09/02/2026
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Picture a classic witch.
A pointed hat.
A black cat.
A bubbling cauldron.
A broom by the door.
Now picture a medieval beer brewer.
The resemblance is surprisingly hard to ignore.
Across much of medieval England and many parts of northern Europe, brewing beer was often the work of women. These women, known as alewives, brewed beer at home and sold the extra to their neighbors. For many families, it provided an important source of income.
Some medieval artwork depicts women merchants and ale sellers wearing tall hats. One popular interpretation is that distinctive hats helped customers spot them in crowded marketplaces, although historians still debate how common the practice actually was.
Cats were indispensable around breweries because they protected valuable grain from mice and rats.
Beer was brewed in large iron kettles that looked remarkably like the cauldrons later associated with witches. To anyone unfamiliar with brewing, the process itself must have seemed almost magical. Grain, water, yeast, herbs, heat, and time somehow became beer as steam rose from the kettle and the brewer carefully stirred the mixture.
Some historians have also suggested that brewers may have used brooms or other simple signs to indicate fresh ale was available for sale, although the evidence is much stronger for the use of ale stakes than for brooms.
So, did medieval brewers become the witches of folklore?
There is no historical document that says they did, and historians continue to debate just how much influence alewives had on the familiar image of the European witch.
But the similarities are undeniable.
A woman wearing a distinctive hat.
Working over a steaming cauldron.
Keeping a black cat nearby.
Mixing herbs and other ingredients into mysterious bubbling liquids.
Itβs easy to see why many historians believe medieval alewives may have helped shape one of historyβs most recognizable images.
As brewing gradually became a commercial industry, men increasingly took over the profession and the number of female brewers declined. The folklore, however, lived on.
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Whether the connection is coincidence, inspiration, or a little of both, the next time you see the classic Halloween witch, you might also be looking at echoes of a woman whose real craft was brewing beer.
