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Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600
Women brewed and sold most of the ale consumed in medieval England, but after 1350, men slowly took over the trade. By 1600, most brewers in London were male, and men also dominated the trade in many towns and villages. This book asks how, when, and why brewing ceased to be women's work and instead became a job for men. Employing a wide variety of sources and methods, Bennett vividly describes how brewsters (that is, female brewers) gradually left the trade. She also offers a compelling account of the endurance of patriarchy during this time of dramatic change.
277 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Judith M. Bennett
18 books17 followersJudith MacKenzie Bennett is an American historian, Emerita Professor of History and John R. Hubbard Chair in British History at the University of Southern California. Bennett writes and teaches about medieval Europe, specifically focusing on gender, women's history, and rural peasants.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 7, 2017
I enjoyed geeking out on this academic study, which focuses on a time period in which there was a shift from ale, brewed primarily by small-scale female 'brewsters,' to ale and beer brewed primarily by professionalized, larger-scale male brewers. Very interesting historiographically, as the details are not easy to get at through the available records. Much food for thought, and filled with what were to me fascinating details, even if rather drily written from the perspective of a general audience.
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March 8, 2016A master class in how to find and tell women's stories when the sources don't want you to. In addition to uncovering the life and death of a world of women who brewed ale in medieval England for their families and as a profession, Bennett explains in depth how she used different types of court records, civic ordinances, art, guild archives, and literature to build her argument.
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February 11, 2026Wrote this review for my independent study:
In Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England, Judith Bennett analyzes how and why the medieval brewing trade evolved from a female-dominated industry to a male-dominated one between 1300 and 1600. She lists several factors that led to this change, including the rise of capitalism, the formation of guilds and regulatory constraints, the import of beer, etc. Bennett argues that all of the reasons can be linked to the influence of the patriarchy; however, she clarifies that the patriarchy always affected women’s involvement and status within the brewing trade, long before the economic and structural developments of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. As she notes in the concluding chapter, the history of brewing does not provide evidence for a “medieval ‘golden age’ for women,” because when women brewed in the 1300s, the industry provided little profit or prestige, a result of a patriarchal society devaluing women’s labor. However, when men effectively took over the industry, the trade gained both in wealth and reputation – even allowing some brewers to become the richest members of local towns. By examining the changes within a single industry over the course of three centuries, this book demonstrates how the power of patriarchy remains a stable societal force, while also manifesting in different ways in response to the economic, technological, and cultural changes of the late Middle Ages.
Rather than going through the history of the brewing trade in chronological order, each of the book’s chapters instead explores a different reason for why women eventually lost their roles as brewsters. Chapters 1 and 2 introduce Bennett’s thesis, and provide a short summary of the comparatively low, “unskilled” status of brewsters (although high for women). Chapter 3 discusses the differing prospects of married and unmarried brewsters, demonstrating how the latter were not able to persevere within the trade due to the proliferation of commercial brewing after the Black Death. Unlike married women with more financial and male support, single women likely found it difficult to attain trade relationships and establish authority over men. While this is not a direct reason for why all women left the brewing industry, Bennett argues that it effectively had the same result as any “divide and conquer” situation. Chapter 4 delves into how the formation of guilds further excluded women. While brewers’ guilds accepted some women in the beginning unlike other guilds, women enjoyed significantly fewer of their privileges than men, meaning they did not have the opportunities to establish trade relationships and represent the industry through livery and rituals. By the sixteenth century, only the husbands of brewsters could belong to the guild, showing how male domination prevailed. Chapter 5 focuses on how women were never able to learn the new skills and requirements to partake in beer-brewing when Dutch traders and settlers brought it to England. While they had been able to brew ale from their homes with relatively few tools and ingredients, beer-brewing as a trade worked on a grander scale, with more capital costs, higher risks, and expanded markets. Additionally, Dutch beer-brewing had traditionally been a highly-skilled male-dominated profession, so in England, they only hired men, restricting women’s access to even learn the new skills required for the work. Considering that beer would overtake ale as the most popular drink in the country by the end of the sixteenth century, women simply could not keep brewing as men.
