Brewer’s Guild Research

When it has come to settling differences of opinion on activities and direction within the group, it is best to look to history for providing a direction and as much of a course of action as maybe applicable.

Yet, this approach has not been applied to the reoccurring question of a brewer’s guild as is desired by the members of the TDB, mostly due to lack of interest, both my own, as having little interest in brewing and as much so brewers lack of researching the issue as well.

In an effort to settle the matter, if not once and for all, at least to provide a useable framework that can satisfy the details necessary for such a group to comply with the greater purpose of being a historical reenactment element and enhancing the period atmosphere, I have combed through my library and ferreted out as much information as may be deemed relevant to the topic. In addition to historical information on brewing, historic information of guilds and crafts has been, by related necessity, likewise researched. (Most of the information presented here was not at hand at the time of framing the original laws pertaining to guilds).

Historically speaking, brewing was a common domestic skill, the craft of which was general knowledge amongst the populace. (Joyce, 1903, pp.116, 118). On the surface of it, it would be no more justifiable to organize it into a guild then it would be for any modern people that could make a grilled cheese sandwich to form a trade union.

However, upon further investigation, while brewers are not enumerated in the body of guilded artisans per se (i.e. blacksmiths, metal artificers, builders and carpenters) there absolutely was an historic cultural artifact that provides a near equivalent function and speaks just as well to the TDBs desire to have a formally recognized association of brewers. The institution was known as a “Legal Alehouse”. (Joyce, 1903, p.118).

This “legal alehouse” was a medieval brewery. It should not necessarily be equated with the thought of an “alehouse” being a pub or gathering place for socialization and alcohol consumption (though it may have, a lords mead-hall or a brughiean are spoken of more to that purpose) It was a building for the domestic production of alcoholic beverages and “licensed” to produce brew that was certified for barter. (Joyce, 1903, p.118).

A legal brew house was obligated to perform three “tests” during the brew process to ensure a successful batch. These tests are reported to be proscribed by the Senchus Mor (the great body and collection of laws of ancient Ireland). (Joyce, 1903, p.116).

These were “taste” tests, first of the initial grain to test it for bitterness, a second test after storage of the grain for “mawkishness” and a third test of the mash prior to fermentation. (Joyce, 1903, p.118).
(It should be noted that “mawkish” means “sickening” or “bad” tasting, but is derived from an Old French / Norse word for “maggot”. Since this is an English translation I’m working from, the exact meaning is uncertain, but either way you slice it, it comes down to unsuitable grain.)

Having brew from a licensed alehouse was a legal guarantee that the three tests were performed satisfactorily under the supervision of an expert. In contrast, there also existed unlicensed ale houses, which went unrecognized by the law. By extension, this would apply to homemade concoctions.

The legal distinction between the two is illustrated thus: If brew was procured from an unlicensed source, and it proved to be spoiled, the payment was forfeit and the debtor still liable to make good -even if the three tests were performed as proscribed by law. However, if the brew was procured from a licensed source, the debtor was not held accountable (presumably, the licensed alehouse was held liable but this is not specified or elaborated upon in my available sources). (Joyce, 1903, p.118).

I have found no honor price set specifically for a master brewer let alone attendants as of yet.
Whereas master metal smiths and greater carpenters might obtain a rank equivalent to an Aire Deso that allowed them to travel safely between tuatha for work, that is probably an artifact of their crafts as they were highly specialized and the dispersity of territorial demand. (Patterson, 1994. p.41). The brewer was probably a sedentary fixture and either in the employ or tied to a localized venue, their honor price, in contrast to heavier durable goods craftsmen, was probably derivative of the lord they served and attendants and helpers of a master descending from there based on relative skill, as many crafts were. (Patterson, 1994.pp.39,41)

As to the production of the ale house itself, the following are listed as historic brews:

Coirm, Leann or Beoir- ale or beer, said to be reddish in color. As for alcohol content it is inferred from the sources that 3 pints would not cause inebriation, but six pints would for the average person. One version was ale made from heather (or the berries thereof?)

