My object, in this article, is not to give a history of beer, because
for that purpose it would be necessary to define accurately the
different kinds of grain mentioned in the writings of the Greeks and
the Romans; and this would be a tedious, as well as difficult, and
to me a very unpleasant labour; as I should be obliged to controvert
a great many received opinions. I shall only endeavour to answer the
question, Where and at what time did hops begin to be used as an
addition to beer? This subject has already engaged the attention of two
learned men[917], whose researches I shall employ and enlarge by my own
observations.
Hops at present are so well known, that a formal description of them
would be superfluous. I think it necessary, however, for the sake of
perspicuity, to state what follows. This plant at present grows wild in
the greater part of Europe, and in Germany is common in the hedges and
fences. It clings to the trunks of trees, and often climbs round poles,
if long enough, to the height of twenty or thirty feet. It is almost
everywhere rough and sharp to the touch, and sometimes clammy. The
leaves are generally divided into three, and often into five indented
lobes; but the upper ones are shaped like a heart and undivided. The
male plants bear flowers, like those of the currant-bush or of the
male hemp; the female plants produce their flowers in cones, which are
not unlike those of the fir, except that the latter are woody, while
the former are foliaceous. These cones only are used for beer; on that
account the female plants alone are cultivated, and from these they
are picked and dried as soon as they begin to become pulverulent. They
are transplanted or propagated by means of seedlings, in hop-grounds
properly prepared, where the cones become larger and better than those
of the wild plants, which however are not entirely useless. They are
added to beer to render it more palatable, by giving it an agreeable
bitter taste; and, at the same time, to make it keep longer; and it
must indeed be confessed, that of the numerous and various additions
which since the earliest periods have been tried, none has better
answered the purpose, or been more generally employed.
Among the botanists of the last two centuries, who perused the writings
of the Greeks and the Romans, and endeavoured to discover those plants
which they meant to describe, many imagined that they found in them
hops. But when one takes the trouble to examine without prejudice their
opinions, nothing appears but a very slight probability; and some
even of these learned botanists, such as Matthioli and others, have
acknowledged that it cannot be proved that the Greeks and the Romans
were acquainted with our hops.
The plant which perhaps has been chiefly considered as the hop is the
_Smilax aspera_[918] of Dioscorides[919], the same no doubt as that
described by Theophrastus under the name of _smilax_, without any
epithet[920]. That the description agrees for the most part with our
hops cannot be denied; but it is equally true that it might be applied,
with no less propriety, to many other creeping plants, and certainly
with the greatest probability to that which in the Linnæan system has
retained the name _Smilax aspera_. What the Grecian writer says of the
fruit is particularly applicable to this plant; but, on the other hand,
it differs from the fruit of the hop.
One might with more probability conjecture that hops occur in
Pliny[921], under the name _Lupus salictarius_. But the whole of what
he says of this plant is, that it was esculent, and grew in the willow
plantations. This is undoubtedly true of hops, for that the young
shoots are eaten in spring as salad is well known; but the name _lupus_
alone has induced the commentator to apply all this, though equally
applicable to other plants, to our hop, which at present is called
_lupulus_. Much more unfounded is the conjecture, that the hop is that
wild plant which, according to the account of Cato, was used as fodder
for cattle[922]. But the word in manuscripts is differently written,
and consequently uncertain; besides, there are many plants which might
be employed in the place of straw.
It is certainly possible that hops might have been in use among the
northern nations, at the time of these writers, without their having
any knowledge of them; for the Romans were acquainted with beer only
from the accounts given of the Germans and their manners[923], and they
considered that beverage merely as an unsuccessful imitation of their
wine. But I agree in opinion with Conring, Meibomius, and others, that
hops were not used till a much later period. The names _humulus_ and
_lupulus_ also are of no great antiquity. The former is the oldest, and
seems to belong to the people who first added this improvement to beer.
