In medieval Europe, brewing was one of the few ways women could run their own businesses and make a living. But as beer grew more profitable, men organized into guilds, took control of production, and forced many women out of the trade.

Independent women working in public spaces often drew suspicion, and their visibility made them easy targets. During waves of European witch trials, female brewers were accused of sorcery, their everyday tools reinterpreted as evidence of witchcraft.

Economic power struggles, superstition, and gender politics all fused together, turning the alewife, a skilled tradeswoman...into one of Halloween’s most enduring villains.