Mead and Metheglin there is no mention of the spices that would be used but hazelnut flavored mead (miodh cuill) is mentioned. (There is no mention of melomel but I would assume as such using native fruits and berries and I am near certain I have read as much but cannot find the source)

Broicet – aka bragget, described as honeyed and spiced ale.

Nenadmim – a cider made from wild or crab apples. Also another fruit cider made from berries described as ““wood-berries,” which are probably the berries still well known as fraechóga or fraecháin, anglice “froghans," the Vaccinum myrtillus, better known in Munster as “whorts ” or “ hurts.” (Then again, if you consider the word “Nenadmin” it almost seems like some sort of linguistic shift from “methaglin”, though the additive here is fruit and not herb based)
(Joyce, 1903, pp.115, 116, 120-121)

Now, as to the direct application of organizing the brewers into a clan recognized entity are the questions of leadership, membership, modus operandi, and tribute:

Leadership

The head of such a house would be a professional brewer known as a Scoaire or by the Latin (and ultimately Gaulish derivative) of Cerbsire (from “cerviciarius”). (Joyce, 1903, p.119). This person, like other crafts, was probably considered the “best” available at the craft.

The head of a profession was referred to as a Sai re ceard, meaning “master mechanic” “master artificer” or “sage of craft” in generic terms. (Joyce, 1903, p.329).For our purposes it may be convenient to refer to the head of the brewers as a Sai re Sgagaire or “master strainer”.

As for how that person was determined:

“Local control of skilled labor was strongly developed and must have required some such political pressure if the Cashel-based élite was to dominate the circulation of wealth in the south-west. This is shown by the fact that the rank of master-craftsman in metallurgy (master of ‘test’, master-blacksmith, master-whitesmith and master-brazier) was conferred on an artisan by his own people, tuath (CIH 1618.34-40 = Mac Néill 1923: 281 #60).” (Patterson, 1994, p.43)

As much as the clan laws envisioned a guild head to be settled solely amongst the practitioners, historically, it was otherwise. This probably, makes sense for us as well. Consider brewers to be of an elite palette, that may be fine amongst themselves and they may choose their favorites, but if they do not cater to the taste of the greater populace, their product would not be in as much demand and undermine their own status.

In either case, a trial by contest seems warranted to settle the matter. The elevation of an individual to a craft position is further elaborated on below.

Membership

Sources also speak of attendants to a particular brewy (public hospitality innkeeper) known as “strainers” whose job it was to strain the ale. (Joyce, 1903, p.118). It may be reasonable to assume, that a Scoaire likewise had such attendants to handle the grunt work of brewing. The source I am using uses the phrase of the men at work as a sgagadh leanna “a-straining ale”. (Joyce, 1903, p.118). A person who does such work would be called a Sgagaire, or scagaire in modernized Irish. But on second look, Scoaire and Scagaire look to be the same word (as Irish has a tendency to soften medial consonants) and perhaps not useful to distinguish between the master and journeymen. Regardless:
“Qualifications in terms of skill or learning were confined to special segments of society, whose members had honor-price on the basis of degrees of skills and learning.” (Patterson, 1994, p.39)
Therefore, a stratified guild rank system is warranted.

Given the historic brew examples, the prospective guild outline should set a standard(s) of each type and order them based on difficulty.

Rank in the guild can be differentiated and stratified by the relative success of brewing a given quantity of each type, and perhaps based on repeated success at such throughout the year. (For instance, an apprentice level may be tasked to brew 5 gallons of simple red ale for Imbolc and then again for Samhain, while a journeyman level applicant might be tasked to brew five gallons of each variety of historic mead as set by guild criteria.)