Chapter 6 then turns the reader’s attention to how legal regulations and male political figures discouraged female brewing and encouraged male brewing. For example, on top of the regulation of ale assizes (where women had more freedom but were still supervised by only male officials), the licensing system presented obstacles for women aspiring to be brewsters, like their lack of legal capabilities, their relative poverty, and sexist prejudices against alewives in general. By the sixteenth century, fewer than ten percent of licenses were issued to women, and even then they were mostly restricted to the widows of late brewers. Lastly, Chapter 7 analyzes how the literary and artistic characterizations of alewives as deceptive, disobedient, and sinful likely helped discourage women from brewing.
Overall, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England provides an informative case study of how the force of patriarchy affected women’s participation within a single industry in the late Middle Ages. Supported by evidence found in court records and literary materials (and a few artistic examples, though these were not analyzed to the same extent), Bennett’s argument is well-constructed and convincing. Her text is also approachable, especially as she relates how her own views evolved about whether historical writing should include focused considerations of gender dynamics. Students and academics can both benefit from her reflection in addition to the historiography on medieval brewing.
In Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England, Judith Bennett analyzes how and why the medieval brewing trade evolved from a female-dominated industry to a male-dominated one between 1300 and 1600. She lists several factors that led to this change, including the rise of capitalism, the formation of guilds and regulatory constraints, the import of beer, etc. Bennett argues that all of the reasons can be linked to the influence of the patriarchy; however, she clarifies that the patriarchy always affected women’s involvement and status within the brewing trade, long before the economic and structural developments of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. As she notes in the concluding chapter, the history of brewing does not provide evidence for a “medieval ‘golden age’ for women,” because when women brewed in the 1300s, the industry provided little profit or prestige, a result of a patriarchal society devaluing women’s labor. However, when men effectively took over the industry, the trade gained both in wealth and reputation – even allowing some brewers to become the richest members of local towns. By examining the changes within a single industry over the course of three centuries, this book demonstrates how the power of patriarchy remains a stable societal force, while also manifesting in different ways in response to the economic, technological, and cultural changes of the late Middle Ages.
Rather than going through the history of the brewing trade in chronological order, each of the book’s chapters instead explores a different reason for why women eventually lost their roles as brewsters. Chapters 1 and 2 introduce Bennett’s thesis, and provide a short summary of the comparatively low, “unskilled” status of brewsters (although high for women). Chapter 3 discusses the differing prospects of married and unmarried brewsters, demonstrating how the latter were not able to persevere within the trade due to the proliferation of commercial brewing after the Black Death. Unlike married women with more financial and male support, single women likely found it difficult to attain trade relationships and establish authority over men. While this is not a direct reason for why all women left the brewing industry, Bennett argues that it effectively had the same result as any “divide and conquer” situation. Chapter 4 delves into how the formation of guilds further excluded women. While brewers’ guilds accepted some women in the beginning unlike other guilds, women enjoyed significantly fewer of their privileges than men, meaning they did not have the opportunities to establish trade relationships and represent the industry through livery and rituals. By the sixteenth century, only the husbands of brewsters could belong to the guild, showing how male domination prevailed. Chapter 5 focuses on how women were never able to learn the new skills and requirements to partake in beer-brewing when Dutch traders and settlers brought it to England. While they had been able to brew ale from their homes with relatively few tools and ingredients, beer-brewing as a trade worked on a grander scale, with more capital costs, higher risks, and expanded markets. Additionally, Dutch beer-brewing had traditionally been a highly-skilled male-dominated profession, so in England, they only hired men, restricting women’s access to even learn the new skills required for the work. Considering that beer would overtake ale as the most popular drink in the country by the end of the sixteenth century, women simply could not keep brewing as men.
Chapter 6 then turns the reader’s attention to how legal regulations and male political figures discouraged female brewing and encouraged male brewing. For example, on top of the regulation of ale assizes (where women had more freedom but were still supervised by only male officials), the licensing system presented obstacles for women aspiring to be brewsters, like their lack of legal capabilities, their relative poverty, and sexist prejudices against alewives in general. By the sixteenth century, fewer than ten percent of licenses were issued to women, and even then they were mostly restricted to the widows of late brewers. Lastly, Chapter 7 analyzes how the literary and artistic characterizations of alewives as deceptive, disobedient, and sinful likely helped discourage women from brewing.
