Who Invented Beer?

Historians believe that prehistoric nomads may have brewed beer from grain before learning to make bread. However, the first records and/or evidence of beer are found on 6,000-year-old Sumerian artifacts and 7,000-year-old Iran archaeological finds. It's also likely that Africans, Egyptians, Hebrews and Chinese also made beer thousands of years ago.

Types

Early, fermented drinks were made from millet, maize and cassava in Africa; corn and black birch sap (made by Native Americans) in North America; persimmon and agave in Mexico; corn and sweet potatoes in South America; rice in Japan; wheat in China; sorghum in other Asian cultures; rye in Russia; and barley in Egypt. Other substances used include: balsam herb, hay, dandelion, wormwood seeds and mint among other things.

History

The first written and illustrated records of beer are found on two Sumerian artifacts---one is a 6,000-year-old tablet carving of people using reed straws to drink from a large bowl; the other is a 3,900-year-old seal that contains the "Hymn to Ninkasi (the goddess of brewing)," which is the earliest recorded recipe for brewing beer from barley via bread. Sumerians apparently accidentally discovered the beer-making process when barley (or bread, depending on the source) was left soaking in water, turned into pulp and fermented.
Beer is also mentioned in the 3,000-year-old Epic of Gilgamesh: "Enkidu knew not what bread was nor how one ate it. He had also not learned to drink beer. The (prostitute) opened her mouth and spoke to Enkidu: 'Eat the bread now, O Enkidu, as it belongs to life. Drink also beer, as it is the custom of the land.' Enkidu drank seven cups of beer and his heart soared. In this condition he washed himself and became a human being."
Archaeologists have found evidence of beer in 7,000-year-old containers in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran; and Europe's Germanic and Celtic tribes likely started brewing beer back in 3000 B.C.
Other fermented beverages have also appeared throughout history in other places of the world, including Chang in Tibet and Chica in Peru. Archaeological findings show breweries existed during the Wari Empire, a pre-Inca society.

Effects

The Sumerians were said to have made more than a half a dozen beers. When their empire collapsed, and the Bablyonians took over, they expanded their brewing practices to include 20 kinds of cloudy, unfiltered and syrupy beer made from lightly baked malted grains. Babylonians also exported beer to Egypt.

Significance

Most people considered beer to be a divine drink: It was one of Noah's provisions for the Ark; it was called "cerevisia" by the Romans, from the goddess of agriculture, Ceres; the Egyptians created an extra hieroglyph specifically for "brewer"; Plato called beer inventors "wise men"; and King Hammurabi decreed by law that larger rations of beer should be reserved for priests and the upper classes.
Recent findings at one 1,000-year-old mountaintop brewery in southern Peru show that the elite, noble and/or beautiful Wari Empire women were in charge of the brewing process, and that this was a highly regarded job. This tradition was carried over to Incan times, when noble Incan women were society's top brewers.

Benefits

The Babylonians used beer to pay wages.
In Egypt, beer was made commercially for use by the royalty; it was included in burial provisions; if a man offered a woman a sip of his beer, they would be betrothed; and Egyptian texts contain 100 medical prescriptions for beer.
By the seventh century, beer-making shifted from small, home breweries to centralized production facilities at European monasteries and convents, where it was made initially for traveling pilgrims. This larger-scale production spread the practice of beer drinking throughout Europe.
During the Middle Ages, beer also began to be used for tithing, payment and taxing, and it was often drunk in lieu of water because it was safer. This practice carried over when the pilgrims came to the United States.

Resources

• The complete history of beer