What did people in the Middle Ages actually drink?
A popular story says medieval Europeans drank ale and wine because their water was unsafe. The surviving sources, from Bede and Aelfric to manorial accounts and London's conduit, show a more mixed picture of water, ale, cider, wine and, late in the period, hopped beer.
9 established, 2 disputed, 1 debunked, 2 unresolved. We do not pick an answer; the evidence places each claim. How we decide
32 citations from 11 independent sources - 21 echo the same voices and count once. Graded A1-D1.
Added 29 Sept 2026
What the four states mean
- Establishedsupported, uncontested
- Disputedcredible sources disagree
- Debunkedrefuted by the evidence
- Unresolvedno settled answer
Established 9supported, uncontested
In Aelfric's Colloquy, a tenth-century text of imagined conversations between a teacher and his students, a boy asked what he drinks answers ale if he has it, or water if he has no ale.▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- What do you drink? Boy 2: Ale, if I have it, or water if I don't have ale.Aelfric's Colloquy, translated in Aelfric, Teacher (Eynsham Record special issue no. 4, 2005) primary
- ealu gif ic hæbbe oþþe wæter gif ic næbbe ealuAelfric's Colloquy (Old English text), Wikisource primary
- The tenth-century text, Ælfric’s Colloquy, which is a series of imagined conversations between a teacher and his students speaks to the necessity of having beer around the place.Eleanor Janega, On beer, or, why chicks rock, Going Medieval analysis
Bede records that King Edwin, at several clear springs near highways, had stakes set up with copper drinking-vessels hanging on them for the refreshment of travellers.▰▰▰▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- That king took such care for the good of his nation, that in several places where he had seen clear springs near the highways, he caused stakes to be fixed, with copper drinking-vessels hanging on them, for the refreshment of travellersBede, Ecclesiastical History of England, Book II chapter XVI (Christian Classics Ethereal Library) primary
- The early medieval chronicler Bede notes that King Edwin of Northumbria, “established a benefit for his people in that in many places where clear springs/streams ran by well-used roads, where they were most frequented he ordered posts with bronze cups hung on them to be set up for the refreshment of travellers.”Medievalists.net, Did Medieval People Drink Water? summary
Beer-brewing was introduced into England in the fifteenth century, and beer was much more stable than ale, which soured in a day or two.▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- An even more important development occurred in the fifteenth century, with the introduction of beer-brewing into England and the new drink's growing popularity.Janet Loengard, review of Judith M. Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England, The Medieval Review 98.06.07 analysis
- It was much more stable than ale -- which soured in a day or two -- and could therefore be shipped longer distances.Janet Loengard, review of Judith M. Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England, The Medieval Review 98.06.07 analysis
- Hops were used for flavouring beer, yes, but they also are preservative which keeps the drink from going off. So, if you are brewing ale, say in a place like England which didn’t really take to the whole hops thing until into the fifteenth-century, you need to constantly be brewing to ensure a steady supply.Eleanor Janega, On beer, or, why chicks rock, Going Medieval analysis
The same boy in Aelfric's Colloquy says he is not rich enough to buy himself wine, and that wine is the drink not of children or fools but of old men and wise ones.▰▰▱▱▱ likely1 source
Supports- Why don't you drink wine? Boy 2: I am not rich enough to be able to buy myself wine and wine is not the drink of children or fools but old men and wise ones.Aelfric's Colloquy, translated in Aelfric, Teacher (Eynsham Record special issue no. 4, 2005) primary
John Stow records that in the twenty-first year of Henry III's reign, London's citizens were granted water from Teyborne, conveyed into the city by pipes of lead, for the poor to drink and the rich to dress their meat.▰▰▱▱▱ likely3 points
Supports- they were forced to seek sweet waters abroad; whereof some, at the request of King Henry III., in the twenty-first year of his reignJohn Stow, A Survey of London (1603), Project Gutenberg primary
- for the profit of the city, and good of the whole realm, thither repairing, to wit, for the poor to drink, and the rich to dress their meat, granted to the citizens and their successors, by one Gilbert Sanforde, with liberty to convey water from the town of Teyborne by pipes of lead into their city.John Stow, A Survey of London (1603), Project Gutenberg primary
- The first cistern of lead, castellated with stone in the city of London, was called the great Conduit in West CheapeJohn Stow, A Survey of London (1603), Project Gutenberg primary
