Brewers in the Middle Ages were unable to explain all phenomena which happen during the brewing of beer. The less they knew the bigger the chance accidents would occur that resulted in imperfect or simply bad beer. When people can't explain something they tend to believe "occult" forces or evil spirits influence the facts. In that Catholic environment of the time, the devil was to blame for all what couldn't be explained. Which isn't that different from the modern age believe in the USA, that "aliens" are to blame, for what we can't explain.

Anyway, several practices existed to control or avoid the interventions of the devil. The posting of signs and symbols in the brew house was and still is a common practice. Even today, in most Belgian brew houses you can find a crucifix or a statue of a Saint. Other symbols used were the six-pointed star or the sign of Solomon. An other common practice of the old brewers was to stick to certain rituals, like reciting ritual phrases at certain specific moments, or to try to do everything exactly the same way.

The best solution in the given circumstances was to call for the devil-chaser by excellence: the local priest. As a preventative measure, the local clergyman, dressed in his stole, was invited to bless each batch of beer in the mash-tun. This service was called the "right of signage", and was of course not for free. Plenty are the examples in history, where the priest went out of line, and charged too much or blackmailed the brewer. The normal compensation for the Priest was 4 pints of beer per blessing, but many were not content with that. To control these excesses, the local rulers voted laws to define the amount of beer that had to be paid to the Priest, and at the same time the rulers obliged the brewers not to brew without the "service" of the local Priest. Here you see a typical system to create and consolidate a tax. A common practice rolls out of hand, abuse becomes common, the rulers have to intervene and find a compromise both parties can live with.

Only at the end of the Ancien Regime, when the French Revolution spread through Europe at the end of the 18th century, this practice of local priest getting paid a share of each batch of beer, was halted. The blessing of the mash-tuns was soon replaced by the placing of candles before the statue of a Saint, or by the posting of a crucifix in the brew-house. In the 19th century, science made such progress that the brewing process and the function of the yeast was fully understood. From then on, the priest had to pay for his beer. Except, if he was a monk and was living in a beer-brewing Abbey.
(Newsletter July 1997)