Traditionally, many polder farms had a kiln or drying floor where chicory was dried. It was the time of the industrial revolution, and farmers were having a difficult time. A friend of Alexander Dingemans, a customs official, visited many breweries in order to levy excise duties. These breweries were operating at full speed, and he advised Dingemans to produce malt. There were a number of breweries in each village, usually farms that brewed beer chiefly for their personnel who worked the fields.
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