Beer Can Be Light, Dark,

Beer can be light, dark, hearty, or pale, but without it, the world would be far less enjoyable.

Beer in Early Civilization

Sumerians & Babylonians

Egyptians & Romans

Beer in the Middle Ages

Monastery Breweries

Flavoring License

Beer Witches

German Beer Purity Law

Beer in Modern Times

Louis Pasteur 1876 & Keg barrels 1964

Beer in America

Ales vs. Beers

Beer is the oldest known alcoholic beverage, dating back to thousands of years before Christ was born. The beer making process spread from civilization to civilization, gaining sophistication in the process. It became the drink of medieval monks, European kings, and just about everyone else. Colonists carried it to America, and it remains one of the world's most popular beverages today.

The History of Beer

This paper analyzes beer. Specifically, it discusses the history of beer and beer brewing.

Beer is the earliest known alcoholic beverage, born in the Middle East and today world traveled. Beer grew in popularity in the Middle Ages, and is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in bars, pubs, and backyards throughout America. A world without beer is incomprehensible - beer goes with just about any food, and is used as in ingredient in many cuisines. Beer can be light, dark, hearty, or pale, but without it, the world would be fare less enjoyable.

Beer. Just the word makes some people want to sit down, turn on the television, and pop an ice-cold can. It is relatively simple to make, and is one of the most popular beverages consumed around the world. Editors from CBC News in Canada write, "Beer is made from water, yeast, hops, and malted grains (typically barley). Its alcoholic content comes from the process of fermentation, which converts the simple sugars (carbohydrates) in the grains into alcohol. People around the world consume more than 100 billion litres of beer annually" (Editors). The history of beer goes back a long way - long before Christ was born. In fact, some of the earliest known civilizations on earth had beer, making it the oldest known alcoholic concoction known to humans.

Some people speculate that beer first made an appearance in the world at least 9,000 years ago, but there is no written proof to back up these claims. The first written records belong to the Sumerians, who lived in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which now encompasses Iraq. Historians believe the Sumerians discovered fermentation (the process necessary to make beer and other alcoholic beverages), totally by chance. However, they did write about their discovery, and so most historians believe the first rudimentary beers were brewed in this area. In fact, records indicate the Sumerians routinely offered this "divine drink" of theirs to their gods (Tesoro). Another historian notes, "In ancient Persia, a beer (mixed with liquid made from a psychoactive plant) known as soma was used in rituals; it was considered a celestial drink that conferred immortality on the gods and a means by which mortals might achieve divinity" (Hajar 206). Thus, beer became more than a social drink, it was a religious offering that could appease the gods and bring divine ecstasy to mortals who drank it.

When the Sumerian Empire fell around the 2000 B.C., the Babylonians became the ruling Empire in the area, and they acquired the art of beer brewing from the Sumerians. Early records indicate they knew how to brew over 20 different types of the beverage. Of course, they did not use many of the grains used today in brewing beer. They grew grains such as barley, emmer, and other grains. Some beers were created with a pure grain, such as barley, while others were made with a mixture of grains. In addition, these early brews were cloudy, not clear and filtered like today's beers (Tesoro). Much of this information comes from historic writings, such as the code of Hammurabi, which allotted a daily ration of beer to all citizens of Babylonia (Tesoro). Food historian Eugenia Tesoro writes, "This ration was dependent on the social standing of the individual. For example, a normal worker received two liters, civil servants three liters, and administrators and high priests five liters per day. In these ancient times beer was not sold, but exchanged for barley" (Tesoro). The Babylonians began to trade their beers with neighboring empires, including the Egyptians.

The Egyptians used a different method of brewing beer. They used unbaked bread as the basis of fermentation, and interestingly, there are many Egyptian peasants in the country who still use this process to brew beer today. The Egyptians also began to add dates to the brew for added sweetness. (Sumerian beer was quite bitter by today's standards.) Beer was so important to Egyptian culture that there was a special hieroglyphic pictograph for beer brewers (Tesoro). In addition, beer was used in religious rites in Egypt, just as it had been in Babylonia. Historian Hajar continues, "In ancient Egypt, beer was an important offering to the gods. It was placed in tombs for use in the afterlife" (Hajar 206). The Egyptians traded with Mediterranean countries including Italy, and the Roman Empire eventually acquired the country and their beer brewing skills, as well. The Romans brewed beer until they discovered wine grapes and wine, and then beer was only brewed in far-reaching areas where Romans could not find wine. However, Italy was not the only area in early Europe where beer was brewed. The Teutonic tribes of the area now called Germany also developed brewing skills, and because the Romans considered these people "barbarians," they began to think the same about beer (Editors). In addition, all these cultures used beer medicinally. Historian Hajar states, "When employed appropriately, alcohol has many medicinal applications, and beer has been used as an anesthetic since ancient times. It was a common component in prescriptions in Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greek medicine" (Hajar 206). This practice would continue throughout much of beer's long history, as well.

The Teutons were ancient tribes inhabiting what is now Germany and the surrounding area. Records indicate they learned to brew beer around 800 B.C., and Germans continue that long tradition today. Archaeologists have verified these findings with beer making and storage equipment found in the area (Tesoro). The Teutons used the beer in religious ceremonies, but also enjoyed drinking it for its own sake. Historian Tesoro continues, "The ancient Germans regarded beer not only as a sacrifice to the gods but also brewed beer, as in Egypt, for their own enjoyment and it played an important role in their daily lives" (Tesoro). As transportation and trade began to flourish in Europe, beer-making skills spread as well, and Norwegians and others learned how to brew and enjoy their own varieties of beer.

