An alewife, also brewess or brewster, was a woman who brewed ale for commercial sale. Women have been active in brewing since before the process's industrialisation.
Etymology
The word "alewife" is first recorded in England in 1393 to mean "a woman that keeps an ale-house", synonymous with the word "brewster".
"Alewife" is now commonly used in translations of ancient texts to refer to any woman who brewed and sold ale dating back to the beginning of recorded history.
Background
Although the profession was later taken over by men, the original brewing profession back in ancient Mesopotamia was principally performed by women. The character of Siduri in the Epic of Gilgamesh appears as a divine alewife. Women also brewed the majority of ale for both domestic and commercial use in England before the Black Death, and some women continued brewing into the 17th century. Ale represented a key part of the medieval English diet as it was both the most affordable and clean beverage available. The precise amount of ale that was ingested daily is not known, but it appears to have...
H. Faust
on-lain ✔ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ
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