The _humble_ and _humle_ of the Swedes and Danes, the _chumel_ of the
Bohemians, the _houblon_ of the French and the Spanish, Hungarian and
Persian appellations, all seem to be derived from the same origin, as
well as the Latin names of later times, _humelo_, _humolo_, _humulo_,
_humlo_[924]. _Lupulus_ does not occur till a much later period. The
German word, which the English also have adopted, appears first to have
been written _hoppe_, from which was formed afterwards in High German
_Hopfen_, by converting, as it commonly does, the double _p_ into the
harder _pf_. Thus from _toppe_ it has made _topf_, and from _koppe_,
_kopf_, &c. As far as I know, this word is found, for the first time,
in a dictionary which seems to be of the tenth century[925], and which
has _Timalus_, _Hoppe_ and _Brandigabo Feldhoppe_. According to my
conjecture, _timalus_ has been erroneously printed for _humulus_;
but in regard to _brandigabo_ I can give no explanation. It is
derived perhaps from _brace_ or _bracium_. The former was known to
Pliny[926]; and the latter occurs in the same dictionary along with the
translation, malt.
No mention is made of hops either in Walafrid Strabo, who died in
849, or in Æmilius Macer, who cannot have lived earlier than the year
850; in the laws of the old Franks, in which beer and malt are often
mentioned, or in the Capitulare de Villis Imperatoris, which are
ascribed to Charles the Great. Had beer been then used and brewed in
Germany, it would certainly have been at any rate mentioned by the
emperor. Haller says[927] it is related by Isidorus that the experiment
of adding hops to beer was first made in Italy. Were this the case, it
would be the oldest mention of that circumstance, for Isidorus died in
the year 636. It is however not only highly improbable that the use
of hops should be discovered in Italy, which is a wine country, but
it can be proved to be false. Not the smallest notice of it is to be
found in the whole work of Isidorus; and in the Bibliotheca Botanica,
when Haller had the book before him and extracted from it many things
remarkable, he does not repeat this assertion[928]. The passage which
has given rise perhaps to this error, appears to be that where the
author describes a kind of beer called by him _celia_, and where the
germination of corn, the shooting of malt, and the sweet wort made
from it, together with its fermentation, are clearly mentioned, but
not hops[929]. Some one perhaps thought that hops also ought to be
supposed in this passage, else beer would not acquire that strong taste
and intoxicating quality spoken of by Isidorus, who very properly
ascribes both to fermentation. The same account has been repeated
by Vincentius[930], without any change or addition. But as Isidorus
scarcely contains anything which is not borrowed from earlier writers,
I endeavoured to discover the source of that information, and at length
found it in the history of Orosius[931], who, as is well known, lived
in the fifth century.
In the Latin translation of the works of the Arabian physician
Mesue[932] is a description, but as is commonly the case, a defective
one, of a creeping plant, with rough indented leaves under the name of
_lupulus_, which indeed corresponds exceedingly well with our hops.
The cones in particular are exactly described. The author, however,
speaks there only of the medicinal qualities of the plant, and makes
no mention of its application to beer. Mesue lived about the year 845,
consequently is the first who uses the term _lupuli_. But we have only
a wretched old translation of the writings of this physician; it is
probable that the word _lupulus_ comes only from the translator. This
passage therefore can prove nothing.
It is however certain that hops were known in the time of the
Carolingian dynasty, for a letter of donation by King Pepin speaks
of _humolariæ_, which without doubt must have been hop-gardens[933].
In like manner Adelard, abbot of Corbey, in the year 822, freed the
millers belonging to his district from all labour relating to hops,
and on this occasion employed the words _humlo_ and _brace_, by which
is to be understood corn and malt used for beer. In the Frisingen
collection of ancient documents, there are many which were written
in the time of Ludovicus Germanicus, consequently in the middle of
the ninth century; and in some of these, hop-gardens, which were then
called _humularia_, are mentioned[934]. In the tax registers of the
two following centuries, among the articles delivered to churches and
monasteries, _modii_ and _moldera humuli_ are very often named[935].
