Probably not primarily booze, but vinegar. Prior to refrigeration and canning, food preservation was massively important. This meant salting, smoking or pickling. Apples that weren’t good for eating were important as a source for producing vinegar.
Primarily for cider. Of which you can make vinegar, but that was not the primary reason. It was cider, which was the most popular drink in colonial/early US.
It was for cider. They drank a staggering amount of beer, cider and rum on a daily basis in the early 1800’s. Cider consumption per capita in the was around 15 gallons/year. They drank even more beer and rum. They were also drinking around 5 gallons/year of distilled spirits.
Most people were what we would classify as functional alcoholics today.
15 gallons per year comes out to about 6 pints per week. Not exactly staggering amounts, but combined with the spirits (and I’m sure they were drinking other stuff as well), it would definitely qualify for alcoholism today.
If you know what brewing with apples and not having access to modern equipment, sanitation and yeast is like then I highly doubt they were in short supply of vinegar.
Probably not primarily booze, but vinegar. Prior to refrigeration and canning, food preservation was massively important. This meant salting, smoking or pickling. Apples that weren’t good for eating were important as a source for producing vinegar.
Primarily for cider. Of which you can make vinegar, but that was not the primary reason. It was cider, which was the most popular drink in colonial/early US.
It was for cider. They drank a staggering amount of beer, cider and rum on a daily basis in the early 1800’s. Cider consumption per capita in the was around 15 gallons/year. They drank even more beer and rum. They were also drinking around 5 gallons/year of distilled spirits.
Most people were what we would classify as functional alcoholics today.
15 gallons per year comes out to about 6 pints per week. Not exactly staggering amounts, but combined with the spirits (and I’m sure they were drinking other stuff as well), it would definitely qualify for alcoholism today.
If you know what brewing with apples and not having access to modern equipment, sanitation and yeast is like then I highly doubt they were in short supply of vinegar.