By the Middle Ages, beer brewing and drinking was an important aspect of everyday life. It is important to remember that sanitation was quite primitive during early history, and much of the drinking water was contaminated with waste and was unfit for drinking. Beer provided a safe alternative, as the water is boiled in the brewing process, which kills the bacteria and makes the beer safe to drink (Hajar 206). Thus, beer (and later wine) were commonly consumed even by children, because the water could make you ill, but beer could make you euphoric and even healthy.

Beer making became an art in medieval monasteries for a number of reasons. First, the monks ate frugally and often fasted as part of their religious observances. While they were fasting, they could still consume liquids, so they brewed beer to enjoy with their meager meals and to help through their fasts. In fact, records indicate they may have consumed up to five liters of beer per day! (Tesoro). The monks became so adept at brewing beer they began to make more than even they could use, and so, they acquired the rights to sell beer to others. Many monasteries opened their own monastery pubs where anyone could come and enjoy a mug or two of beer. Historian Tesoro states, "Because the monasteries actively promoted beer brewing, their beer was of high quality and popular. The people in the burgeoning towns also wanted their beer with the result that the art of brewing developed and became a respected trade" (Tesoro). The monks brought many advances to the art of beer brewing, and many experts credit monasteries in the area of Brabant, now in Belgium, as being the first to add hops to the brewing process (Tesoro).

It was during the Middle Ages that beer brewing truly began to become an art. Many people brewed beer at home, but the monasteries created the business of beer brewing, and others joined in. To make their beverages unique, each brewery flavored their concoction with a mixture of herbs called "grut." Breweries earned a type of patent, or "flavoring license" based on these grut mixtures, and the addition of hops to the mix could make these breweries obsolete. For that reason, hops were forbidden in many areas to maintain breweries as they were. Many different herbs and spices were used to flavor beers in these unique mixtures. Historian Tesoro says, "Among other things, juniper berries, sweet gale, blackthorn, oak bark, wormwood, caraway seed, aniseed, bay leaves, yarrow, thorn apple, gentian, rosemary, tansy, Saint-John's-wort, spruce chips, pine roots - and above all henbane found their way into these Grut mixtures" (Tesoro). Many of these herbs could be dangerous in even small amounts, and some, like henbane, could provide hallucinations. Because of this, beer began to be viewed superstitiously.

One of the superstitions that began to swirl around beer and beer brewing was the legend of the "beer witch" or "brew witch." Supposedly, these witches cursed the ingredients and could spoil a batch of beer. Superstition surrounded the brewing process, and of course, sanitation was not what it is today, which also contributed to the failure of many a batch of early beer. Since brewing was largely a woman's job in early history, it became normal to blame the beer witch for a bad batch, and the common penalty was death by fire. The last written record of a beer witch being burned was 1591 (Tesoro). The practice faded away as hops became acceptable additions to the brew mixture, which made the brew more stable and acted as a preservative, so the brew lasted longer. Historian Tesoro writes, "With the use of hops the beer revealed its 'clear character.' Beer began to closely resemble the modern product range, both in taste and appearance" (Tesoro). To maintain this newfound clarity, many areas began to develop beer purity laws, which regulated a brew's consistent quality.

The German Beer Purity Law was passed in 1516, and it "established for the first time that only barley (later malted barley), hops, and pure water could be used to brew beer. The use of yeast was not yet known at that time" (Tesoro). However, the fermentation of the finished product depended on yeast molecules in the air, something brewers had no idea of yet. This law is still on file today, and it holds the record of being the oldest still legal food law in the world. However, beer can be imported into Germany that does not comply with the law today, as long as that is stated on the beer (Tesoro). This law helped guarantee the purity of the beer, and helped brewers trade their beers in wider areas across Europe.

In the late 1700s, beer began to be an acceptable court beverage and new inventions such as the steam engine and artificial cooling helped streamline the brewing process. Steam power gained popularity and became an integral part of the brewing process all over Europe and American. An American beer historian notes, "An expert on this period in British brewing comments that 'the advantages of steam-power were proved immediately. Apart from the most concrete saving in the expense of horses, the uninterrupted, rapid work made possible by the engine added efficiency and convenience to its initial economy'" (Baron 157). In addition, brewers came to understand the science of brewing more thoroughly, and they learned the right temperatures to brew perfect beer, and how to brew beer year round. (Previously, brewers could only be made during the winter, as there was no cooling available all summer long.) Breweries relying on steam power for their machinery were called "steam beer breweries" (Tesoro).

Another very important innovation took place in the late 19th century, when Louis Pasteur began studying beer and learned more about microorganisms in the process. Eventually, Pasteur developed pasteurization from his studies. This process helps purify a number of foods, from milk to cheese, and during his studies, Pasteur also uncovered the fact that beer (and other foods) could be contaminated by unsanitary brewing conditions (Tesoro).

Finally, modern metal keg barrels were not introduced for beer until 1964. Previously, beer was still transported in traditional wooden kegs. The metal kegs are easier to clean and sanitize, and fit under bars much easier than the old kegs. The beer can originated in America in the 1930s, and modern beer brewing has turned into an art form, especially in brewpubs and houses around the world (Editors). In America, beer is practically the national drink, holding a place in the hearts of sports fans and bar patrons from coast to coast.

Beer has a long and varied history in America. The first settlers brought beer with them as they crossed the Atlantic from Great Britain, and some of our founding fathers were brewers as well. (Thomas Jefferson is just one example). Just as in Europe, early brewing tended to be done at home by women, because they were the ones who baked bread, and beer and bread making went hand in hand (Baron 31). However, the need for beer (and other supplies) was so great in the Virginia Colonies after arrival in 1607 that the London Company supplying the colonists aspired to build a brewery there, not only to quench the colonists, but also to bring in revenue back to England (Baron 4). Just as in England, there were strict controls on the brewing process. In fact, in early Boston, Puritan elders decreed just how much of each ingredient should go into a brew (Baron 35).