Three or five, as good Celtic numbers, are probably sufficient levels of stratification. As for compliance of such and administration:

“Craftsmen who were masters of their skill, however, might have independent status if they were not tied to the service of a king. In that case, they had the franchise of the lower grades of the lords, in terms of honor-price and in terms of being free (sóer) to exercise judicature regarding their profession and apprentices (CIH 1612.4-22; 1613.9-16, 22-37. See Mac Neill 1923: 277 #37-280 #55).” (Patterson, 1994, p.40)
Also,

“No individual tradesman was permitted to practise till his work had been in the first place examined at a meeting of chiefs and specially-qualified ollaves, held either at Croghan or at Emain, where a number of craftsmen candidates always presented themselves. But besides this there was another precautionary regulation. In each district there was a head-craftsman of each trade, designated sai-re-cérd [see-re-caird], i.e. ‘sage in handcraft.’ He presided over all those of his own craft in the district: and a work-man who had passed the test of the examiners at Croghan or Emain had further to obtain the approval and sanction of his own head-craftsman before he was permitted to follow his trade in the district (Joyce, 1903, p. 329)

Therefore, the chief had a function in the acknowledgement of a person’s level of skill. The concept is further elaborated upon:

“Other very early tracts connected to the nemed school also place great emphasis upon social relationships based on the exchange of skilled services, with the jurist and the king both being expected to play a role in mediating the social standing of individuals by correctly evaluating the worth of manufactured objects, as well as raw materials. This is a prominent feature of the advice to a king, compiled in Audacht Morainn (Kelly 1976). The involvement of the king as ultimate evaluator of the worth of things recalls other signs that the Cashel kingship, even well after the conversion, tended to conjoin techno- religious and military power to a greater degree than is found elsewhere.” (Patterson, 1994, p. 43, 44)

Therefore, the chieftain historically played a large role in the approval and elevation of craftsmen.
As for the Modus Operandi of the guild, it is expected that projects undertaken would be to enhance the period atmosphere using the given craft. Therefore, production of the historic varieties of brew are a natural main activity. Brewers ideally should be familiar with historic production methods and analogs to modern brewing techniques, even though they might choose to employ more modern methods for economy and hygienic sake.

As the guild would also be required to render some sort of annual tribute, perish-ability and the seasonal availability of certain fruits, spices and resources might be taken into consideration for presentations at our events. (i.e. if apples were picked at a certain time of year, and it takes six months to brew a particular cider, then that cider would be most naturally presented six months from the traditional harvest season). Such thought into presentation would certainly lend itself to the period atmosphere.

A large part of the difficulty and what remains here is the actual metrics of determining skill.

History states that the work was presented for evaluation to the chief and specially qualified ollaves.
Regardless of judging method, an initial push of brew should be produced of decided upon varieties for comparative evaluation by prospective candidates, of whatever rank.

Since submissions may be limited, the guild should keep a stock of the various brews so that a brewer’s work will have other examples of a given type to be tasted against for the fairest judgment. Such a procedure would have the advantage of catering to the guilds own taste rather than that of an outside standard however it would necessitate to coordinated production of a given type.

Brogan had once submitted a plan where the judging of various brews would be submitted to national contests for independent evaluation. That would certainly substitute as “specially qualified ollaves”. This may be an option the group might want to consider to avoid any internal friction or ill feeling, and also would avoid the need to stockpile comparative samples. It has the added benefit of establishing the skill of a brewer in a very real and modern sense, beyond our own definitions (thus avoiding the pretentions of conferring lofty titles on what may be comparatively mediocre brewers).

My limited sources used:

Joyce, P. W. (1903). A Social History of Ancient Ireland. Dublin: 1903 reprinted MO: 1997.
Patterson, N. (1994). Cattle Lords & Clansmen 2nd edition, Notre Dame: University of ND Press

I would have liked to also have consulted Early Irish Law by Fergus Kelley, but Fiachra currently has it out on loan. From what I recall it would not have provided anything specific to brewing, but spoke more to the institutions organized crafts in general.

If I happen across any other pertinent information I will update the article.

This research is dedicated to and was performed as a labor of apology to Sabha, who was unintentionally caught in the crossfire of my tirade against the dilution of our re-enactment aesthetic.