Beschrijving

Untill well into the eighteenth century one of the major drinks of the man in the street was beer. Water was generally not clean, the quality of milk was nearly as good as it is today, and tea and coffee has only recently come within the means of the less than wealthy. Also, from the eighteenth century on, wine was increasingly drunk by more and more people. Incidentally. beer was not only drunk to slake the thirst. Its nutritional value was a welcome addition to the staple diet of the poor. And, just as today, it was of course drunk on social occasions. This book offers an overview of the economic, political and social significance of beer in the early modern period in the Netherlands.