Two humanities profs at MacEwan are researching ancient alcohol – and using a centuries-old recipe to brew it – to make the classics more broadly accessible.

Dr. Matt Gibbs and Dr. Jessica Romney say that researching boozy beverages offers a way to link concepts in their courses to the modern world. 

“Using consumables –  in this case, alcohol – as an access point can make something quite technical and academic more interesting and accessible for students and the general public,” says Dr. Romney, whose research focuses on social identity. In her Greek history classes, she discusses wine when covering the symposium – a social gathering in ancient Greece where elite men gathered to drink and discuss politics. Dr. Gibbs looks at drinking in the context of his religion classes, comparing how alcohol makes its way into Christian ritual, Roman life and Judaic religions.   

He told MacEwan’s Research Recast(ed) podcast that his research in ancient alcohol has ties to his interest in how the ordinary people of the ancient world saw themselves. His approach is less Julius Caesar and more “bottom-up,” looking at what the people were talking to the state and trade associations about – things like concerns about money documented in correspondence with local administrative offices. 

But how do you get from administrative documentation to beer? Accidentally, it turns out. A conversation in a Winnipeg pub in 2017 led Dr. Gibbs to try a beer recipe dating back to the fourth or fifth century. The result?

“Some people really liked it, but I thought it was absolutely foul,” he says. “I wrote an article about the experience and described it like a sourdough milkshake. It was really awful.

He documented the entire process in a detailed spreadsheet that outlined dilution factor, turbidity, colour, protein percentages and acidity. But the exercise, he says, was about far more than recreating the recipe. 

“Alcohol in the ancient world isn’t just about how it’s made or what it tastes like. It’s also about the social connections created through celebrations where alcohol is consumed.”

That’s where Dr. Jessica Romney enters the picture. Her work into social identities eventually led her to look broadly at how food and drink help construct those identities. 

The two professors have teamed up on the Ancient Alcohol Project and have plans to host a conference and continue conducting research together. They’d also like to give brewing ancient beer another try. “There are so many breweries in the Edmonton area – it would be great to engage with our community in this way,” says Dr. Romney. 

Coming together – whether it’s a conference or community partnership – says Dr. Gibbs, creates the opportunity for conversation about many aspects of society: technology; social identity and gender roles in brewing and winemaking; drunkenness and bad behaviour; health problems that come from drinking (there are many debates about the strength of ancient lines of alcohol) and much more. 

Whether those conversations happen in classrooms or pubs, they’re important, says Dr. Gibbs. 

“The study of the ancient world can teach us about the modern world – why we believe what we believe and why we make the choices we do. I always say this to my students, and they roll their eyes at me, but I learn as much from them as I hope they do from me. Hearing others’ perspectives on issues in the ancient world can really change the way we think about things.”