History of beer

Beeris one of the oldest human-produced drinks. Thewritten historyof ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia records the use of beer, and the drink has spread throughout the world; a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem honouringNinkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer-recipe, describing the production of beer from barley bread, and in China, residue on pottery dating from around 5,000 years ago shows that beer was brewed using barley and other grains.
Some say the invention ofbreadand beer led to the development of technology and staticcivilization.
Beer may have been known inNeolithic Europeas far back as 5,000 years ago,and was mainly brewed on a domestic scale.Beer produced before theIndustrial Revolutioncontinued to be made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century CE beer was also being produced and sold by Europeanmonasteries. During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved fromartisanalmanufacture toindustrial manufacture, and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century.The development ofhydrometersandthermometerschanged brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process, and giving greater knowledge of the brewing product.
Today, the brewing industry is a globalbusiness, consisting of several dominantmultinational companiesand many thousands of smaller producers ranging frombrewpubstoregional breweries.More than 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons) of beer are sold per year – producing total global revenues of $294.5 billion (£147.7 billion) in 2006.The global beer market is projected to grow by $148.43 billion between 2024 and 2028, according to a report by Technavio.
As almost any cereal containing certainsugarscan undergo spontaneousfermentationdue to wildyeastsin the air, it is possible that beer-like drinks were independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture haddomesticatedcereal. Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced about 3,500 BCE in what is todayIran, and was one of the first-knownbiological engineeringtasks where the biological process of fermentation is used; the earliest chemically confirmed barley beer to date was discovered atGodin Tepein the centralZagros Mountainsof Iran, where fragments of a jug, from between 5,400 and 5,000 years ago was found to be coated withbeerstone, a by-product of the brewing process.
Archaeological findings also show that Chinese villagers were brewing fermented alcoholic drinksas far back as 7000 BCEon small and individual scale, with the production process and methods similar to that ofancient Egyptandancient Mesopotamia.
The process by which the production of beer was discovered is a matter of debate.
Author Thomas Sinclair says in his book, "Beer, Bread, and the Seeds of Change: Agriculture's Imprint on World History" that the discovery of beer may have been an accidental find. The precursor to beer was soaking grains in water and making a porridge or gruel, as grain was chewy and hard to digest alone. Ancient peoples would heat the gruel and leave it throughout the days until it was gone. A benefit to heating the gruel would be to sanitize the water and the temperature required to denature grain proteins would also denature disease microbes. Leaving the gruel to sit would change it. Fermentation would occur and they noticed the change in taste and effect. Yeasts would settle on the mixture and rapidly consume the oxygen in the mixture. The low oxygen would then cause the yeast to digest sugars by anaerobic respiration, which causes the release of ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide as by-products and, hence, beer was born.
The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000-year-old residues of a beer with the consistency ofgruel, used by the semi-nomadicNatufiansfor ritual feasting, at theRaqefet Cavein theCarmel MountainsnearHaifainIsrael.
The first written records of brewing come fromMesopotamia(ancient Iraq).These include early evidence of beer in the 3,900-year-oldSumerianpoem honoringNinkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, which contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer frombarleyvia bread.
Approximately 5,000 years ago, workers in the city ofUrukwere paid by their employers in beer.Beer is also mentioned in theEpic of Gilgamesh, in which the 'wild man'Enkiduis given beer to drink. "... he ate until he was full, drank seven pitchers of beer, his heart grew light, his face glowed and he sang out with joy."
In February 2019, archaeologists from Mola Headland Infrastructure and experts from Highways England found evidence of firstIron Agebeer dated back over 2,000 years during road works inCambridgeshire.In February 2021, archaeologists found a 5,000-old beer factory inAbydos, Egypt, dating back to the reign of KingNarmer,Early Dynastic Period.
