Beer

Beer

Who invented Beer? The name of a specific person has never been credited with the invention of Beer as the invention of Beer is so old that the name of the inventor has been lost over time, although the first use of Beer is believed to have originated in Mesopotamia. Refer to Mesopotamian Inventions.

When was Beer invented? Historians tend to agree that Beer was invented in c.3000 BC and the first known use of Beer was documented in a Mesopotamian poem to the goddess of brewing and beer called the "A Hymn to Ninkasi" c. 1800 BC, which contained details of the production of beer from barley via bread, which was used to pass the recipe to following generations.

Definition of Beer: Beer is defined as a fermented, intoxicating, alcoholic beverage or liquor made from any malted grain, but commonly from barley malt, with hops added to impart a bitter flavor. Fermented extracts from the roots and other parts of plants such as ginger, spruce, sassafras to provide different flavors. Beer has different names, such as ale (a heavier type of drink), porter (dark sweet ale brewed from black malt), brown stout (a strong, dark heavy-bodied ale and lager (a light, effervescent type of beer).

 

Facts about who invented Beer

 

 Inventions and Inventors Index

 

Fact File: Who invented Beer? Date of Invention: c.3000 BC *** Name of Inventor: Unknown *** Historical Period: 3000 - 1800 BC *** Category: Food and Drink *** Country of Origin: Mesopotamia ***

Fact 1: Who invented Beer? The name of the inventor of Beer is unknown but it is believed to have been invented in c.3000 BC by people of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization. Also refer to the History of Alcohol.

Fact 2: Who invented Beer? The Mesopotamians lived in the Middle East in what is now known as modern day Iraq. The people known as Mesopotamians consisted of several ancient civilizations who built great empires including the Babylonians, Sumerians and the Chaldeans.

Fact 3: Who invented Beer? The Mesopotamian recipe for beer included in the "Hymn to Ninkasi" was written in on a clay tablet in their ancient writing called  "Cuneiform". The Hymn’s last lines are "Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat, It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates". (Mesopotamia was located in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers).

Fact 4: Who invented Beer? The oldest evidence of beer is a 6,000-year-old Sumerian tablet that depicts people drinking a beverage through reed straws from a communal bowl.

Fact 5: Who invented Beer? The Mesopotamian recipe describes the production of beer from barley via Bappir bread, a source for yeast. Bappir was a Sumerian twice-baked barley bread that was primarily used in ancient Mesopotamian beer brewing. Grapes and honey were added to the bread producing an unfiltered type of gruel which explains the need for straws in the earliest depiction of Mesopotamian people drinking beer.

Fact 6: Who invented Beer? A similar beverage called 'mate' produced from bread made from malted barley and barley flour and the Yerba mate plant in South America is still sometimes drunk through straws, in a similar fashion to the Mesopotamians.

Fact 7: Who invented Beer? The Mesopotamians went on to refine their method of brewing and making beer by combining the Bappir bread with malted and soaked grains and keeping the liquid in a fermentation vessel until the beer was finally filtered into a collecting vessel.

Fact 8: Who invented Beer? The Ancient Egyptians were also known to brew beer, known as "heket". The Ancient Egyptian goddess of beer and brewing was called Tjenenet although beer played a central part in the festivals of the goddesses Hathor Bast and Sekhmet. The Ancient Egyptian beer was made from a rich yeasty, bread made from a rich yeasty dough that possibly included malt. The bread was lightly baked, dates were added for flavour and small pieces of the mixture were strained through a sieve with water. The beverage was fermented in a large vat and then stored in a large type of beer jar called a "sejet".

Fact 9: Who invented Beer? The Ancient Greeks and then the Romans adopted beer as an inferior alternative to wine. Dionysus was the Greek God of Intoxication, including beer, and Bacchus was the Roman equivalent. The drinking of beers spread across the Roman Empire and local brews included flavourings of  fruits, honey and different spices.

Fact 10: Who invented Beer? Cerridwen was the name of Celtic Irish and Welsh Barley Goddess who possessed a magic cauldron filled with the "Brew of Inspiration and Knowledge". Celtic mythology also describes the god Goibhniu as the brewer of the "Beer of Immortality" which granted anyone who drank it eternal life. The Celts brew contained spices such as mugwort, carrot seeds or henbane (a plant used to make ale more intoxicating).

