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Halloween is upon us 🎃, which means all beer lovers should lift a glass to witches!
Huh? That’s right…witches!
I may be feeling a bit “beer-centric” because of my long history with Anheuser Busch and recent experience in Pottsville (home of D.G Yuengling & Son and now daughters) but it’s time to set the record straight about brewing and the maligned women behind it.
Here is a wonderful article by Kharla Graham entitled “The truth about women and beer: witches”.
Graham takes us through the basics, beginning in the 15th and 16th centuries when the Catholic Church was enjoying a banner success of the Spanish Inquisition and looking to create a monopoly in brewing beer. She breaks down the basic “witch-essentials”:
Black hat – The brewer or “Aleswife” wore tall black hats so she could be easily found in crowds
Cat – Mice were commonplace in every household so having a cat, especially in a household that used grains and hops to brew, made sense.
Broom – In addition to tidying up the brewing area, it was used to signify beer was available for sale. The “alewife” or “beer witch” would place a broom (the symbol for domestic trade) outside of her house to denote she was open for business!
Caldron – Pre-crockpot era and standard cookware for the times!
The article (click here to read) explains how the Church community wrestled the lucrative brewing enterprise away from women and placed it into the hands of men of the Church.
So next time a witch comes knocking on your door, skip the Snickers bar and ask her what she is brewing.
Eastwick Solutions develops revitalization strategies for towns and municipalities, activates rivers and trails through recreation, education, and environmental programs to spur economic development in nearby towns, provides Main Street marketing to supplement existing staff, engages stakeholders of all levels to ensure buy-in and support, stimulates economic development strategies leveraging nature-based assets (rivers, trails, agriculture, events), designs and develops nature-based asset programming, events and activities to maintain engagement and build affinity, writes grants for project-related funding, and conducts asset assessments to build image, programs, and events around.
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