The Rule of Saint Benedict judges a hemina of wine a day sufficient for each monastic, while promising a special reward to those given the strength to abstain.▰▰▱▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- Chapter 40: On the Measure of DrinkRule of Saint Benedict, chapter 40, On the Measure of Drink (OSB archive text) primary
- Nevertheless, keeping in view the needs of the weak, we believe that a hemina of wine a day is sufficient for each. But those to whom God gives the strength to abstain should know that they will receive a special reward.Rule of Saint Benedict, chapter 40, On the Measure of Drink (OSB archive text) primary
On the Sedgeford manor, thirteenth-century harvest workers were fed barley bread and cheese with ale, milk and water to drink, while their fifteenth-century successors were issued nearly a gallon of ale per day.▰▰▱▱▱ likely1 source
Supports- To sum up, the Sedgeford records give a picture of harvest workers and their dependants of the thirteenth century sitting down to heavy meals of barley bread and cheese, accompanied by a little salt meat or preserved fish, with ale, milk, and water to drink. Their successors of the fifteenth century were issued with ample quantities of wheat bread, nearly a gallon of ale per day, and (except on fast days), large portions of fresh meat.Christopher Dyer, Changes in Diet in the Late Middle Ages: the Case of Harvest Workers, Agricultural History Review 36:1 (1988) authoritative
In the harvest-worker diets on manors in eastern and southern England, cider was replaced by ale over two centuries of the late Middle Ages.▰▰▱▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- The custom of feeding workers during the autumn on various manors in eastern and southern England provides an opportunity to quantify changes in diet over two centuries.Christopher Dyer, Changes in Diet in the Late Middle Ages: the Case of Harvest Workers, Agricultural History Review 36:1 (1988) authoritative
- Barley and rye bread was replaced by wheat, bacon by beef, and cider by ale.Christopher Dyer, Changes in Diet in the Late Middle Ages: the Case of Harvest Workers, Agricultural History Review 36:1 (1988) authoritative
Thirteenth-century St Paul's Cathedral records show tenants doing labour service on its manors fed sometimes 'with beer' (ad cerevisiam) and sometimes 'with water' (ad aquam).▰▰▱▱▱ likely1 source
Supports- The records of St Paul’s Cathedral in the 13th century show that tenants of the manors owned by the cathedral who performed work for their landlord, known as a precaria, were supplied with food and drink on the day, but sometimes it was a precaria ad cerevisiam, “with beer”, and sometimes a precaria ad aquam, “with water”.Martyn Cornell, Was water really regarded as dangerous to drink in the Middle Ages?, Zythophile (archived copy; the original site is offline) analysis
Disputed 2credible sources disagree
Medieval medical authorities did not advise replacing water with wine or beer.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against3 points
Supports- Doctors had slightly more nuanced views, but certainly neither recommended against drinking water in general nor using alcohol to avoid it.Jim Chevallier, The great Medieval water myth, Les Leftovers analysis
- And again no early medical authority said to replace water - good or bad - with wine or beer.Jim Chevallier, The great Medieval water myth, Les Leftovers analysis
Against- There were, in fact, influential voices who were not 100 per cent in favour of promoting water over ale. St Hildegard of Bingen, writing in the middle of the 12th century in her book Cause et Cure (“Causes and Cures”), said: “Whether one is healthy or infirm, if one is thirsty after sleeping one should drink wine or beer but not water.Martyn Cornell, Was water really regarded as dangerous to drink in the Middle Ages?, Zythophile (archived copy; the original site is offline) analysis
Ale was an everyday drink for medieval peasants.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against3 points
Supports- Women got into the beer game because you needed so much ale just to live a nice life as a peasant that a lot of people made it at home.Eleanor Janega, On beer, or, why chicks rock, Going Medieval analysis
- This meant that most people constantly had some ale on the go in their own homes, making brewing a very common cottage industry.Eleanor Janega, On beer, or, why chicks rock, Going Medieval analysis
Against- it seems likely alcohol was rather more of a treat than a regular daily occurrence. Since there was no tea, no coffee or fruit juices, and milk would not have lasted long, that left only one other drink for the thirsty peasantMartyn Cornell, Was water really regarded as dangerous to drink in the Middle Ages?, Zythophile (archived copy; the original site is offline) analysis
Debunked 1refuted by the evidence
It is often said that people in the Middle Ages drank beer instead of water because the drinking water was dirty and unsafe.Refuted by
So the bald statement “In the Middle Ages people drank beer rather than water because the water wasn’t safe” is indeed, as Jim Chevallier says, plain wrong.
