Brewers or….Witches?
Did you know that classic witch iconography comes from female brewers? I did not! Until I read this article, I never thought that beer and witches have a connection. The pointy hat, caldron, cats, and brooms all come from the image of female brewers. Up until about the 1500s, women were the ones in charge of brewing beer.
Beer has been such a common drink throughout history that it was just part of a wife’s ‘daily duties’ to ferment the beverage for their husband and family. Some women, often widowed or unmarried, would start a business selling their beer. They would wear large, pointy hats to crowded markets so customers could easily find them. They brought their brew in caldrons and would scoop it out to their customers with a ladle. When fermenting, the women would have to sweep up the grain - with a broom. Cats could often be found with female brewers to keep rodents out of their grain. Sound familiar?
Around the 1500s, a rumor was started that female brewers were in fact, witches. How did this rumor start? Male brewers. They didn’t want the competition anymore. Did they actually think female brewers were witches? Of course not! But the rumor took, and it quickly became dangerous for women to brew beer. Witchcraft was a really bad thing to be accused of, and would led to being banished from their community, prosecution, or even death (remember the Salem Witch Trials?). And thus, the male dominated beer industry was born.
Next time you head out to a brewery, I hope you have a new fun fact to talk about! And here’s a list of 40 women-led breweries to support, if you want to go back to the roots of beer brewing.
-Jess
Also, here are some of the female-led breweries and distilleries in the Twin Cities.