In the maritime world, long before the ration of rum, weak beer on navy ships was the standard provision for sailors. Beer provided some nutrition and needed calories while not harboring harmful microorganisms. It could also soften the hard bread of a long voyage.
First off, sailors were typically rationed about a gallon of beer per day. Beer is rich in vitamins, particularly B vitamins, and more importantly carbohydrates. This is largely the reason it was considered a staple in the diet aboard ships, often called “liquid bread,” in many accounts.
Beer's failure to quell major outbreaks of scurvy, like those at the siege of Gibraltar in 1780 and aboard the HMS Jupiter in 1781, helped disprove the theory. In 1795, the British admiralty adopted lemon juice as the official cure.
Known as grog, Vernon's punch-like concoction became a Navy staple that did more than make sailors happy. It kept them alive, as vitamin C from lime juice prevented scurvy. Soon the idea spread beyond the boat.
In the Finnish saga, as in the writings of the ancient Sumerians, beer was considered a magical brew from the gods endowing the drinker with health, peace of mind and happiness.
Water in the Middle Ages was polluted, full of bacteria and, frankly, not fit to drink. This forced everyone -- from commoners to royalty -- to hydrate by way of beer.
The Vikings ate twice a day and drank beer or Ale after each meal. The drinks were produced at almost all homes. Women were responsible for preparing these drinks. In preparing them, fermented grains of barley were pressed and boiled in water boiled in a kiln.
Beer was to remain the issued drink in Northern Europe for seafarers; when sailing in southern climes, particularly the Mediterranean, wine was preferred.
The British Navy gave its sailors limes or lemon juice rations to ward off scurvy – earning them the nickname of "Limeys" among the American sailors who didn't know about or believe in the preventative treatment.
There are many modern reasons sailors drink. Our jobs are stressful, it makes the best of limited liberty time, and beer tastes good.
It is not possible to survive indefinitely on beer alone. The drink contains water and sugar, along with some vitamins and minerals, but is deficient in other nutrients needed for the body to function properly, including protein, fat and thiamine (vitamin B1).
Vitamin C deficiency is prevalent in patients undertaking alcohol detoxification. Patients with this vitamin deficiency status often suffer from tiredness, which may be symptoms of latent scurvy.
If you drink 8-12 beers a day for several years, you will likely experience a range of health problems as a result. Of course, long-term excessive drinking and/or alcohol dependence can affect more than just your health. It can also cause problems in your personal and professional life.
During the Golden Age of Piracy, it was very difficult to find fresh and clean drinking water, even on dry land. For pirates on the open sea, it was almost impossible to transport and maintain an adequate supply of fresh drinking water onboard. Because of this, many seamen drank grog, beer or ale as opposed to water.
Rum Was Plentiful
Rum, which was distilled from sugar, became a primary export. As a result, many of the ships on the waters that pirates attacked were filled with it. Crews tended to drink much of the liquid loot they found. However, rum was also used as a currency and often traded for goods.
According to most accounts, the principal beverage that pirates drank was rum, although ale (beer) was also served on most pirate ships. Ale was usually only available on shorter journeys or at the beginning of a long adventure because it would turn bad over time.
What is scurvy? Scurvy is better known as severe vitamin C deficiency. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is an essential dietary nutrient.
A gallon of beer was the original rationed drink for sailors, but it too could spoil easily at sea. Around 1655, many ships switched over to rum rations instead. It didn't rot inside barrels and also didn't take up as much room as beer, freeing precious space for cargo.
Plants (not people) synthesize Vitamin C, yet the Eskimo was able to avoid scurvy with the 30 mg of vitamin C consumed daily found in land and sea animals. Recommendations for vitamin C are 60 mg/day and higher daily.
While the Greeks saw wine as a man's drink, beer was considered effeminate, and thus was made and consumed by women. Throughout medieval Britain, wives would brew beer in the close confines of the domestic sphere for all the family to swig throughout the day.
Some historians have suggested that people in the Middle Ages drank beer instead of water because water wasn't seen as safe to drink - however, other historians argue that water was both free and readily accessible, since most towns and villages were built around a water source, and therefore was certainly drunk by ...
Sailors and pirates tended to be very superstitious - that is, they had a fear of the unknown and used it to explain misfortune (bad things that happened). Living and working on a ship in the middle of the seven seas was a very dangerous job.
The Vikings were not always alcoholics, contrary to popular belief. In fact, most beers in the Viking era had less alcohol content than they do today; it is unlikely that the Norse people would have been binge drinking all of time when there was a strong understanding and respect for drunkenness and intoxication.
The culture. Then: In ancient Egypt, beer was so essential it was treated principally as a type of food – it was consumed daily and in great quantities at religious festivals and celebrations.
Men, women, and children all drank beer as it was considered a source of nutrition, not just an intoxicant. Beer was regularly used as compensation for labor (referred to as hemu) and workers at the Giza plateau, for example, were given beer rations three times a day as payment.