Liquid Bread (beer as an essential part of daily life) Liquid Bread (beer as an essential part of daily life)
The return of Hopfen and Malz
Writing my previous post (Saints of the Suds #3) got me to thinking about the role of beer in our daily lives. It doing a little basic research into the history of beer consumption, there was a time in which beer held a much more prominent place in our daily lives. Today most people in our culture see beer as something recreational… something we indulge in when we knock off of work or when we are partying with friends on the weekend. How did this disconnect happen? Is it something we should continue to embrace?
I am sure that a sociologist/historian might be able to posit more in depth and/or more accurate theories. But you dear reader, are stuck listening to the babblings of a priest, which means your getting a religiously focused analysis. We can begin by blaming the Puritans, which I find to be an effective panacea in assessing any of our cultural woes. These are folk who, after falling victim to the religious intolerance of their mother country, flee and set up their own colonies in the New World. But do they learn from their harsh experience? Hardly. The New England colonies (with the notable exception of Rhode Island) were theocracies of the sort that would make the Taliban proud. All earthly pleasures were BAD and alcohol was one of the devil’s chief recruiting tools. We might summarize by saying that “All work and no play make Jack… a Puritan!”
The Methodists also played a hand. Founded by the brothers Wesley in response to profoundly deteriorating social conditions in the industrialized cities of England in the 1700, this movement did a lot of good for the people it tried to serve. However, since abuse of alcohol was one of the social ills it sought to remedy, it too tended to demonize the drink. As Methodism spread to the colonies and territories, they brought their morays with them and it definitely helped instill the view that alcohol was ungodly or immoral into a fair percentage of the populous.
Perhaps even more importantly than either of these socio-religious influences was the socio-economic influence of Prohibition which firmly established the rift we see today. Alcohol began illicit, both in terms of legality and in the minds of the public. It was something to be enjoyed only in speak-easies, something associated with the criminal underworld and with vice and corruption. Although this was short lived in terms of its legal life the impact on our culture was very long ranging. We see it still today in the limitations on beer and liquor advertisement, in blue laws and in dry towns and counties that are scattered across our nation (Don’t even get me started on Utah).
As a result of all these factors beer has been relegated from its rightful place as something that was once an assumed and natural part of life to the realm of vice. None of this is to deny the truth that there are some people who have a problem with drinking. Alcoholism is a very real addiction. But contrary to the intent, demonizing alcohol does not eliminate this problem. It could be argued that such an approach actually increases the percentage of drinkers who abuse alcohol.
If we are ever going to re-establish a healthy relationship with beer, we need to completely reassess how we view it. It begins by accepting that alcohol is not new. Fermented beverages have been cultivated and enjoyed for 10,000 years and by virtually every culture and people. For most of this period beer, wine and all other sorts of indigenous hooch had a rightful and respected place in daily life. In many places around the globe it is still enjoyed that way… I have see it first hand in my travels in Ireland, Germany and Japan and if you turn on any episode of No Reservations you can watch as Anthony Bourdain is offered all kinds of alcoholic concoctions as he samples daily life all around the globe… it is as natural and automatic a part of his welcome as the food he is offered.
I am not saying that unless you drink daily you are somehow repressed. But we need to stop feeling awkward or embarrassed about ordering a beer with lunch or having a beer or two with our supper. Our culture’s perspective on alcohol has been skewed. It is time we allowed beer to regain its place as positive and essential part of our daily lives.
