Beer History: From Cave Men to Beer Gods
How Beer Was Discovered and Man Became Civilized
Oct 7, 2008
The Discovery of Beer and the Dawn of Civilization
Beer is believed to have been around since the dawn of modern man. Anthropologists speculate that cave men, out hunting and foraging for their daily sustenance, were likely the first to experience the pleasures of this mystical beverage. Happening upon a cache of grain that was dampened by rain and spontaneously fermented by wild air-borne yeast, these hominids observed and took note of this natural occurrence. Once they came to understand this basic beer making process and were able to successfully replicate it, the Stone Age people of the late Neolithic period (about 10,000 years ago) forsook their nomadic lifestyle to become farmers of grain in order to make their newfound favorite beverage. No longer would they hunt and gather their food; they would now sow and reap, bake and brew.
From Grain to Glass
Grain is the common link between bread and beer (Europeans are fond of referring to beer as "liquid bread"). In both cases, grain is mixed with water and yeast acts upon the mixture, leavening one and fermenting the other. Both need to be heated; the beer is brewed before fermentation and the bread is baked after leavening. The difference between beer and bread -at least at that time- is that the beer was more nutritious. The crude brewing processes rendered more proteins and nutrients in the beer that would have otherwise been lost in the bread making process.
This realization was not lost on various civilizations throughout the world. Evidence of rudimentary beer making has been collected from diverse geographic areas. Using the grain source indigenous to their surroundings, inhabitants of locations as diverse as Mesopotamia (barley), Egypt (wheat), Africa (millet and sorghum), South America (corn), and Asia (rice), have left behind artifacts related to their ancient brewing practices. In addition to earthenware pots, petrified grain stores, and golden drinking straws recovered from sarcophagi, archaeologists and anthropologists have de-coded beer related hieroglyphics found in tombs and on clay tablets.
Beer Gods and Goddesses
One of these tablets describes the brewing processes while singing the praises of a Sumerian beer goddess. The "Hymn to Ninkasi" has not only been studied by students of ancient history but more recently by brewers wishing to learn more about brewing in the past. Beer gods and goddesses, deities of high rank and honor, received regular praise and offerings in Babylon and Mesopotamia. These spiritual beings wielded power and authority over the sun, the rain, and the soil- all things necessary to provide a bountiful harvest of grain.