Overall, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England provides an informative case study of how the force of patriarchy affected women’s participation within a single industry in the late Middle Ages. Supported by evidence found in court records and literary materials (and a few artistic examples, though these were not analyzed to the same extent), Bennett’s argument is well-constructed and convincing. Her text is also approachable, especially as she relates how her own views evolved about whether historical writing should include focused considerations of gender dynamics. Students and academics can both benefit from her reflection in addition to the historiography on medieval brewing.
February 11, 2022
Exactly the seminal historical study it was made out to be. Bennett paints a detailed and surprisingly approachable picture of the slow but inexorable shift in late medieval English brewing, from a small-scale, un-prestigious craft practiced largely by women to one of the great commercial enterprises in early modern western Europe.
As her final chapter explains, brewing is a compelling case study for the history of women's work during any great shift, and is both the story of continuity and change: the great change of the industrialization of beer and the removal of women from its production, and the continuity within the working lives of women and the categories of work they were able to practice and profit from. Bennett also draws some compelling conclusions about what the study of the women's work in the pre-modern world can show us about the functioning and maintenance of patriarchy: English women were not driven out of brewing by any individual men, institutions, or for any particular purpose. Rather, it was the combined force of the (almost) incidental patriarchy within all of the institutions around them, supported by the deteriorating effect of the misogyny within their culture, that prevented them from taking advantage of the massive growth in the brewing industry.
Making a detailed economic and social history as approachable as this is does have some drawbacks: a lot of detailed source analysis is relegated to the appendices, and Bennett's style is often repetitive in driving home every observation and conclusion. But these are very minor flaws in an overall excellent and important book.
As her final chapter explains, brewing is a compelling case study for the history of women's work during any great shift, and is both the story of continuity and change: the great change of the industrialization of beer and the removal of women from its production, and the continuity within the working lives of women and the categories of work they were able to practice and profit from. Bennett also draws some compelling conclusions about what the study of the women's work in the pre-modern world can show us about the functioning and maintenance of patriarchy: English women were not driven out of brewing by any individual men, institutions, or for any particular purpose. Rather, it was the combined force of the (almost) incidental patriarchy within all of the institutions around them, supported by the deteriorating effect of the misogyny within their culture, that prevented them from taking advantage of the massive growth in the brewing industry.
Making a detailed economic and social history as approachable as this is does have some drawbacks: a lot of detailed source analysis is relegated to the appendices, and Bennett's style is often repetitive in driving home every observation and conclusion. But these are very minor flaws in an overall excellent and important book.
October 21, 2018
Bennett argues that mainly married women brewed commercially, but it was more out of necessity than for profit. Women enlisted the help of their children and had access to the materials for brewing in their home. Women could handle the work of brewing and reaped the benefits in a positive way by being able to represent themselves in court. All types of women could brew, but it was harder on not married women because they did not have financial support from a husband. Women joined Brewers’ Guilds, many with the help of their husbands. Women were the face of in industry in these guilds, but in reality, the husbands had little to do with the brewing industry at the time.
After the Black Death, brewing became more industrialized. During this time brewing moved from a supplemental income to the main source of income and became a more male dominated industry. The brewing industry also changed with the introduction of hops. Ale was a female industry. When hops were added, ale became beer, men began to have more of a presence as brewsters, and with these changes, beer became more popular. This change in industry was advanced by alien, or foreign, brewers who only hired men.
Assize court wanted to keep brewing local and imposed regulations, including advertising amounts of beer available for sale. Both men and women were opposed to these new regulations, but it was the women who refused to sell because of these regulations. Beer was monitored daily and regulations included fines, forfeitures, and corporal punishments like the use of the cucking stool. Sexism became prevalent in Assize court, siding more with the male population. This change became widespread in the public’s eye and the ale wife was now viewed as a cheater while ale houses were known as prostitution hubs.