Hop-fields and the delivery of hops occur much oftener in the
thirteenth century, under the appellations _humuleta_, _humileta_,
and _humularia_[936]. In the Sachsenspiegel[937] and the municipal
law of Magdeburg (Weichbildsrechte[938]), there is an order in regard
to the hop-plants which grew over hedges. I shall omit the still more
numerous instances where they occur in the fourteenth century as well
as the proofs that hops were then cultivated in many parts of Germany;
and it is perhaps true, as said by Möhsen, and after him by Fischer,
on whose bare word however I do not entirely rely, that many towns in
Germany were indebted for the great sale of their beer to the use of
hops (which undoubtedly appears to be a German discovery), and to their
peculiar goodness. However, it is certain that this method of seasoning
beer was adopted at a much later period by our neighbours the English,
Dutch, Swedes, and others.
If the two passages above quoted, where the word _lupuli_ occurs, be
rejected because they are doubtful, I must consider this name of hops
to be more modern than the word _humulus_; and if this be true, it is
impossible to believe, with Du Cange, that the latter was formed from
the first by throwing away the initial letter. As yet I had not found
the name _lupulus_ given to hops earlier than the thirteenth century.
About this time lived Simon of Genoa, commonly called _Johannes de
Janua_ or _Januensis_, who also had the surname of _Cordus_. He was
physician to Pope Nicholas IV.; afterwards chaplain and sub-deacon
to Pope Boniface VIII.; and therefore flourished at the end of the
thirteenth century. Of his writings none is better known, or was
formerly more esteemed, than his Catholicon, a book in which he
describes, in alphabetical order, all the substances then used in
medicine, and on which, as he says himself, he was employed thirty
years. In this dictionary, which is commonly considered as the first
of the Materia medica, there is an article under the head _lupulus_,
copied however from the before-mentioned Latin translation of Mesue,
but with the addition, that this plant by the French and Germans is
named _humilis_, and that the flowers of it were used in a beverage
which he calls _medo_[939]. This Italian, however, does not seem
to have been properly acquainted with the subject; for he tells us
himself[940], that under the name _medo_ or mead, is understood a
beverage made of diluted honey, for which hops are never employed.
In Italy also, at that time, hops were not in use. About the same
period, Arnold de Villanova, in his commentary on the work on Regimen,
published by John of Milan, in the name of the celebrated school of
Salerno, mentions _lupuli_, and the use of them in brewing beer[941].
Professor Tychsen, to whose friendship I have been frequently indebted
for assistance in my researches, suggested to me the conjecture that
_lupulus_ perhaps is derived from _lupinus_, because Columella says
that the bitter seeds of this plant were added, in Egypt, to beer in
order to moderate its sweetness[942]. This use is confirmed also by G.
W. Lorsbach, from the Arabic historian Ebn Chalican[943]. At any rate,
this proves that in Egypt at that time bitter things began to be added
to beer. It is also well known that in Italy lupines were rendered
fit for the use of man as well as of animals, by macerating them in
water[944]; and I am of opinion, that on this account Varro required
water to be in the neighbourhood of a farm-yard[945]. Lupines softened
in water are still employed for making dough. But if _lupulus_ was
formed from _lupinus_, it must however be proved that the use of it for
beer was common beyond the boundaries of Egypt. Even if we admit with
Schöttgen, that the poet employs _zythum_ for beer in general, this
beverage was never used in Italy, and I have met with no other mention
of lupines in brewing.
In the breweries of the Netherlands, hops seem to have been first
known in the beginning of the fourteenth century; for about this time
we find many complaints that the new method of brewing with hops
lessened the consumption of _gruit_, and also the income arising from
_gruitgeld_. The word _gruit_ seems to have many meanings: in the first
place it signifies malt; but though I formerly considered this as the
proper meaning, and though some approved my opinion, I must confess
that on further examination I am not able fully to prove it. In the
second place, it signified a certain tax paid at each time of brewing:
thirdly, a certain addition of herbs used for beer in the fourteenth
century: and in the last place, the beer brewed with it was itself
sometimes called _gruit_.
