The history of beer

No one knows where and when beer first was brewed. It is known that in China, they drank a type of beer called “kui” some 5000 years ago. There is a clay tablet from Mesopotiama dating back to 4000 BC that has traces of text referencing the practice of drinking beer.

It is also known that beer was an important drink in Egypt. It is believed that the Egyptians taught the Greeks how to brew beer; the Romans then learned how to brew beer from the Greeks. Then, Romans introduced beer to Northern Europe.

When wine became more prevalent in Rome, beer was then brewed only on the outskirts of the Empire, where one could not get wine. For this reason, beer was known as the drink of Barbarians.

During Medieval times, the church began brewing beer as a means of generating income by selling it to locals, and to traveling pilgrims. In addition, this beer was used for the monks during their time of fasting during Lent. Beer was drank in many regions of Europe and not only by peasants but also by nobles and kings. Queen Elizabeth I usually had bread and beer for breakfast. Until the 17th century, beer was flavored with rosemary ( beers called Ales ) in England because they thought that this plant had magical properties. More precisely they believed this plant had the power to drive away evil spirits.  

However, by the 17th century, Flanders was producing beer made of Hops. Two significant landmarks in beer production were the introduction of hops and the invention of bottom fermentation. The top fermentation method is done using heat, while bottom fermentation occurs as the beer cools.

Bottom fermentation was introduced by Bavarian monks that used cool cellars for fermentation. This method has two important aspects; the first is that the fermentation is less likely to fail. The second is that the residues sink to the bottom of the vessel. In Germany the lagerung method became popularized. This method produced  light-coloured beer-the kind that we know and drink today. Since the industrial revolution, beer has become the world's most popular drink.