This book is a highly detailed case study of women as brewsters during a 300-year period in England. Bennett’s facts at times seem to contradict each other, but I believe that this may be due to the intense amount of facts that were inserted into the book. This book tells a story that many women know very well. Women work in a non-illustrious industry and become good at what they do. The industry begins small and is not very profitable, but women excel to support themselves or their family. The industry changes to big business, becomes highly profitable, and due to the nature of a patriarchal society, men take over. This story has implications that date back to the 14th century but are still relevant today. I commend the author for researching the topic of women as brewsters in early England, but I wish that she had presented this case study in a more readable way. I sincerely hope that more people research this topic and publish their case studies in a more story-like fashion.
After the Black Death, brewing became more industrialized. During this time brewing moved from a supplemental income to the main source of income and became a more male dominated industry. The brewing industry also changed with the introduction of hops. Ale was a female industry. When hops were added, ale became beer, men began to have more of a presence as brewsters, and with these changes, beer became more popular. This change in industry was advanced by alien, or foreign, brewers who only hired men.
Assize court wanted to keep brewing local and imposed regulations, including advertising amounts of beer available for sale. Both men and women were opposed to these new regulations, but it was the women who refused to sell because of these regulations. Beer was monitored daily and regulations included fines, forfeitures, and corporal punishments like the use of the cucking stool. Sexism became prevalent in Assize court, siding more with the male population. This change became widespread in the public’s eye and the ale wife was now viewed as a cheater while ale houses were known as prostitution hubs.
This book is a highly detailed case study of women as brewsters during a 300-year period in England. Bennett’s facts at times seem to contradict each other, but I believe that this may be due to the intense amount of facts that were inserted into the book. This book tells a story that many women know very well. Women work in a non-illustrious industry and become good at what they do. The industry begins small and is not very profitable, but women excel to support themselves or their family. The industry changes to big business, becomes highly profitable, and due to the nature of a patriarchal society, men take over. This story has implications that date back to the 14th century but are still relevant today. I commend the author for researching the topic of women as brewsters in early England, but I wish that she had presented this case study in a more readable way. I sincerely hope that more people research this topic and publish their case studies in a more story-like fashion.
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April 24, 2018As far as sociological, economical, academic historical analysis goes... - this was gripping!
75% completed but I got what I wanted from this book.
Bennett discusses the topic of women working in low pay low skill jobs by challenging the traditional argument that this is the consequence of patriarchy and deliberate suppression. She instead challenges that this is a nuanced issue that stems more deeply from issues in social structure that distanced women from having access to the resources necessary to compete with men within a growing and industrializing trade. These inaccessible resources include limited access to loans, being granted significantly smaller loan amounts than men, difficulty maintaining or leading servants or employees (especially male), limited or rare access to guild resources and knowledge etc. She also does very thorough research to suggest a need to consider that statistics are skewed by women who where the sole brewers of a household (and sole producers of that source of income) but did so register under/the property and tools for brewing were owned under their husband's name. Thus giving an inaccurate impression of the gendered division of labor by a strictly statistical analysis.
Solid sources, detailed analyses, and a strikingly thorough nuanced argument given. Very informative - this is a monumental contribution to the field.
75% completed but I got what I wanted from this book.
Bennett discusses the topic of women working in low pay low skill jobs by challenging the traditional argument that this is the consequence of patriarchy and deliberate suppression. She instead challenges that this is a nuanced issue that stems more deeply from issues in social structure that distanced women from having access to the resources necessary to compete with men within a growing and industrializing trade. These inaccessible resources include limited access to loans, being granted significantly smaller loan amounts than men, difficulty maintaining or leading servants or employees (especially male), limited or rare access to guild resources and knowledge etc. She also does very thorough research to suggest a need to consider that statistics are skewed by women who where the sole brewers of a household (and sole producers of that source of income) but did so register under/the property and tools for brewing were owned under their husband's name. Thus giving an inaccurate impression of the gendered division of labor by a strictly statistical analysis.
Solid sources, detailed analyses, and a strikingly thorough nuanced argument given. Very informative - this is a monumental contribution to the field.
October 18, 2018
I forgot about this book until a workmate of mine brought it up to me today, but the knowledge obtained from this book has never left me since reading it in grad several (many?) school years ago.