That this word always denoted malt is impossible; for it is said
that after hops were introduced, less _gruit_ was used and sold than
formerly had been the case. But how could hops be employed instead of
malt? John, bishop of Liege and Utrecht, complained to the emperor
Charles IV., that for thirty or forty years a new method of brewing,
that is to say, with the addition of a certain plant called _humulus_
or _hoppa_, had been introduced, and that his income arising from
_gruitgeld_ had been thereby much lessened. The emperor, therefore,
in the year 1364, permitted him, for the purpose of making good his
loss, to demand a _groschen_ for each cask of hops; and this right was
confirmed to bishop Arnold by pope Gregory[946]. By this and similar
accounts I am induced to conjecture that a beverage composed of
different herbs was at that time prepared, and that the sale of this
mixture and of _gruit_ was converted into a so-called _regale_. Nay, it
almost appears that _gruit_ was a fermenting substance, indispensably
necessary to beer, instead of the yeast used at present.
According to every appearance the ancient beer could not be long kept;
and beer fit to be preserved seems to have come into use after the
introduction of hops. The oldest writers who treat of the good and
bad effects of hops, reckon among the latter, that they dried up the
body and increased melancholy; but among their good qualities, they
praise their property of preserving liquors from corruption[947]. It
was soon remarked also, that the keeping of beer depended a great deal
on the season in which it was brewed; for M. Anton quotes from the
Ilm statutes of 1350, that people were permitted to brew only from
Michaelmas to St. Walpurgis’ day[948]; at other times it was forbidden
under certain penalties. At that period various kinds of beer seem
to have been in use, and perhaps became fashionable instead of wine,
coffee, and tea. Thus M. Anton quotes, from a Hervord document of the
year 1144, _cervisia mellita_ and _non mellita_. However, even at
present, honey is used for many kinds of beer; such for example as
that brewed at Nimeguen, which has an extensive sale under the name of
_moll_, a word derived no doubt from _mollig_, mild; which is applied
also to wine. In the same manner the English used liquorice.
In England, the use of hops seems to have been introduced at a much
later period; but it is said that they were at first considered as a
dangerous production, and that the planting of them was forbidden in
the reign of Henry VI., about the middle of the fifteenth century[949].
This I will not venture to deny, though I very much doubt it. I have
found no proof of it in any English writer, and I have searched in vain
for the prohibition among the orders of that prince, in which however
there occurs one in regard to malt[950]. On the contrary, many English
historians assert that the use of hops was first made known in England
by some people from Artois, in the reign of Henry VIII., or about the
year 1524[951]. It is nevertheless true, that this sovereign, in an
order respecting the servants of his household, in the twenty-second
year of his reign, that is in 1530, forbade brewers to put into
ale hops and sulphur[952]. But perhaps his majesty was not fond of
hopped beer. Even at present, most of the dictionaries call ale, beer
brewed without hops; and an English physician says expressly that the
difference between ale and beer is, that hops are not employed for the
former[953]. But according to the English instructions for brewing,
hops are required for ale also.
In the English laws hops are mentioned for the first time in the fifth
year of the reign of Edward VI., that is in 1552, at which period some
privileges were granted to _hop-grounds_. The cultivation of hops
however, which, like the art of brewing, has in England been carried
to the greatest perfection, was very limited even in the beginning of
the seventeenth century; for James I., in the fifth year of his reign,
that is in 1603, found it necessary to forbid, under severe penalties,
the introduction and use of spoilt and adulterated hops. At that time,
therefore, England did not produce a quantity sufficient for its own
consumption.
In Sweden, at least in the fifteenth century, hops seem not to have
been very common[954]; for at that time sweet gale (_Myrica gale_) was
employed for beer; and so generally, that king Christopher, in 1440,
confirmed the old law, that those who collected this plant before a
certain period, on any common or on another person’s land, should be
subjected to a fine. A similar punishment however was appointed for the
too early picking of hops; and the cultivation of them was so strongly
enforced, that every farmer who had not forty poles with hops growing
round them was punished, unless he could show that his land was unfit
for producing them[955].
