How old do you think beer might be? A few centuries old? Well, beer is definitely around 7000 years old but many have assumed it to be even older than that.
All the research has stated that beer was a product of the boozy minds of the natives of the Middle East. The very first known traces of barley beer were collected from ancient pottery jars in Iran. Beer was a popular beverage in the Middle East, with Egyptian pharaohs fermenting it in large quantities and distributing it to the masses. They would also use the beverage as currency to pay their labourers. The drink was such an integral part of their civilization that the royals were cremated with vessels of beer by their side.
But they had the stomach to digest a very different variant of beer. Their beer was stronger and sweeter. Many herbs like thyme and fruits like pomegranate were used to add some bitterness to the brewed concoction. German monasteries were the first to use hops to make the beer we drink today and it took them 2000 years to realise that.
At about the same time (5000 years ago), beer had made its way to the European regions. That is when beer was being brewed all over the world and being traded, shipped and sold.
As civilizations progressed, lighter versions of beer started to make their way into different parts of the world. Today, beer is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages on earth, so popular that it is not considered an alcoholic beverage in some regions and is available at a lower cost than water!
Starting from clay jars to reaching every household in cans, bottles and kegs – beer sure has come a long way. And us beer enthusiasts can only hope it grows by leaps and bounds in the future. We can’t wait!
