I think it’s important to point out that almost everyone drank beer and it wasn’t because the water was bad. It was because they liked drinking beer.
Our modern culture doesn’t like the idea of people drinking beer all day so there has to be
some scientific justification to make it acceptable to modern sensibilities.
The percentage of alcohol required to preserve beer for long periods is too high for sailors to be drinking a gallon of it per day.
Anyone downvoting this comment is not understanding how common this myth is, or not bothering to google to verify their own understanding. It's by far the most asked-about myth on /r/askhistorians. Someone asked this under 24 hours ago: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1k5ji8i/how_...
But it comes up a good 2-5x a month. I really want to know where this understanding came from.
How is that enough? A highly nutritious liquid made from grain is a quite perfect environment for all kind of bacteria and other stuff to grow and spread. Relatively clean water? Not so much.
I think it’s important to point out that almost everyone drank beer and it wasn’t because the water was bad. It was because they liked drinking beer.
Our modern culture doesn’t like the idea of people drinking beer all day so there has to be some scientific justification to make it acceptable to modern sensibilities.
The percentage of alcohol required to preserve beer for long periods is too high for sailors to be drinking a gallon of it per day.
Beer was known to go bad on long voyages. So long as the beer held out though there was no scurvy.
Anyone downvoting this comment is not understanding how common this myth is, or not bothering to google to verify their own understanding. It's by far the most asked-about myth on /r/askhistorians. Someone asked this under 24 hours ago: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1k5ji8i/how_...
But it comes up a good 2-5x a month. I really want to know where this understanding came from.
"Beer" had like 1% of alcohol content. Just enough to keep it without bacteria.
Drinking 2 month old stale untreated water... good luck with that.
> they liked drinking beer
Sailors were basically slaves. Nobody cared what they liked. But if crew dies from diarrhia, that is a big problem!
> Beer" had like 1% of alcohol content.
How is that enough? A highly nutritious liquid made from grain is a quite perfect environment for all kind of bacteria and other stuff to grow and spread. Relatively clean water? Not so much.
> Just enough to keep it without bacteria.
Bacteria (and certainly viruses) can survive 80 proof liquor. 1% alcohol is going to have very little sterilization effect.
It's not the alcohol that's supposed to kill bacteria, it's the long boil.
In the 17th and 18th centuries cider was far more prevalent on board - and massive amounts of it to boot.
Source: Cider Country (James Crowden)
No mention of sauerkraut ?