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wqaatwt04/24/20251 replyview on HN

Hops weren’t that popular until the 1400-1500s (or not used at all in some places like England) though


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larsga04/24/2025

You're broadly right, but they were popular for most of the period we're discussing.

In continental Europe they were popular from roughly ~1000 onwards (see Behre 1999), in England from roughly 1500 onwards. In African and South American farmhouse brewing they're still not used. So it's a pretty complicated picture.

As the comment made clear, hops are only one component of what makes beer safe, though. Storable, safe beer for travel is documented already in Ancient Egypt.