FOOD HISTORY: BEER( (Part 1: In the Beginning)

Prolog

All beer can be broken down into two categories: Ale and Lager. All beer is made from grains that are grown and allowed to ferment in barrels. Ales are fermented at warm temperatures at the top of the barrel, by top fermenting yeasts while Lager is beer which ferments at the bottom of the barrel by bottom fermenting yeast species under cold temperatures. Because of these fermentation differences, among others, Ales are usually full-bodied, nutty, and somewhat bitter while, Lagers are mild, fruity, and crisp

With the above in mind, I will continue to the history of beer.

How did beer appear? Nobody really knows. When the pre-historic people changed from hunters to gatherers, they collected wild grain to use as food or to make bread. As new grains were discovered - wheat, rice, barley, and corn – these new varieties were planted, cultivated, and stored. The domestication of these crops spread west to Europe, east to Asia and, eventually south to African countries i.e., Sudan and Egypt. Perhaps rainwater formed a pool in some warm area where a grain was stored, became contaminated with wild yeasts, fermented, and formed into a new liquid. Alternatively, it could have been a bowl of dough prepared for making bread being placed in a warm place, getting wet with water, being forgotten, becoming contaminated with wild yeast and fermenting. Whatever the case may be, when the new liquid was tasted by a curious person, who like the taste and effect it had, they decided to try to replicate it, and “beer” arrived on the scene. Not knowing about yeasts, early brewers thought that fermentation was “magic” or “spiritual”, a gift from the gods.  Be that as it may, the oldest known record of beer consumption is anywhere from 11,700 - 13,000 years old. It was previously believed that agriculture came about because ancient cultures needed the grains for food, but more recent evidence suggests that these cultures needed to plant more grains to use for brewing. Sumerian clay tablets from Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Babylonia show that beer making was an honorable profession at that time. The thousand-year-old Sumerian poem, “Epic of Gilgamesh” mentions beer. Beer making became more widespread in regions where cereal and other grains were domesticated and cultivated. Beer is mentioned in the bible: Proverbs 31:4 -9; Isiah 24:9; Isiah 56 and 12; Micah 2:11) A 13.000-year-old “brewery” was recently discovered in Israel. Ancient brewers used mixtures of herbs called “gruits” to give flavor and bitterness to their beer. They also possessed antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Later, they were replaced using the herb,” hops”. (More about that later). Beer brewed in these times were more like porridge than beer made later. Because of their thick consistency, straws were used to avoid the bitter “sediment” left from fermentation and brewing. In Egypt beer making was a vital industry. Egyptians were the first persons to start state owned breweries. It became so popular that it was taxed, used as partial payment for workers building the Pyramids, and, as a symbol of wealth, buried in the tombs of the wealthy. Eventually, beer made its way to Europe where an abundance of barley crops provided lots of raw ingredients for brewers.  Egyptian beer was talked about in other countries; the ancient Greeks and Romans wrote about it in their texts. While Greeks and Romans brewed beer, it was never as popular as wine.  Roman soldiers consumed beer in the northernmost areas of the Empire; incidentally, the same regions where great beers are made today; Germany, Austria, Belgium, etc. Beer brewed at that time were Ales. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was left to its own devices being broken up to small countries. This era was called the “Dark Ages” where was mostly brewed at home or in monasteries.