Confirmed written evidence of ancient beer production inArmeniacan be obtained fromXenophonin his workAnabasis(5th century BCE) when he was in one of the ancientArmenianvillages in which he wrote:
Beer became vital to all the grain-growing civilizations of Eurasian and North African antiquity, includingEgypt– so much so that in 1868 James Death put forward a theory inThe Beer of the Biblethat the manna from heaven that God gave the Israelites was a bread-based, porridge-like beer calledwusa.
These beers were often thick, more of agruelthan a drink, anddrinking strawswere used by the Sumerians to avoid the bitter solids left over from fermentation. Though beer was drunk inAncient Rome, it was replaced in popularity by wine.Tacituswrote disparagingly of the beer brewed by theGermanic peoplesof his day.Thracianswere also known to consume beer made from rye, even since the 5th century BCE, as the ancient Greek logographerHellanicus of Lesbossays. Their name for beer wasbrutos, orbrytos. The Romans called their brewcerevisia, from the Celtic word for it. Beer was apparently enjoyed by someRoman legionaries. For instance, among theVindolanda tablets(fromVindolandainRoman Britain, dated c. 97–103 CE), the cavalrydecurionMasculus wrote a letter to prefect Flavius Cerialis inquiring about the exact instructions for his men for the following day. This included a polite request for beer to be sent to the garrison (which had entirely consumed its previous stock of beer).
AncientNubianshad used beer as an antibiotic medicine.
In ancientMesopotamia,clay tabletsindicate that the majority of brewers were probably women, and that brewing was a fairly well respected occupation during the time, being the only profession in Mesopotamia which derived social sanction and divine protection from female deities/goddesses, specifically:Ninkasi, who covered the production of beer,Siris, who was used in a metonymic way to refer to beer, andSiduri, who covered the enjoyment of beer.Mesopotamian brewing appears to have incorporated the usage of a twice-baked barley bread calledbappir, which was exclusively used for brewing beer.It was discovered early that reusing the same container for fermenting the mash would produce more reliable results; brewers on the move carried their tubs with them.
TheEbla tablets, discovered in 1974 inEbla,Syria, show that beer was produced in the city in 2500 BCE.Early traces of beer and the brewing process have been found in ancientBabyloniaas well. At the time, brewers were women as well, but also priestesses. Some types of beers were used especially in religious ceremonies. In 2100 BCE, the Babylonian kingHammurabiincluded regulations governingtavernkeepers inhis law codefor the kingdom.
InAncient India, theVedasandRamayanamention a beer-like drink calledsuraconsumed during the Vedic Period (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE).It was the favourite of the godIndra.Kautilyahas also mentioned two intoxicating beverages made from rice calledMedakaandPrasanna.
Beer was part of the daily diet of Egyptianpharaohsover 5,000 years ago. Then, it was made from bakedbarleybread, and was also used in religious practices.During the building of theGreat Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, each worker got a daily ration of four to five liters of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment that was crucial to the pyramids' construction.
The Greek writerSophocles(450 BCE) discussed the concept ofmoderationwhen it came to consuming beer in Greek culture, and believed that the best diet for Greeks consisted of bread, meats, various types of vegetables, and beeror "ζῦθος" (zythos) as they called it.The ancient Greeks also madebarleywine(Greek: "κρίθινος οἶνος" –krithinos oinos, "barley wine") mentioned by Greek historianPolybiusin his workThe Histories, where he states thatPhaeacianskept barleywine in silver and goldenkraters.
During the £1.5bn upgrade of the A14 inCambridgeshire, evidence was found that beer was brewed in Britain more than 2,000 years ago. Steve Sherlock, the Highways England archaeology lead for the A14 project said, "It’s a well-known fact that ancient populations used the beer-making process to purify water and create a safe source of hydration, but this is potentially the earliest physical evidence of that process taking place in the UK." Roger Protz, the former editor of the Campaign for Real Ale's Good Beer Guide, said, "When the Romans invaded Britain they found the local tribes brewing a type of beer calledcurmi."
