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Beer
is as old as pizza
iIn human History.
Maybe because both came from almost the same ingredients used to
make bread. Historians believe that the ancient Mesopotamians and
Sumerians were making beer as early as 6.000 years BC. Although
the drink may have been different from today's beer it would be
recognizable. The Egyptians and Chinese have also made beer for
centuries, as well as the pre-Columbian civilizations in America,
but they used corn instead of barley. In ancient Babylon, women
were in charge of beer making. They were also priestesses and beer
was used in many religious ceremonies.
Beer was popular among Romans and Greeks until the wine availability
increased. In Rome, wine was believed to be the ambrosia from the
god Bacchus soon beer became known as a barbarian drink and lost
popularity. Beer was then brewed only in far away areas were wine
was rare.
In the middle ages, monks in Europe were the guardians of literature,
science and the art of beer making. They refined the process near
to perfection and introduced the use of hoops as preservative and
flavoring.
But it was only after Louis Pasteur's discovering of microorganism
as fermentation agents that beer assumed today's aspect.
Until that time brewers depended on wild, airborne yeast for fermentation.
Pasteur opened the way to accurate control of the conversion of
sugar to alcohol.
Beer
in America
Beer didn't go to America with Christopher Columbus. When he arrived,
he noticed that the natives were making a brew "of maize resembling
English beer". Beer was a main concern in the New World, even
for the pilgrims.
It is said they landed in Plymouth Rock, instead of a southern position
as planned, partly because they were out of beer.
Beer continued to grow in popularity until 1920 when the Prohibition
took effect. Many breweries went out of business or started making
soda pop. Gangsters sold thousands of litters of clandestine beer
at that time.
Later in 1933, Congress passed the 21st Amendment to
the Constitution, which ended the unpopular law. Beer returned to
popular preference quickly after that. President Jimmy Carter legalized
home brewing, ushering in the age of microbreweries, beer hobbyists,
and beer snobs.
As you see, beer has been around for many centuries in many different
historical contexts. Next time you have a beer think about this
and enjoy this delicious drink
Cheers!
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