beer history

Beer has a long history dating back to ancient times. Excavations provided evidence that already 7,000 years ago people made beer. Naturally, these early products do not resemble the beers of today; only the method of production by the fermentation of sugars derived from grains is similar. Egyptians flavoured it with date and date leaves, but Sumerians introduced malted barley, which then spread around the globe. The heritage of Sumerian culture influenced Babylon, which can be easily recognised in King Hammurabi’s laws written on tall stone tablets, emphasising the importance of beer-making. They experimented with numerous flavours until it turned out that barley was the most suitable herb for such purpose, so the beer we know today had set off on its world-conquering journey

During this journey, it reached all corners of the world, and people gradually developed the specific beer-making and beer-drinking customs of their respective regions. Ancient Greeks and Romans also got acquainted with the production of beer, but they considered this „barley wine” (as they called it) as the drink of the poor, as long as their drinking culture was centred around wine. Germans had a very different view – they thought that beer was a divine drink, which flew also in the rivers of Valhalla.

Monks and monastic orders played a key role in spreading the method of brewing, as they defined it as their privilege connected with spreading Christianity. Using the favourable physiological effects it offered, they often made beer for medical purposes. After the initial period, due to patents in food industry, home brewing slowly developed into a new branch of industry around the 14th century making brewers a wealthy class via beer trade.