But it was long doubted in Sweden whether this plant would thrive in
the cold climate of that country; in which however it grows wild. In
the time of Gustavus I., who became king in 1523, Sweden was obliged to
give for the foreign hops it used 1200 _schifpfunds_ of iron, which was
about the ninth part of all the iron made in the kingdom. In the year
1558 the king complained, in an edict, that a pound of hops cost as
much as a barrel of malt, and on that account was desirous to encourage
the cultivation of the hop-plant. But his exertions were attended with
so little effect, that even under the reign of queen Christina, that
is, in the middle of the seventeenth century, all the hops used in the
kingdom were imported from Germany, and particularly from Brunswick
and Saxony. The queen had some hop plantations as rarities in her
garden; yet the cultivation of hops was begun under this princess, and
carried so far that German hop farmers, who before had been accustomed
to travel to Sweden every three years, to receive payment and take new
orders, returned very much dissatisfied, and suffered a part of their
hop-grounds to run to waste. Under Charles XI., however, who reigned
from 1660 to 1697, the cultivation of hops was first brought to a state
of considerable improvement.
In the year 1766, Linnæus hazarded a conjecture that hops, spinage,
chenopodium, tarragon, and many other garden vegetables were brought
to Europe by the Goths, during their periods of emigration, from
Russia and particularly the Ukraine, because the old writers make no
mention of these plants, and because in those districts they all grow
wild at present[956]. It however appears certain that hops belong
to our indigenous plants, as they grow everywhere wild in Germany,
Switzerland, England, and Sweden, and even in countries into which the
cultivation of them has never yet been introduced, and where it cannot
be supposed that they accidentally became wild by being conveyed from
hop-fields and gardens. The want of information in works older than
the emigrations of the northern tribes, is no proof that a plant did
not then exist. At that time there was no Linnæus to transmit plants
to posterity, as Hipparchus, according to the expression of Pliny, did
the stars. Such vegetable productions only as had become remarkable
on account of their utility or hurtful qualities, or by some singular
circumstance, occur in the works of the ancients. Many others remained
unknown, or at least without names, till natural history acquired
a systematic form; and even at present botanists have often the
satisfaction to discover some plant not before observed.
Is it probable that the Chinese even are acquainted with our hops?
They have a kind of beer made from barley and wheat, which is called
_tarasun_; and according to the account of J. G. Gmelin, who purposely
made himself acquainted with the preparation of it, hops formed by
pressure into masses, shaped like a brick, are added to it[957]. It
is well known that the Chinese have also a kind of tea formed into
cakes by strong pressure. Our hops are compressed in the same manner
in Bohemia; and in that state will keep without losing any of their
strength for fifty years. They are put into a sack or bag of coarse
canvass, and subjected to a press. A square sewed bag, each side of
which is two ells, contains fifty bushels of hops prepared in this
manner; and when any of them are required for brewing, the bag is made
fast to a beam, and as much as may be necessary is cut out with an axe.
The whole mass is of a brown colour, and has a resemblance to pitch, in
which not a single hop-leaf can be distinguished. Whether the Chinese
conceived the idea of employing our common hops for the like purpose,
is a question of some importance in regard to the history of them; but
at present I am not able to answer it.
[Hops are extensively cultivated in Kent, Sussex, and Herefordshire;
and to a less extent in Worcestershire, Wiltshire, Hampshire,
Gloucestershire, Surrey, and several other counties.
From 50,000 to 60,000 acres of land are covered in England with
hop-gardens, about one-half being in Kent; an excise duty of 18_s._
8_d._ per cwt. is levied upon their produce. British hops are exported
to Hamburg, Antwerp, St. Petersburg, New York, Australia, and other
places. A trifling quantity is also imported, principally from
Flanders. The duty on hops of the growth of Great Britain produced in
1842, £260,979.]