Monday, May 08, 2006

Brewer's Star

Beer star made from alchemical symbols

It is a well known fact that the Brewer's Star on beer kegs, beer guild logos, beer cups - looks exactly like the Star of David. I read that there are many speculations about the meanings of this emblem, which can be traced to the 13th century in Europe and later in America:
1. It's somehow descended from the Star of David. There are even those who claim that King David was a brewer.
2. It symbolizes PURITY: brewers wanted to declare that their beer was pure of additives and adjuncts.
3. It represents the six aspects of brewing: water, hops, grain, malt, yeast, and the brewer.

2 comments:

zeevveez said...

Peter Freimark published in 1990 a paper about the connection between the Shield of David and the Brewery Star (in German). He is a scholar of Jewish studies.

zeevveez said...

Another extensive paper is on:
http://www.schlenkerla.de/biergeschichte/brauerstern/indexe.htm