An archaic term for a female brewer, someone who brews beer or ale. Also used as a surname derived from the brewing occupation.
From Middle English 'brewester', formed by adding the feminine suffix '-ster' to 'brew'. In medieval times, many occupational terms had gender-specific forms, with '-ster' typically indicating a female practitioner of a trade.
Before the industrial age, brewing was often women's work - many medieval alehouses were run by 'brewsters' who brewed beer in their homes and sold it to neighbors. The shift to male-dominated commercial brewing came later with industrialization, but the linguistic evidence of women's central role in early beer production remains preserved in this old word.
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