Comment

MartianSands@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

I don’t think sake could serve the role beer did, historically. Certainly in medieval Europe, they made what today would be considered a weak beer yo drink for basic hydration. That was by far the easiest way for them to ensure the water was safe to drink.

I’m pretty sure if you tried that with sake, you’d die

source

Sort:hotnew top

rumschlumpel@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Sake is basically the same thing as beer (fermented starch), I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t be possible to brew a weaker sake.

source
- Pat_Riot@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Tea tried to replace beer in Europe and everybody almost died of malnourishment.
  
  source
  - rumschlumpel@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Looks like east asians also figured out food earlier than europeans. So smart!
    
    source
    Pat_Riot@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Beer has a pretty big caloric value. No citation provided as I’m quoting my memory of a thing i studied for a project 15 years ago. I could be totally full of shit.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

That was by far the easiest way for them to ensure the water was safe to drink.

Actually, the alcohol in beer isn’t concentrated enough to kill off most microbes. Even yeast doesn’t die off until you start getting >13%, and there’s varieties of yeast that can tolerate twice that concentration.

The reason why beer was safer to drink than water is because the brewing process requires it to be boiled. Beer was preferrable to boiled water due to taste and because it provided an extra source of calories

source