Fact 11: Who invented Beer? The Vikings enjoyed ale and their god Aegir was the brewer to the Gods of Asgard. The Vikings believed that in Valhalla mugs refilled themselves when a cup was drained so that no Viking ever went thirsty. Viking ale, called 'ol' was made from spruced and malted barley with juniper berries and herbs added for flavor. The Vikings ale also included malted oats in areas where it was too cold to produce barley. Another favorite dring of the Vikings was mead. 

Fact 12: Who invented Beer? During the Dark / Middle Ages a honey wine called 'mead' made from honey and water via fermentation with yeast. mead, being a wine, was drunk in small quantities, unlike ale that was often consumed in vast quantities.

Fact 13: Who invented Beer? Gruit was used during the European Dark Ages as an old-fashioned herb mixture for bittering and flavoring ale that was used before the introduction of hops. Gruit was made from a combination of herbs such as yarrow, mugwort, horehound and heather. Gruit was often flavored with spices such as ginger, aniseed, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Fact 14: Who invented Beer? Gruit was replaced by Hops for flavoring, providing the characteristic bitter taste to beer. At this time word ‘ale’ was reserved for brews produced from malted oats without hops. The word 'beer' was reserved for describing a brew using hops. The word 'beer' originated in Germany derived from the German word 'bier' meaning "strong drink".

Fact 15: Who invented Beer? In Germany decrees called "Grutrechte," or Gruit Rights, which conferred the privilege of making gruit ale. The use of hops was forbidden at this time as it broke the lucrative monopoly of gruit ale.

Fact 16: Who invented Beer? The use of hops were first mentioned in Europe around 822 AD. Hops were first cultivated in the Low Countries (modern Belgium and Holland) from the 13th century and the use of hops spread to England. Hops were usually dried in oast houses before they were used in the brewing process. The wort, a sugar-rich liquid produced from malt, was boiled with hops, the liquid was then cooled and yeast was added, to start fermentation.

Fact 17: Who invented Beer? By the 17th century ale, un-hopped beer, was no longer popular and beer was the established drink of choice.

Fact 18: Who invented Beer? Bavarian beer used a cold-brewing method and the beverage was stored , or "lagered" in caves packed with ice. In 1873 Carl von Linde  invented mechanical refrigeration for beer storage tanks that made it possible to make lager beer in any season of the year. Lager eventually dominated the world of brewing.

Fact 19: Who invented Beer? Pale Ale: Today there are over 100 varieties of beer. The name 'Pale Ale' first appeared in 1703 to describe bitter beers made from malts dried with coke (fuel made from coal), that resulted in a lighter color than other beers. 'Bitter' is an English term for pale ale.

Fact 20: Who invented Beer? Brown Ale: 'Brown Ale' is a style of beer developed in London in the 18th century. Brown Ale is lightly hopped and brewed from 100% brown malt.

Fact 21: Who invented Beer? Porter: Porter was a dark style of beer developed in London during the 18th century from well-hopped beers made from brown malt. The term 'Porter' is short for "porter's ale" because the beer, being cheap and strong, was made for porters and other laborers.

Fact 22: Who invented Beer? Stout: Stout was developed as a "porter of extra strength" as a dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Milk stout is a stout containing lactose, a sugar that is derived from milk.

Fact 23: Who invented Beer? Guinness: Guinness is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness (1725–1803). Guinness features a burnt flavour that is derived from roasted, malted barley.

Fact 24: Who invented Beer? Wheat beer: Wheat beer is usually top-fermented, brewed with a larger proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The best-known and original wheat beer is Hefeweizen.

Fact 25: Who invented Beer? Lager: Lager is the German word meaning "to store". The yeast in Lager sinks to the bottom of the vat and ferments at a colder temperature than ale yeast, which slows the process down. Lager can be pale, golden, amber, or dark. Pale Lagers include brands such as Heineken, Corona and Fosters. Pilsner pale and crisp lagers contain more hops than traditional lager. Pilsner pale lagers include brands such as Pilsner, Beck's, Stella Artois and Labatt Blue. Dark or Amber lager include the Dunkel and Schwarzbier brand names.

Fast Info and Fact File: Who invented Beer? Country of Origin: Mesopotamia *** Name of Inventor: Unknown *** Nationality of Inventor: Mesopotamian *** Date of Invention: c.3000 BC *** Invention Era: 3000 - 1800 BC *** Invention category: Food and Drink ***

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