In Europe during theMiddle Ages, a brewers' guild might adopt apatron saintof brewing.Arnulf of Metz(c. 582–640) andArnulf of Oudenburg(c. 1040–1087) were recognized by some French andFlemishbrewers.Belgian brewers, too, venerated Arnulf of Oudenburg (aka Arnold of Soissons),who is also recognized as the patron saint of hop-pickers. Christian monks built breweries, to provide food, drink, and shelter to travelers andpilgrims.
Charlemagne, Frankish king and ruler of theHoly Roman Empireduring the 8th century, considered beer to be an important part of living, and is often thought to have trained some brewers himself.
Beer was one of the most common drinks during theMiddle Ages. It was consumed daily by all social classes in the northern and eastern parts of Europe where grape cultivation was difficult or impossible,and brewing it was considered a common household task, orchestrated by women.Though wine of varying qualities was the most common drink in the south, beer was still popular among the lower classes. The idea that beer was consumed more commonly than water during medieval times is considered by some historians to be a myth.Water was cheaper than beer, and towns/villages were built close to sources of fresh water such as rivers, springs, and wells to facilitate easy access to the resource.Though probably one of the most popular drinks in Europe, beer was frequently disdained as being unhealthy, possibly becauseancient Greekand more contemporaryArab physicianshad little or no experience with the drink. In 1256, the Aldobrandino ofSienadescribed the nature of beer in the following way:
The use ofhopsin beer was written of in 822 by theCarolingianAbbotAdalard of Corbie.Flavoring beer withhopswas known at least since the 9th century, but was only gradually adopted because of difficulties in establishing the right proportions of ingredients. Before that,gruit, a mix of various herbs, had been used, but did not have the same preserving properties as hops. Beer flavored without hops was often spoiled soon after preparation and could not be exported. The only other alternative was to increase the alcohol content, which was rather expensive. Hopped beer was perfected in the medieval towns ofBohemiaby the 13th century.  German towns pioneered a new scale of operation with standardized barrel sizes that allowed for large-scale export.  Previously beer had been brewed at home, but the production was now successfully replaced by medium-sized operations of about eight to ten people. This type of production spread toHollandin the 14th century and later toFlandersandBrabant, and reachedEnglandby the late 15th century.
English ale and beer brewing were carried out separately, no brewer being allowed to produce both. The Brewers Company of London stated "no hops, herbs, or other like thing be put into any ale or liquore wherof ale shall be made – but only liquor (water), malt, and yeast." This comment is sometimes misquoted as a prohibition on hopped beer.However, hopped beer was opposed by some:
In Europe, beer brewing largely remained a home activity inmedievaltimes. By the 14th and 15th centuries, beermaking was gradually changing from a family-oriented activity to an artisan one, withtavernsandmonasteriesbrewing their own beer for mass consumption.
In the late Middle Ages, the brewing industry in northern Europe changed from a small-scale domestic industry to a large-scale export industry. The key innovation was the introduction of hops, which began in northern Germany in the 13th century. Hops sharply improved both the brewing process and the quality of beer. Other innovations from German lands involved larger kettle sizes and more frequent brewing. Consumption went up, while brewing became more concentrated because it was a capital-intensive industry. Thus in Hamburg per capita consumption increased from an average of 300 liters per year in the 15th century to about 700 in the 17th century.
The use of hops spread to the Netherlands and then to England. In 15th century England, an unhopped beer would have been known as anale, while the use of hops would make it a beer. Hopped beer was imported to England from the Netherlands as early as 1400 in Winchester, and hops were being planted on the island by 1428. The popularity of hops was at first mixed—theBrewers Company of Londonwent so far as to state"no hops, herbs, or other like thing be put into any ale or liquore wherof ale shall be made—but only liquor (water), malt, and yeast."
However, by the 16th century,alehad come to refer to any strong beer, and all ales and beers were hopped, giving rise to the verse noted by the antiquaryJohn Aubrey:
the year, according to Aubrey, being the fifteenth of Henry VIII (1524).
