This is Saint Boniface.

Saint Boniface actually shares the title of ‘patron saint of brewers’ with many other saints including Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Arnold of Metz, and Saint Barbara. In past ages, beer was the daily drink of the people due to polluted water conditions, plus beer was inexpensive and nourishing.

Monks brewed beer for their monasteries and as monasteries often served as inns for travelers, outsiders also enjoyed their brews. Over time the demand for the monks’ brews outside the monasteries lead to the development of pubs, first known as klosterschenken. As the pubs flourished, to differentiate between brews, the monasteries began selling their beers by their patron saints’ names.

In these early times the process of brewing was not fully understood so the brewers invoked the names of saints to bless and protect their beers. A poor brew was blamed on evil spirits known as “brew or beer witches.”