hist-brewing: boiling

[Henry Davis]

Hi Scotti,

Going to Pennsic?

> >
>     You don't have to understand the Why to observe and act on the What.
>Clinical observation is a very pragmatic way to do public health.

Unfortunately the connection between the cleanliness of water and health 
was not a very well established item until well after the 16th century. 
Witness the placement of outhouses and water sources next to each other and 
then folks wondered why certain communicable diseases florished.

> >
> >  It's useful to remember that medieval field workers expended a large
>number
> >  of calories (estimated at 6,000 calories or more per day by Richard W.
> >  Unger PhD). Unger's thesis is that the small beer supplied both liquid 
> and
> >  calories at a level that the workers could not become intoxicated. My
> >  estimation is that small beer has about 60 calories per pint, or close to
> >  500 calories per gallon. (Besides, it tastes pretty good ;>)
> >
>     IIRC, the only jobs that burn more than 4000 calories are saturation
>diving and northwoods logging in winter.  Metabolic anomalies like teenage
>boys and my friend Harry Alm may also burn that much.

FWIW, 6000 Kcalories per day is about 6 horse power-hours. Not a totally 
unreasonable work output for a 12 hour day (yes by modern day measurements 
it may be extreme). Even at 4000 Kcalories the calories in small beer are 
significant. IN a 10 hour day, a 160 lb person will expend 3840 calories 
digging in a garden or carrying wood, 4600 chopping wood, 3450 doing 
general gardening, 6150 general forestry, 5380 masonry, etc.

Henry


>     Scotti
>
>     Knowledge is never wasted, nor is the time to acquire it.
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