In 1516,William IV,Duke of Bavaria, adopted theReinheitsgebot(purity law), perhaps the oldest food regulation still in use through the 20th century (the Reinheitsgebot passed formally from German law in 1987). TheGebotordered that the ingredients of beer be restricted to water, barley, and hops; yeast was added to the list afterLouis Pasteur's discovery in 1857. The Bavarian law was applied throughout Germany as part of the 1871 German unification as theGerman EmpireunderOtto von Bismarck, and has since been updated to reflect modern trends in beer brewing. To this day, theGebotis considered a mark of purity in beers, although this is controversial.
Most beers until relatively recent times were top-fermented. Bottom-fermented beers were discovered by accident in the 16th century after beer was stored in cool caverns for long periods; they have since largely outpaced top-fermented beers in terms of volume.  For further discussion of bottom-fermented beers, seePilsnerandLager.
Documented evidence and recently excavated tombs indicate that the Chinese brewed alcoholic drinks from both malted grain and grain converted by mold from prehistoric times, but that the malt conversion process was largely considered inefficient in comparison with the use of molds specially cultivated on rice carrier (the resulting molded rice being called 酒麴 (Jiǔ qū) in Chinese and Koji in Japanese) to convert cooked rice into fermentable sugars, both in the amount of resulting fermentable sugars and the residual by products (the Chinese use the dregs left after fermenting the rice, called 酒糟 (Jiǔzāo), as a cooking ingredient in many dishes, frequently as an ingredient to sauces where Western dishes would use wine), because the rice undergoes starch conversion after being hulled and cooked, rather than whole and in husks like barley malt. Furthermore, the hop plant being unknown in East Asia, malt-based alcoholic drinks did not preserve well over time, and the use of malt in the production of alcoholic drinks gradually fell out of favor in China until disappearing from Chinese history by the end of theTang dynasty. The use of rice became dominant, such that wines from fruits of any type were historically all but unknown except as imports in China.
The production of alcoholic drink from cooked rice converted by microbes continues to this day, and some classify the different varieties of Chinese 米酒 (Mǐjiǔ) and Japanesesakeas beer since they are made from converted starch rather than fruit sugars. However, this is a debatable point, and such drinks are generally referred to as "rice wine" or "sake" which is really the generic Chinese and Japanese word for all alcoholic drinks.
The earliest evidence ofbeer-making in Chinais from around 5,000 years ago at theMijiaya site.
Some Pacific island cultures ferment starch that has been converted to fermentable sugars by human saliva, similar to thechichaof South America. This practice is also used by many other tribes around the world, who either chew the grain and then spit it into the fermentation vessel or spit into a fermentation vessel containing cooked grain, which is then sealed up for the fermentation. Enzymes in the spittle convert the starch into fermentable sugars, which are fermented by wild yeast. Whether or not the resulting product can be called beer is sometimes disputed, since:
Some Taiwanese tribes have taken the process a step further by distilling the resulting alcoholic drink, resulting in a clear liquor. However, as none of the Taiwanese tribes are known to have developed systems of writing, there is no way to document how far back this practice goes, or if the technique was brought from mainland China by Han Chinese immigrants. Judging by the fact that this technique is usually found in tribes using millet (a grain native to northern China) as the ingredient, the latter seems much more likely.
Asia's first brewerywas incorporated in 1855 (although it was established earlier) by Edward Dyer atKasauliin theHimalayan Mountainsin India under the name Dyer Breweries. The company still exists and is known asMohan Meakin, today comprising a large group of companies across many industries.
Following significant improvements in the efficiency of thesteam enginein 1765, industrialization of beer became a reality. Further innovations in the brewing process came about with the introduction of thethermometerin 1760 andhydrometerin 1770, which allowed brewers to increase efficiency and attenuation.
Prior to the late 18th century,maltwas primarily dried over fires made from wood,charcoal, orstraw, and after 1600, from coke.
