The production of beer is possibly one of the most important discoveries of mankind and has influenced the way we live in many ways.
For example, beer was the reason the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock in what was the start of the USA. It's clear from the Mayflower's log that the crew didn't want to waste beer looking for a better site. The log goes on to state that the passengers "were hasted ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer".
Without beer there is little chance you would be alive today and even less of a chance that you would be living the lifestyle you are, where you are and in the society you are.
The art of brewing is as old as civilisation. Or, it could be said, civilisation is as old as brewing.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, some humans discontinued their nomadic hunting and gathering and settled down to farm. Grain was the first domesticated crop that started that farming process and we have to ask ourselves, did we start brewing because we domesticated grain or, as is more likely, we domesticated grain to use in brewing? Why did we not domesticate carrots, or bananas, or one of the other multitude of food sources that did not need to be processed before eating?
The answer, as it is to many questions, is BEER!
The oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old and refer to the Sumerians.
These early accounts, with pictograms of what is recognizably barley, show bread being baked then crumbled into water to make a mash, which is then made into a drink that is recorded as having made people feel "exhilarated, wonderful and blissful!"
From the Gilgamesh Epic, written in the 3rd millennium B.C., we learn that not only bread but also beer was very important.
Hammurabi, an important Babylonian King, decreed the oldest known collection of laws. One of these laws established a daily beer ration. This ration was dependent on the social standing of the individual.
In these ancient times beer was often not sold, but used as barter. We bought, sold and were paid in beer, I wonder what the tax office was doing at that time.
The Egyptians carried on the tradition of beer brewing. They also used unbaked bread dough for making beer and added dates to the brew to improve the taste. The importance of beer brewing in ancient Egypt can be seen from the fact that the scribes created an extra hieroglyph for "brewer".
After Egypt was succeeded by the Greeks and Romans, beer continued to be brewed.
Plinius, around 50AD, reported the popularity of beer in the Mediterranean area before wine took hold.
Early civilizations found the mood-altering properties of beer supernatural, and intoxication was considered divine. Beer, it was thought, must contain a spirit or god, since drinking the liquid “possessed” the drinker. Some stronger drinks are still referred to as “Spirits”.
In the Finnish poetic saga Kalewala, 400 verses are devoted to beer but only 200 verses describe the creation of the earth.
It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the brides father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon".
As brewing spread north and west, the cultivation of barley went with it. As time passed, the production of beer came under the watchful eye of the Roman Church.
Christian abbeys, as centres of agriculture, knowledge and science, refined the methods of brewing. Initially in the making of beer for the brothers and for visiting pilgrims, later as a means of financing their communities. Beer brewing played an important role in daily lives.
Beer was clearly so desired that it led nomadic groups into church and village life.
Beer was considered a valuable foodstuff and workers were often paid with jugs of beer.
With the advent of WW1, licensing laws and opening times were introduced to stop factory workers turning up drunk and harming the war effort. Most of that harm coming from workers returning to the explosives factories after a liquid lunch!
Fermenting is a good method of removing harmful bacteria and parasites from the drinking water. Without brewing many of your ancestors would have died long before ever giving birth to any of your forefathers.
Many towns and villages sprang up and localized the population because it is next to impossible to brew beer while on the move. While the nomadic tribes of Genghis Kahn did not brew but boiled water to cleanse it, took over vast swathes of the planet and lived in tents, we were living in warm houses, building castles and brewing beer. So, without beer, this town you live in, the roads and the buildings around you, probably would not have existed.
In northern China, around 2,000 BC, brewing was outlawed. The towns and cities became deserted, society collapsed and barbarians ruled. Without beer, society, as we have here today, may have been very different. We do not know if, in China, the collapse of society was due to people dying out over time due to not having anything safe to drink or, as is much more likely, they just all went off to the pub in another country.
Beer makes you think in an altered way, women don't drink beer as much as men, this is why there are more male inventors throughout history. For example, I would never have thought of shaving the cat if I had not drunk a lot of beer.
A herd of wildebeest can only move as fast as the slowest wildebeest, much like the brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. The slowest wildebeest are the sick and weak so they get killed off first, making it possible for the rest of the herd to move at a faster pace. Like the wildebeest, the weak, slow brain cells are the ones that are killed off by excessive beer drinking, making the brain operate faster. So drink more beer, it will make you smarter.
And you always know you will have a good story to tell when someone says “Here, hold my beer and watch this.” When did you ever hear a good story start with “We were all eating salad ...”?
Scientists have found that beer contains small traces of female hormones. To prove their theory, the scientists gave 100 men 12 pints of beer each and observed that all of them gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became emotional, and couldn't drive... No further testing is planned.
As part of my research for this presentation I was obliged, reluctantly, to drink a lot of beer and my conclusion was “I sink youse are allz great and I lovz shoo guyz (hic)”
If anyone would like to ask any questions on this topic... you can find me in the pub. In fact, come and find me in the pub in a couple of hours and I will give you an answer to any question.