Plants of the Gods: S5E2. Part 2 — Antibiotic Ales and Lush Lagers: The Ethnobotany of Beer

Welcome to part two of The Ethnobotany of Beer! This week, we continue to explore the question on everyone's mind these days: did civilization invent beer, or did beer invent civilization? And then we help solve a cold case: did ancient Africans know and use antibiotics? And why are we asking this in a discussion of beer? And is there really a 10 CD set comprised entirely of German beer drinking songs? And what did the late Frank Zappa say – and sing – about beer?

 

Works Cited

Appleton, Frank. Brewing Revolution: Pioneering the Craft Beer Movement. Harbour

Publishing, 2016.

Caruso, Giuseppe, et al. The Botany of Beer: An Illustrated Guide to More than 500 Plants Used

in Brewing. Columbia University Press, 2022.

English, Camper. Doctors and Distillers: The Remarkable Medicinal History of Beer, Wine,

Spirits, and Cocktails. Penguin Books, 2022.

Hennessey, Jonathan, et al. The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World’s Favorite Beverage from

7000 BC to Today’s Craft Brewing Revolution. Ten Speed Press, 2015.

Laws, Bill. Fifty Plants That Changed the Course of History. Firefly Books, 2015.

McGovern, Patrick E. Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic

Beverages. University of California Press, 2010.

Muraresku, Brian. The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name. St.

Martin’s Griffin, 2023.

Oliver, Garrett. The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford University Press, 2012.

Smith, Gavin D. Beer - a Global History. Reaktion Books, 2014.

Standage, Tom. A History of the World in Six Glasses. Doubleday Canada, 2010.