The History of the Beer Jug
INTRODUCTION
(by Mr, G. W, Hardevelt Kleuver, jr., a collector and judge of beer jugs)
(Reprinted with permission of the Editors of VERS VAN 'T VAT, the Heineken's Breweries house org&i4
My main hobby is collecting beer
jugsAccording to astrological predic
tions(nobody takes that seriously of
coursethough everybody follows its
advicecollecting things is in my
blood! Besidesas a "Brabander"
(from the Holland Beer countryI
have to drink beer andof courseuse
my own beer jug. This will explain a
collection of beer jugs (about 150
piecesby one who has nothing to do
with the brewing of beer.
Occasionallyfriends and others that
I know, want to know what is going
on in my roomand want to know
more about the story of some of the
jugs in my collection; this explains
the second part of ?ny hobby.
Via Dutch and foreign breweries
librariesinstitutes of historical arts
etc., I slowly gathered data giving a
good insight of the history of the beer
jugYou cannot find a book about this
subject in a library. And so, this was
for me and many others"no small
beer," and one could almost apply to
me the old Dutch expression "He
would like to study inside the beer
barrel."
Among the many periodicals which
land regularly on my desk, is also a
very nice looking copy of Vers van 't
Vat," a special edition of "The Heine-
ken's Employee Monthly," on occasion
of the official opening of Heineken's
new brewery in the heart of Brabant,
Den BoschI must tell you, mean
while, that since the 4th of Septem
ber 1958 (dedication of the new
Heineken's Brewery), a large picture
of H.R.H. Prince Bernhard, enjoying
his Heineken's out of a graceful glass,
is decorating my room. An interview
with the editor of "Vers Van't Vat"
gave birth to this article. The pictures
you see are taken by me, and show
some examples of my collection. The
decorated beer jugs of stone, pottery
tinetc. have for a long time been
sought by antiquarians. Splendid ex
amples are in museums, private col
lections and sometimes with people
who like them.
They are often imitated and sold
as "real and very old." It is a strange
world; art pieces very often are not
judged by their objective art value,
but only appreciated if one knows the
name of the creator.
But notwithstanding this objection
of art connoisseurs and in spite of the
many kinds and forms of beer jugs,
you should be able to say, after read
ing this article, "Tell me out of what
you drink, and I will tell you who you
are."
The history of the beer jug is as old
as the one of beer, and 1 will tell you
about the birth of both.
Over seven thousand years ago there
was a girl, with lovely blue eyes,
named Anggèrek (Orchid). Because
she was the most beautiful girl of her
tribe, she married the smartest young
man, and he loved her very much. He
killed bears and gave the skins to
Anggèrek so that she could make
dresses from them.
Now, not only was she the most
beautiful, but she was also the best
dressed lady of many tribes.
She thought so much of her lover
and spent so many hours of the day
making herself up, that her house got
out of order and even the dough in
the vat had spoiled. On a certain day,
when looking into the barrel, she saw
on top of the dough a gray substance
of dark juice which had a strange and
sharp smell. Anggèrek tasted it first
with her finger and then took a big
swallow what a refreshing taste! In
the afternoon her husband came
home, tired and warm from hunting.
Anggèrek gave him a hollow brain
pan of an enemy he had once killed
and filled it with the strange drink.
He then sipped it empty with thirsty
swallows. After having drunk this, he
fell down intoxicated on his animal
skin. So, for the first time, out of the
starch of grain, by way of alcoholic
fermentation, a new drink came into
existence. This was the birth of the
beer, and Anggèrek was the mother
of the beer jug.
But after this intermezzo, we go
back to our original subject. The
Teutons, as Tacitus writes about
them, did not like a jug put before
them on the table. They drank, it
seems, out of tradition, from the largo
horns of the bison which one could
place on the table only when empty,
and it was quite a task as one of my
examples proves.
According to the information of
the Romans, these jugs proved that
the users had a low cultural level. So
the jug was not stable yet; it was a
fact that the drink horns did not lack
in originality, and with what grace of
skill could our ancestors appreciate
home brew! It is known that the old
Babylonians, many centuries ago,
drank their beer from pottery-made
jugs; pottery because there was no
other kind of casks, the historians
say. However, we are sure that the
reason was because pottery kept the
beer fresh and cool. That was, under
the hot sun of the Near East, as
equally important as in our days
when someone is drinking outdoors
while the sun is shining on his drink.
We could write a book about the
use, the form, or the decoration of the
pottery jugs, but I will not do that*
and I advise you, for further details,
to look in the encyclopedia, like the
doctor, who started his practice next
to a colleague, wrote on his nameplate
the warning, "For difficult cases,
please go to my neighbor."
One important fact we should
understand in our story is that the
pottery jug did not undergo a change
any more since the flat foot replaced
the peak round foot of the Egyptian
jug. The common characteristics of all
pottery jugs have been, up until now,
the flat round bottom and the cylin
drical form with the hinged cover,
about which I will tell you more
later on. Several varieties go back to
the round form. The biggest differ
ence is only found in the decoration.
Occasionally, there were different
forms silver guild cups, glasses in
the form of a boot, etc., which were
used for a longer time, but only the
number of pottery forms increased
continually.
But as we already said, the original
pottery jug kept her form, and it v
interesting to note, as indicated i\x
many history books, how the name
"Keferloher" originated. But about
that, next time.
