Ancient & Early Medieval Beer and Brewers

This digital talk by Professor Sarah E Bond from the United States examines a beverage that connects us across time and space: beer. It looks at the various types of beer and the evidence for brewers in the Ancient Mediterranean, with particular focus on the Roman Empire. From associations with “barbarity” in the Northern provinces to inscriptions citing female brewers, beer was a big part of commerce, labour, and trade in antiquity. Raise a glass and come on out to learn more about the archaeological, literary, and inscriptional evidence for the beverage to the transition into the Middle Ages.

Following Sarah's talk, Peter Philip, the founder of Wayward Brewing Company will give a 15 minute talk and tasting on a beer that Wayward have brewed based on the same techniques and ingredients used in the ancient brews made by the Romans. You will actually be able to taste an "ancient" beer served from a clay vessel. Peter will discuss the research that Wayward did with Prof Bond on ancient ingredients and the experiments that they undertook to recreate the ancient beer. During the Q&A you will also be able to enjoy a contemporary Wayward beer in case the ancient beer is not to your taste!

Sarah E Bond is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Iowa and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. She is interested in late Roman history, epigraphy, late antique law, Roman topography and GIS, Digital Humanities, and the socio-legal experience of ancient marginal peoples. She received her PhD in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2011) and obtained a BA in Classics and History with a minor in Classical Archaeology from the University of Virginia (2005). Her book, Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professionals in the Roman Mediterranean, was published with the University of Michigan Press in 2016. She is a regular contributor at Hyperallergic, a columnist at the Los Angeles Review of Books, and has written for The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Washington Post. Follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahEBond or read her blog, History From Below.

Peter Philip is the founder of Wayward Brewing Co which he started in 2012. Before starting Wayward, Peter travelled the globe in search of little-known beer styles and old-world brewing techniques. He loves the idea of beers that you can only find in one place, beer worth travelling for, and that mindset is really what Wayward is all about.

Header image: Model Bakery and Brewery from the Tomb of Meketre, Egypt, c. 1981–1975 BC. Thebes, Southern Asasif, Tomb of Meketre (TT 280, MMA 1101) . Metropolitan Museum of Art 20.3.12.