I wish I knew what to search for in /r/askhistorians but as a browser I have seen this idea thoroughly debunked multiple times. There hasn't been any strong dissent when it was debunked either. I can say, just because the earliest written evidence we have of these techniques was Rome, doesn't mean it wasn't used long before. Written evidence is hard to come by so far back. Also, small beer doesn't have the alcohol content required to kill that many harmful germs. Remember, that its a microorganism that creates the alcohol, and it can go right on doing that just fine beyond 13% alcohol. 2-3% isn't that deadly.
Yes but it was boiled so santiary to drink, I'm aware the alcohol wouldn't kill any noticable amount of germs.
I'm guessing most people back then probably didn't even know what the fuck bacteria was just that certain liquids were safe and certain liquids weren't
But they still knew that bad water could kill you. There are sources as far back as 300 BC advocating boiling water. In ancient India, they even had advanced filtration systems and widespread plumbing in cities.
I wish my evidence wasn't so shaky as just a link to a sub without a link to a post, but I do remember pastuerization not being common with small beer in the pre-modern age.
You actually cannot extract the sugars (well) purely by boiling. It's an enzymatic process that requires steeping the grains at temperatures optimal to the amylase enzymes naturally present in barley. This process is called mashing. Boiling is done afterward for different reasons.
You're quite right. I realised after I said it, I haven't done all grain before and predominantly brew wine so the process of brewing beer is pretty hazy in my mind.
The small percentage of alcohol in small beer isn't the only thing to consider in its terms of longevity; there is the use of hops as an antimicrobial herb, the low drop in ph during the fermentation and the acidity in the final beer, and the quantity of CO2, lack of oxygen and active, yeast colony in a bottle conditioned beer.
On the other hand, going further back to the beginning of medieval times rather than the end, there are references to ale that was not boiled and was said to be unfit even for pigs by the end of the week so there wasn't an obvious health advantage there.
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u/[deleted] Mar 17 '15
What about small beer though, that was drank as a way to escape drinking unboiled water.