The History of Beer

Beer is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages out there. It seems that almost everyone drinks it and that it has been around forever, but has it? Turns out, it kind of has. Apparently, some even theorize that humans moved to agriculture from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to be able to grow more wheat in order to make beer. It is estimated that the brewing of beer started around 5,000 years ago in Babylonia, though there is evidence that beer was being brewed as soon as 12,000 years ago in Israel. The wild grains found in that area at the time were used to make bread, but it believed that someone had accidentally left them in the rain, which caused them to sprout. They then tried to make bread out of the sprouted grains, but the starches within the grains had turned into sugars, which people recognized as alcohol. Soon, beer became a staple in the day-to-day life of many in the region. It was perceived as healthy and mood-lifting, which encouraged the spread of agriculture. Beer also made its way to Egypt and became so popular that people began exclusively drinking beer instead of water. The Egyptians had multiple types of beer as they were able to grow different types of grains and make different flavours from each. With the conquering and movement of people all around the world, beer eventually found its way all around Europe and the Middle East. Brewing became a skill that almost every women possessed so that she could make beer for her household, but many soon started selling small batches that they had produced. It was the only respectable and allowed source of income that women could have. When is was discovered that beer could be stored and kept for longer periods of time, breweries started being opened as larger operations. This was done mostly by men as women did not have enough money to operate these breweries. With the colonization of America, brewing followed the explorers and became popular in America as well. Around the same time, the industrial revolution in Europe modernized brewing practices, making them even more efficient. Since then, beer has remained extremely popular and can be found almost all around the world!