A condensed history of beer.
Origins:
Beer is the oldest alcoholic drink dating back to around 6000 BC. Beer is made by the fermentation of cereal grains such as barley, wheat, oats and sometimes even rice and corn. Probably the first people to grow cereal grain and make bread also invented beer. The invention of bread and beer has been said to have helped build civilization.
European History:
Beer was consumed by Germanic and Celtic people as far back as 3000 BC. In Medieval Europe all classes of people consumed beer but it remained something you made in your own home. Around 1516, William the 4th, Duke of Bavaria inacted the German Purity Law. This law remains in effect to this day and is one of the oldest food control laws ever. Beer that is made and sold in Germany can only contain water, barley, hops and yeast. Yeast wasn't originally added to the law but it's accepted. *Spontaneous Fermentation* was used then. Yeast is what makes the alcohol in beer. If it has less than of these ingredients it's not considered a beer and can't be sold as beer.
American History:
Beer brewing and drinking is as old as America it's self. Our ancestors brought beer with them. The pilgrims on the Mayflower were diverted because of a lack of beer, this is why they landed in Plymouth. During the beginning of America everyone drank beer even the children drank a brew that was watered down called small beer. Small beer was brewed using the spent grain used to brew the adult beer. Small beer contained less alcohol. The belief was that beer didn't make you sick like water could. What they didn't know is the the high heat actually killed bacteria in the water! The settlers brought this belief with them from Europe.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries brewers and beer joints were around every street corner, mostly mom and pop joints but America had a wide verity of brews to choose from. It was during the Prohibition years that most brewers went out of business. The older breweries we have today such as Anheuser-Busch (now owned by Inbev) survived by marketing and selling other products. America's oldest and still running brewery today is D.G. Yuengling & Son located in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. They've been commercially brewing beer since 1829, almost 200 years now! America is starting to once again to appreciate the craft, art and science of brewing. Today there's a growing trend of home based brewing operators and micro breweries springing up around the country.
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