Give Women Brewsters their Due When It Comes to Making Good Brew (as in Beer, Baby, Beer!)

After drinking a can of beer recently I found out something interesting.

The name of the beer brand I imbibed was Ninkasi. 

The brewers knew that the name was after the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer, but it was news to me. I suspect there's a lot of other people blithely drinking it totally unaware (despite some packaging that says Goddess of Beer) of how clever the name really is.

I wonder how many people know that women were the original brewers. In ancient societies, brewing was often a domestic activity, with women responsible for collecting ingredients and brewing the beer. So, it's no surprise that the oldest known instructions for making beer are found in a religious hymn to Ninkasi.

"Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat; it is {like} the onrush of the Tigris and Euphrates."

The Sumerians believed Ninkasi oversaw the brewing process and "worked" as head brewer to the gods, who gifted beer to humans to preserve peace and promote well-being.

All that changed in the following centuries and in other societies when men started dominating all commercial and industrialized activity related to beer. Today beer is considered a stereotypical "manly" drink despite the fact that it started out as a feminine craft.

There are goddesses of beer in other countries too. In Baltic and Slavic mythology, a goddess named Raugutiene provides heavenly protection over beer. Finnish legend recounts that a woman named Kalevatar brought beer to earth by mixing honey with bear saliva. I'd like to know how she collected the bear saliva, but that's a thought for another day. Norsemen only allowed women to brew the "aul" that fueled their conquests.

German nunneries provided a rare shelter for single women to blossom as Brewsters (the feminine equivalent of a brewer) and botanists. 

It was St. Hildegard of Bingen who distinguished herself as the first person to publicly recommend hops as a healing, bittering, and preserving agent some 500 years before mainstream society took heed.

When the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock the first thing the men did was build permanent housing. Then they each built their wives a kitchen brewery. I bet they didn't teach you that in early American history in school. Married women homebrewed "small beer" which they supplemented with cider, to sustain their families.

By now you can see how women helped save the world by making beer since the dawn of civilization. They deserve equal credit with men when it comes to bragging rights in the art of making beer. Like many things in life, it takes two to Tango.

As it Stands, a beer in hand is worth two in the fridge.

Hair Today... Gone Tomorow

 
"Gimme head with hair

Long beautiful hair

Shining, gleaming,

Streaming, flaxen, waxen..."

from the play "Hair"

Males with long hair were a major societal controversy when I was a senior in high school in 1968. That same year the amazing play Hair opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on April 29th.

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical was controversial because it depicted counterculture themes, including drug use, nudity, sexuality, and an anti-war message. Everything about the play challenged the traditional values and norms of the time.

Following a Public Theatre concert in 2007, the 2009 revival of Hair opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on March 31st. It ran for 519 performances, concluding its run on June 27, 2010.

The nation was going through significant social and political upheaval, and the debut of the musical Hair was like pouring gasoline on a fire to the Pro-War stalwarts who saw long-haired hippies as a threat to everything they believed in. 

Most eating establishments turned away young long-haired men... unless they were rock stars with lots of money. 

Traveling in the southern states was perilous for long haired males and for anyone with California license plates, as my best friend Larry and I found out. We attempted to eat at a local restaurant in Georgia in 1968 and no one would serve us.

As we sat at the table it became apparent no one there was going to bring us a menu. Finally, a state trooper sporting a Smokey the Bear hat got up from the counter and slowly walked over to us. "We don't serve your kind here," he said with a lazy matter of fact drawl. 

As the decades slipped by, I watched as long hair was normalized. Fashions change. 

I get that. 

But who would have guessed that bald is now beautiful? 

Young men today are perfectly content with having no hair at all! I guess you could say I saw the whole spectrum of hair at its zenith (shining, gleaming, flaxen hair) to the complete opposite of gleaming craniums.

As it Stands, my takeaway from the musical Hair was it was about liberation and embracing one's hairstyle as their ultimate expression of freedom.

Garlic: The Marvelous Plant That Vampires Fear and is a Poisoning Cure

What's not to like about garlic?

The smell you say. Not everyone feels that way. When it comes to cooking no chef is ever caught without those fragrant cloves for flavor.

Garlic is mankind's best friend, and its pungent odor is reportedly one of the reasons vampires don't like it. Garlic, specifically the chemical compound allicin inside garlic, is a powerful antibiotic.

Some European beliefs around vampires is that they were created by a disease of the blood, so a powerful antibiotic would "Kill" a vampire. So, it's garlic's healing properties that they fear.

A Quick Look at Garlic's Healing Properties

For starters a group of scientists based at Washington State University published a study where a compound found naturally in garlic (allicin) is more effective at fighting food poisoning bacteria than two types of antibiotics. 

More good news... the strong antioxidants present in garlic help in reducing the free radical build up in the skin thus keeping it firm and youthful.

It also contains sulfur, which helps the body to produce collagen which in turn helps in fighting wrinkles. 

Attention teenagers!

Garlic's antibacterial properties and antioxidants can clear up your skin by killing acne-causing bacteria. Just rub raw garlic over pimples and watch them go away.

The benefits just keep on coming...

Garlic may help reduce belly fat due to its anti-inflammatory properties and its ability to boost metabolism. While it isn't a miracle cure, incorporating garlic into a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle can support weight loss efforts, including reducing belly fat.

Garlic is good for your hair. It's believed to be beneficial for hair growth and health due to its sulfur content, vitamins, and minerals, which can nourish hair follicles and promote healthy hair growth.

I read an article that claimed a fresh clove of garlic placed beneath a pillow is believed to have a calming effect on the nervous system, thanks to the sulphurously compounds which are released from the garlic. I can't imagine too many people do this. The garlicky scent would make me sick.

In some parts of the world its common to see garlic hanging outside doors to ward off evil spirits, negative energies, and even (to this day) against vampires. It's also associated with good fortune, health, and prosperity.

As it Stands, as the late great journalist Morley Safer once said, "You can never have enough garlic. With garlic, you can eat The New York Times."