4/28/10

Beer Double Feature pt. 1 - The History of Beer

Beer. The manliest of beverages. The ice cold, hop-filled cherry on top of your long day. But what do you really know about this iconic frothy beverage, other than the fact that you like it, and if you drink too much you might barf?

The history surrounding the origins of beer is a long and controversial one, and much of it might surprise you. In fact, I bet you didn’t even know that beer is considered to be one of the most feminine beverages in history or that Santa Claus was a patron saint of brewing beer. Sip on that, dudes.

The history of beer begins somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago when humans first made the transition from being nomadic hunters and gathers to farming grains and other domestic crops. Like the chicken and egg, so goes the history of grain. Bread before beer, or beer before bread? The common theory is that bread was conceived from grain and was accidentally fermented to result in a state of euphoria when eaten, or as we like to say these days, the cavemen got shitfaced.

Many cultures have their own histories of brewing and beer, but the first proven records of brewing refer to the Sumerian tribes of Babylon and Mesopotamia. The master brewers in Ancient Babylon were women and priestesses who prayed in hymns to Ninkasi, the goddess of brewing. That hymn was also a recipe for beer making.

The Babylonians exported their beer as far away as Egypt, who then learned how to carry on the tradition of brewing beer. The craft spread through the Eastern cultures as one country invaded another and one or another empire was conquered or created and the cultivation of barley became more widespread. Greeks and Romans developed their own method of brewing beer, which was considered to be a barbarian drink for the lower masses, not worthy to take the shelf next to the holy bottles of vino.

The Christians modernized beer through the monasteries, and monks were really the pioneers of breweries. The Christians prayed to three patron saints of brewing: St. Augustine, St. Luke, and St. Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus. By the 15th century, beer making had descended upon Europe, most notably Germany and England, who brought the methods to the New World.

Archaeologists have discovered several beer related artifacts such as an ancient tablet from Babylonia, which is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, that lists different types of brews made in Babylon such as dark beer, pale beer, red beer etc. There are also artifacts crediting beer with the invention of the straw, which was created to prevent intake of the brewing residue, and long straws used by kings to stretch from mouth to jug without leaving the throne. Israel has unearthed 3,000 year old beer mugs, and a 2,000 year old Assyrian tablet indicates that beer was among the provisions brought upon the Ark by Noah.

Now, aside from the first brew masters in history being women, most cultures prayed to some sort of feminine goddess to aid with their beer production. The Spanish word cerveza comes from the Greek goddess of agriculture, Ceres, and the Egyptians worshipped Isis, the patroness of beer brewing. Beer also has deep roots in wedding traditions.

In medieval times brides would sell ale on their wedding day to help with expenses, which was called “bride-ale” and became "bridal." In ancient Babylon a bride’s father would provide his new son-in-law with all the mead or beer he wanted for one lunar cycle, or one month, following the wedding. Because mead is a honey-based beer, this was called the honey month, otherwise known as the "honeymoon."

 

Check back for part two of our series, for the top ten microbrews in the USA!

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Elizabeth Kramsky is a writer and bartender living in Las Vegas who gets to witness first hand all the mistakes men make when trying to pick up women. She enjoys making fun of men who wear Ed Hardy, her dog Dexter, and Tom Robbins novels.

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