by Ignazio Cabras and David Higgins

Lost Beers: https://lostbeers.com/the-original-17th-century-tripel-karmeliet-recipe/

Sobering Anxieties: Alcohol, Tobacco and the Intoxicated Social Body in Dutch Painting During True Freedom, 1650-1672, by David Beeler

How Beer Created Belgium (and the Netherlands): The Contribution of Beer Taxes to War Finance during the Dutch Revolt by Koen Deconinck, Eline Poelmans and Johan Swinnen