Dr. Bennett's career work speaks for itself, and this book only demonstrates why she has enjoyed so much success. Her research is impeccable. Some reviews here will knock it for its "dryness," but it is an academic work meant to inform; this is not a creative story.
All told, the book sheds light on women by through the lens of beer and beer making. I won't drone on because reviews on the book exist here, on JStor, in various popular magazines, and in various academic works that have built upon her research, but it's a valuable book for anyone wanting to understand medieval history, history of women, or beer history -- or all three, if you are interested!
Dr. Bennett's career work speaks for itself, and this book only demonstrates why she has enjoyed so much success. Her research is impeccable. Some reviews here will knock it for its "dryness," but it is an academic work meant to inform; this is not a creative story.
All told, the book sheds light on women by through the lens of beer and beer making. I won't drone on because reviews on the book exist here, on JStor, in various popular magazines, and in various academic works that have built upon her research, but it's a valuable book for anyone wanting to understand medieval history, history of women, or beer history -- or all three, if you are interested!
July 3, 2021
Every woman and feminist should read this book. Thoroughly researched and a commanding illustration of medieval period from women’s perspective, it gives a wide scope analysis of how women briefly seized economic power in the unlikeliest of centuries and socio-cultural conditions, and how women carved out a space of authority for themselves under the ever constricting presence of patriarchy in one of its firmest forms.
Pros: Women did attain an effective and influential role in an unlikely period in history. All the good feels.
Cons: Written in academic style that does not as easily flow as in a literary non-fiction. Still, written with clarity and descriptive delivery of historical data that is wowen into a coherent account. Well worth the read; information presented here is an essential piece of the puzzle of women’s history in relation to social and economic power.
Pros: Women did attain an effective and influential role in an unlikely period in history. All the good feels.
Cons: Written in academic style that does not as easily flow as in a literary non-fiction. Still, written with clarity and descriptive delivery of historical data that is wowen into a coherent account. Well worth the read; information presented here is an essential piece of the puzzle of women’s history in relation to social and economic power.
April 3, 2024
i love judith bennett, i love it when she goes off on fun little tangents. reading her writing just feels like hanging out with a really cool historian, and it’s funnnnn. this one felt a little heavy on the details, and somehow still didn’t quite explain some processes she refers to? but the argument feels grounded and pretty interesting (maybe would’ve felt more groundbreaking at the time it came out) and she’s cool
December 6, 2019
Interesting account of women in the brewing industry during the late middle ages and onwards. The author of iconic "History Matters" gives us a thorough analysis of how and why women were excluded from ale- and beer making after the Black Death.
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November 7, 2024беклог з цифри
Щільно посипане цифрами й історичними джерелами дослідження, як жінок витіснили з пива
Щільно посипане цифрами й історичними джерелами дослідження, як жінок витіснили з пива
November 17, 2025
3,5
consider me an expert on the topic of beer brewing
was oprecht wel interessant
consider me an expert on the topic of beer brewing
was oprecht wel interessant
Did Not Finish
May 18, 2026again I will finish this one day bc I’m going to literally write a book about it
August 8, 2012
This was a really informative book for a history student / history buff. She made cogent arguments, supported by sources. Bennett listed her sources in the appendices, including some texts and with hew own helpful notes. The book was fairly well organized, but by topic, not strictly chronological, which made it a bit confusing. Also, Bennett fails to define some terms, and her sentence structure is sometimes unnecessarily convoluted.
bottom line: great for history students an buffs, but not a fun read.
bottom line: great for history students an buffs, but not a fun read.
August 8, 2011
Read this for a history class, and while the concept was interesting, the content and the way it was written was difficult for me to get through. For the subject, this book was very dry (ironic pun definitely intended). Would not recommend to anyone unless you have to read it.
December 10, 2015
Bennett overall wrote a very informative book, but the attention keeping was overall not so great and very dry. I would have flipped through the book and sat it back down if it hadn't been required reading but it is rather informative and interesting if you can get through it.
February 5, 2008
It was very interesting to learn how autonomous some women were in the middle ages.
Want to Read
January 18, 2010MC library
March 2, 2010
Has to be one of the most boring books every written. I had to read it for one of my history clasess when I was in college.
May 28, 2013
Review to follow
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews