Well not super fun but things I would have liked to know back in the day. Also I've had these notes sitting around and don't know what to do with them so why not share them and move on.
Wine in the fifteenth century
Wine was common in the med area where the grapes were grown but less common in the North where it was cold and the wine had to be transported. In those areas ale and beer were more common, even among nobles.
Nobody had wine cellars as there were no bottles and corks until the 18th century. Wine came in casks and it didn't store very well as air could easily get into the casks and turn the wine into vinegar. So fresh "young" wine was generally drunk promptly and fetch a higher price than older wines.
To help the wines last longer some are fortified, that is mixed with brandy (called dessert wines in the US or liqueur wines in Europe these days).
Wine was often heavily watered down prior to consumption.
Brandy first appeared in the 12th century and was generally popular in the 14th. Brandy was developed to assist in transporting wine by removing a lot of the water through distillation which could be added back in later.
Beer in the fifteen century
The reinheitsgebot (purity requirement or the German purity law) was originally written in Bavaria in 1487. This law concerned the sale and composition of beer and I have to believe the Germans were experimenting with various compositions before it was decided they had to lay down the law.
The law permits only water, barley and hops in beer. Yeast is not mentioned because the connection with yeast and microorganisms was unknown at the time although brewers generally took some sediment from the previous batch and added it to the next.
Hops are used as a preservative because apparently before the law some nasty ingredients were commonly used.
Beer as Business
Germans turned beer from home-brew to major operations (8 to 10 employees in a brewery) with hopped beer and consistent barrel sizes and exports. This type of operation spread to Holland in the 14th century and reached England by the late 15th century. Laws to enforce the use of hops in beer were introduced in England in the 14th century and these laws led to uprisings that were brutally put down.
Drugs
Bhang Kind of marijuana used in India from ancient times. Chewed?
Opium Used as an anesthesia and as a treatment for melancholy. Recommended treatment in the absence of a proper doctor. Purchased from an Apothecary. Opium is eaten. Which is said to make "dervishes draw with ecstasy, soldiers courage, and others bliss and voluptuousness"
- Black Opium A black water made with opium. Highly addictive drink.
- Laudanum A solution of opium in ethyl alchohol which is often used for pain. Used for female problems and child birth but also for soldiers with wounds that occasionally hurt. Often leads to addiction.
