5. North American Brewing Company Bottle

The Star of David was used as a medieval brewer’s symbol, known as the “Brewer’s Star,” which was used in the above bottle by the Brooklyn-based North American Brewing Company, and by other beer companies. According to this report, “the brewer’s star was intended to symbolize purity; that is, a brewer who affixed the insignia to his product was thereby declaring his brew be completely pure of additives, adjuncts, etc. In fact, folklore has it that the six points of the star represented the six aspects of brewing most critical to purity: the water, the hops, the grain, the malt, the yeast, and the brewer. But others assert that the emblem’s use by beer-makers originated independently of the Jewish Star, and has no historical connection thereto…It is known that the star was the official insignia of the Brewer’s Guild as early as the 1500s, and that its association with beer and brewing can be traced as far back as the late 1300s.”