Slavic nations today are associated with the love of alcohol consumption. It is even said that the lethal amount of alcohol in the blood does not apply to Poles and Russians. And although of course it is (in a way) a stereotype, as it turns out, the tradition of alcohol production and consumption among the Slavic nations is quite long. Today we will briefly introduce you to this interesting history, which, after all, is part of the history of Europe!

Slavic antiquity under the sign of beer

According to historical chronicles, the basic alcohol consumed by the ancient Slavs was beer. They were produced not only in the first breweries, but also at home. They were often eaten instead of water (which was sometimes contaminated), and all but small children enjoyed it.

Of course, it differed from the now known "golden drink". It is known for certain that it contained less alcohol and was rather difficult to get drunk with. So far, there is an ongoing debate about what the old Slavic beer really was. Some historians believe it was malt mixed with herbs. Others, on the other hand, are convinced that the beer was produced according to a simple but proven recipe based on the brewing of grain with the addition of yeast (perhaps hence the term "bread soup"), slightly improving the whole procedure with time.

How do we know about Slavic beer?

How do we know that the ancient Slavs drank and made beer? And for example from Aristotle, who mentions the golden drink in his notes (however, he distorted its name into pino). It is known that the beer was known to the Western and Eastern Slavs and the neighboring Balts, and the recipes were taken over by the Southern Slavs, thanks to which "Slavic beer" could spread throughout most of Europe.

The tradition of brewing and consuming beer on a daily basis also continued in the Middle Ages. With time, however, a division into separate professions of malt maker and brewer began to appear. The latter quickly began to be perceived as more elite.

The land of milk and mead flowing

Although beer was the most popular (and quite light) drink consumed by the ancient Slavs, they made another alcoholic drink - mead! It was a drink unique to the Slavic region (and in a way remains so to this day), much stronger than beer and, at the same time, more exquisite. Its price was also higher, so not everyone could eat it. The poor were rather drinking beer, while the wealthier social classes eagerly reached for sweet liquor during important celebrations or holidays.

Honey did not lose its importance also in the Middle Ages. Although wine was known then, it was still more difficult to obtain. In the Piast State, they were replaced either with beer or just honey, which did not escape the attention of foreign observers. The Venetian diplomat Ambrogio Contarini wrote about Poles ":" Having no wine, they make a certain drink of honey, which makes people much more drunk than wine! "This entry also proves that the then mead contained a large amount of alcohol.

Drunkenness and Christianity

Interestingly, the beer drinking culture and the occasional mead drinking culture did not offer too many opportunities to get drunk. A significant increase in alcohol consumption and drunkenness itself took place after the adoption of Christianity in Slavic (including Polish) lands! How did it come about? Well ... with the advent of the clergy, monasteries were planted with vineyards. The wine produced there was supposed to be used primarily for liturgical purposes, but the monks themselves quite often enjoyed it also after hours. Interestingly, the lower social classes were quite jealous of this (and as we mentioned - not everyone could afford mead). Soon, the merchants, sniffing out a good deal, began to counterfeit the monastic wines themselves and sell them for a low price to the common people. This is how the "medieval pissers" were created.

The Renaissance and the Middle Ages are again the era of the beginnings of the distillation of stronger alcohol in the Slavic lands. But that's a story for a separate article.

 

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