10 Fascinating Facts About Alcohol You Didn't Know

4. Medieval Monks Preferred To Baptize Babies With Beer Rather Than Holy Water

When you think of the Christian church in relation to alcohol you often think of abstinence or the occasional drinking of wine as a symbol of the blood of Christ - after all, the church backed most of the temperance movements which emerged discouraging the devout from getting too drunk. History reveals a different picture, one in which the religious monasteries throughout medieval Europe held such a monopoly on the production and distribution of beer that they may well have shaped Western civilization more than most of us realise. Their own prodigious consumption of beer aside (monks themselves often consumed many gallons a week as part of their nutritional allowance), beer became so ingrained that some monks took to using it in place of Holy water for baptisms. Monastery-brewed beer is clearly something of the past in the modern world, although a few monk-related brands do remain. If you're feeling particularly holy and enlightened perhaps a glass of Trappist beer will bring you back down to earth.