In general, none of these early malts would have been well shielded from the smoke involved in thekilningprocess, and consequently, early beers would have had a smoky component to their flavors; evidence indicates that maltsters and brewers constantly tried to minimize the smokiness of the finished beer.
Writers of the period describe the distinctive taste derived from wood-smoked malts, and the almost universal revulsion it engendered. The smoked beers and ales of the West Country were famous for being undrinkable – locals and the desperate excepted. This is from "Directions for Brewing Malt Liquors" (1700):
An even earlier reference to such malt was recorded by William Harrison, in his "Description of England", 1577:
"London and Country Brewer" (1736) specified the varieties of "brown malt" popular in the city:
Thehydrometertransformed how beer was brewed. Before its introduction beers were brewed from a single malt: brown beers from brown malt, amber beers from amber malt, pale beers from pale malt. Using the hydrometer, brewers could calculate the yield from different malts. They observed that pale malt, though more expensive, yielded far more fermentable material than cheaper malts. For example, brown malt (used for Porter) gave 54 pounds of extract per quarter, whilst pale malt gave 80 pounds. Once this was known, brewers switched to using mostly pale malt for all beers supplemented with a small quantity of highly coloured malt to achieve the correct colour for darker beers.
The invention of thedrum roasterin 1817 by Daniel Wheeler allowed for the creation of very dark, roasted malts, contributing to the flavour of porters and stouts. Its development was prompted by a British law of 1816 forbidding the use of any ingredients other than malt and hops. Porter brewers, employing a predominantly pale malt grist, urgently needed a legal colourant. Wheeler's patent malt was the solution.
Louis Pasteur's 1857 discovery of yeast's role in fermentation led to brewers developing methods to prevent the souring of beer by undesirablemicroorganisms.
In 1912, brown bottles began to be used byJoseph Schlitz Brewing CompanyofMilwaukee, Wisconsinin theUnited States. This innovation has since been accepted worldwide and prevents harmful rays from destroying the quality and stability of beer.
Many European nations have unbroken brewing traditions dating back to the earliest historical records. Beer is an especially important drink in countries such as Belgium, Germany, Austria, Ireland, the UK (England,Wales,ScotlandandNorthern Ireland), France, the Scandinavian countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain and others having strong and unique brewing traditions with their own history, characteristic brewing methods, and styles of beer.
Unlike in many parts of the world, there is a significant market in Europe (the UK in particular) for beer containing live yeast. These unfiltered, unpasteurised brews are more challenging to handle than the commonly sold "dead" beers; "live" beer quality can suffer with poor care, but many people prefer its taste. While beer is usually matured for relatively short times (a few weeks to a few months) compared to wine, some of the stronger so-calledreal aleshave been found to develop character and flavour over the course of as much as several decades.
In some parts of the world, breweries that had begun as a family business by Germans or other European émigrés grew into large companies, often passing into hands with more concern for profits than traditions of quality, resulting in a degradation of the product.
In 1953, New ZealanderMorton Couttsdeveloped the technique of continuous fermentation. Coutts patented his process, which involves beer flowing through sealed tanks, fermenting under pressure, and never coming into contact with the atmosphere, even when bottled. His process was introduced in the US and UK, but is now used for commercial beer production only in New Zealand.
In some sectors brewers are reluctant to embrace new technology for fear of losing the traditional characteristics of their beer. For example,Marston'sBrewery in Burton on Trent still uses open woodenBurton Unionsets for fermentation in order to maintain the quality and flavour of its beers, while Belgium'slambicbrewers go so far as to expose their brews to outside air in order to pick up the natural wild yeasts which ferment the wort. Traditional brewing techniques protect the beer from oxidation by maintaining a carbon dioxide blanket over the wort as it ferments into beer.
