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Early beer was much, much weaker than what we have today. In a lot of times and places beer was the primary means of hydration--safer than dirty water--but peop
by PhasmaFelis 9y ago
Early beer was much, much weaker than what we have today. In a lot of times and places beer was the primary means of hydration--safer than dirty water--but people weren't staggering around drunk all the time.
- wcummings 9y agoAlcohols intoxicating effects were almost certainly discovered before its usefulness as a disinfectant.
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoSure, but you don't need to know about disinfectant to notice that people who drink the water from the stream get sick and people who drink beer don't. (Nor need to realize that it's because the people and animals upstream are shitting in it. Not a big problem for hunter-gatherers, but it would have become an issue once large-scale agriculture became a thing.)