Bubbling Brews and Broomsticks Now, briefly consider the aforementioned points outside the economic benefits: women, single or widowed in a time when being husbandless was considered taboo, working over a hot, black cauldron while young children gathered and collected her ingredients. The woman toiled over her bubbling brew, a thick mixture of natural ingredients that, after fermentation, would eventually create a drink that could cause any man to lose total control if he overindulged. Such a creation sounds more than a little bit like a magical potion, does it not? Added to the fact that women who chose to run alehouses put themselves in a public space, exposing their brewing process to all who came through their doors. Suddenly, there appears to be visual evidence of some sort of magical workshops—at least, that was what the Church and male-run guilds claimed by the early modern period.