Modern breweries now brew many types of beer, ranging from ancient styles such as the spontaneously fermentedlambicsof Belgium; thelagers, dark beers,wheat beersand more of Germany; the UK'sstouts,milds,pale ales,bitters,golden aleand new modern American creations such as chili beer,cream ale, anddouble India pale ales.
Today, thebrewing industryis a huge global business, consisting of severalmultinational companies, and many thousands of smaller producers ranging frombrewpubstoregional breweries. Advances in refrigeration, international and transcontinental shipping, marketing and commerce have resulted in an international marketplace, where the consumer has literally hundreds of choices between various styles of local, regional, national and foreign beers.
Prior toProhibition, there were thousands of breweries in the United States, mostly brewing heavier beers than modern US beer drinkers are used to. Beginning in 1920, most of these breweries went out of business, although some converted to soft drinks and other businesses. Bootlegged beer was often watered down to increase profits, beginning a trend, still on-going today, of the American markets heavily advertising the weaker beers and keeping them popular. Consolidation of breweries and the application of industrial quality control standards have led to the mass-production and the mass-marketing of huge quantities of light lagers. Advertising became supreme, and bigger companies fared better in that market. The decades afterWorld War IIsaw a huge consolidation of the American brewing industry: brewing companies would buy their rivals solely for their customers and distribution systems, shutting down their brewing operations.Despite the record increases in production between 1870 and 1895, the number of firms fell by 46%. Average brewery output rose significantly, driven partly by a rapid increase in output by the largest breweries. As late as 1877, only four breweries topped 100,000 barrels annually. By 1895, the largest sixteen firms had greatly increased their productive capacity and were all brewing over 250,000 barrels annually;and imports have become more abundant since the mid-1980s. The number of breweries has been claimed as being either over 1,500 in 2007 or over 1,400 in 2010, depending on the source. As of June 2013, The Brewers Association reports the total number of currently operating US breweries to be 2,538, with only 55 of those being non-craft breweries.
The Finnish epicKalevala, collected in written form in the 19th century but based on oral traditions many centuries old, devotes more lines to the origin of beer and brewing than it does to the origin of mankind.
The mythicalFlemishkingGambrinus(from Jan Primus (John I)), is sometimes credited with the invention of beer.
According to Czech legend, deityRadegast, god of hospitality, invented beer.
Ninkasiwas the patron goddess ofbrewingin ancientSumer.
InEgyptian mythology, the immense blood-lust of the fierce lioness goddessSekhmetwas only sated after she was tricked into consuming an extremely large amount of red-coloured beer (believing it to be blood): she became so drunk that she gave up slaughter altogether and became docile.
In Norse mythology the sea godÆgir, his wifeRán, and their nine daughters, brewed ale (or mead) for the gods. In theLokasenna, it is told that Ægir would host a party where all the gods would drink the beer he brewed for them. He made this in a giant kettle thatThorhad brought. The cups in Ægir's hall were always full, magically refilling themselves when emptied. Ægir had two servants in his hall to assist him; Eldir [Fire-Kindler] and Fimafeng [Handy].
InNart sagas,Satanaya(Ubykh[satanaja],Adyghe[setenej],Ossetian[ʃatana]), the mother of the Narts, afertilityfigure and matriarch, invented beer.
Recent Irish Mythology attributes the invention of beer to fabled IrishmanCharlie Mops
The wordbeercomes from oldGermanic languages, and is with variations used in continental Germanic languages,bierin German and Dutch, but not in Nordic languages. The word was imported into the British Isles by tribes such as theSaxons. It is disputed where the word originally comes from.
Many other languages have borrowed the Dutch/German word, such as Frenchbière, Italianbirra, Romanian "bere" and Turkishbira. The Nordic languages haveöl/øl, related to the English wordale. Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan have words that evolved from Latincervisia, originally of Celtic origin.Slavic languagesusepivowith small variations, based on a pre-Slavic word meaning "drink" and derived from the verb meaning "to drink".
Chuvash"pora" its r-Turkic counterpart, which may ultimately be the source of the Germanic beer-word.