refuted2 against4 pointsThe claim rested on- It’s often said that people during the Middle Ages, a period that lasted from roughly the end of the fifth century through the 15th century, drank beer instead of water because the drinking water at the time was dirty and unsafe.HistoryFacts, Were People in Medieval Times Always Drunk? summary
- It’s a story I’ve been guilty of treating a little too uncritically myself: “In the Middle Ages people drank beer rather than water because the water wasn’t safe.”Martyn Cornell, Was water really regarded as dangerous to drink in the Middle Ages?, Zythophile (archived copy; the original site is offline) analysis
Refuted by- So the bald statement “In the Middle Ages people drank beer rather than water because the water wasn’t safe” is indeed, as Jim Chevallier says, plain wrong.Martyn Cornell, Was water really regarded as dangerous to drink in the Middle Ages?, Zythophile (archived copy; the original site is offline) analysis
- The idea that Medieval people drank beer or wine to avoid drinking bad water is so established that even some very serious scholars see no reason to document or defend it; they simply repeat it as a settled truth. In fact, if no one ever documents the idea, it is for a very simple reason: it's not true.Jim Chevallier, The great Medieval water myth, Les Leftovers analysis
Unresolved 2no settled answer
Because water was not typically sold, transported or taxed, there was little reason to record its use, so how much water medieval people drank compared with us is not documented.▰▰▰▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- There is no specific reason then to believe that people of the time drank proportionately less water than we do today; rather, since water was not typically sold, transported, taxed, etc., there simply would have been no reason to record its use.Jim Chevallier, The great Medieval water myth, Les Leftovers analysis
- A more likely way of using the malt would have been to brew a larger quantity of thinner ale (four or five pints ?), though even then some other drink would have been needed to quench the thirsts of these active workersChristopher Dyer, Changes in Diet in the Late Middle Ages: the Case of Harvest Workers, Agricultural History Review 36:1 (1988) authoritative
Whether ordinary peasants drank as much ale as the gallon-a-day allowances found in some records is uncertain.▰▰▰▱▱ likely2 points
Supports- Those same accounts of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, in the late 13th century indicate an allowance of one “bolla” or gallon of ale per person a day. Still, while monks, canons, workers in religious institutions and the like might have been that lucky, I doubt strongly that every peasant drank that much, all the time.Martyn Cornell, Was water really regarded as dangerous to drink in the Middle Ages?, Zythophile (archived copy; the original site is offline) analysis
- By the early fifteenth century the quantity of malt would have been sufficient to give shares of six pints (3.4 litres) of the best ale, or a gallon of thinner stuff (4.5 litres), though each person, allowing for undocumented helpers, may have received a smaller amount.Christopher Dyer, Changes in Diet in the Late Middle Ages: the Case of Harvest Workers, Agricultural History Review 36:1 (1988) authoritative
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