Behind the Brew: the process of beer production in early medieval Ireland, AD 400-1100

Alcohol fermentation has been utilised by peoples across the globe, despite differences in environments, cultures, societal structures, economies, and broader foodways. In early medieval Ireland (AD 400-1100), alcohol, particularly beer, was central to hospitality, social gatherings and banquets, the payment of labours, food rent, and the inauguration of kings. Much of our understandings about the role of beer is derived from the early Irish literature of this period, but these records do not provide sufficient details about how beer is produced from start to finish. The process of brewing and how it can be archaeologically identified represents a significant gap in knowledge. Therefore, this thesis study developed a model for identifying evidence for beer by further investigating brewing as a process. The brewing process requires a suite of suitable objects and containers i.e., the brewing kit. Each stage of brewing, e.g., harvesting, malting (germinating then drying cereal grains), crushing or grinding, cooking (or mashing/steeping), straining, and alcoholic fermenting, has the potential for forming archaeological evidence. The challenge is determining how a particular region was brewing and then what potential by-products of this process are likely to survive archaeologically. The archaeological evidence then has to be assessed to determine how much evidence for brewing is present. This thesis study undertook the challenge of the archaeological identification of beer by examining brewing through a multi-disciplinary approach. The understandings gained from disciplines apart from archaeology helped develop a theory for the Irish brewing style including the brew kit and the by-products of brewing. The thesis investigated brewing from the perspective of the physical, chemical, and biological changes which are necessary to produce beer and the variations on the basic stages of brewing. This included an in-depth investigation of the brewing process through contemporary brewing science (i.e., zymology) and international practices of brewing. Early medieval Irish written sources were also drawn upon. A critical examination was undertaken of how the early Irish literature has been utilised while highlighting aspects which could be gauged through further archaeological investigation. Integrating perspectives from disciplines other than archaeology helped develop a more robust theory for the Irish brewing style including the the brew kit and the by-products of brewing. By focusing on the brewing process this thesis study was able to put forward several archaeological sites as having evidence for brewing. Furthermore, it was able to highlight early medieval Ireland as a rich culture where beer played a significant role within the broader foodways.