One of my ‘dream occupations’ would be to travel from brewery to brewery, drink their beer, and be paid for it. Three of my favorite things: travel, beer, and getting paid. It turns out that this profession has been around for hundreds of years!
Here is an exerpt from an old (olde?) book , The Curiosities of Beer and Ale; An Entertaining History, by John Bickerdyke, 1896:
“The office of the Ale-Taster was required to “go to every ale-brewer that day they brew,according to their courses, and taste their ale; for which his ancient fee was one gallon of strong ale, and two gallons of less strong …”
And from The Wapentake of Wirral: A history of the royal franchise of the Hundred by Ronald Steward-Brown, 1907:
“… The duties of an Ale-Taster were to see that good and wholesome beer and ale was brewed, to taste them before sale, and to see that the price was within legal limits…”
Maybe in a prior life I held the position of Ale-Taster. It feels so ‘deja vu’…Kimo, The Ale-Taster…