A BEER IS ONE OF THE MOST REFRESHING DRINKS WE HAVE TODAY AND FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS

Beer is the world's oldest alcoholic beverage, but at least in this country it’s also the favorite. Beer dates back to  the 6th millennium BC and is recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. There is pre-historic evidence that shows brewing began around 5,400 BC in Sumer (southern Iraq). Some recent archaeological finds also show that Chinese villagers were brewing similar alcoholic drinks as far back as 7000 BC. As almost any cereal containing certain sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeasts in the air, it is possible that beer-like beverages were independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture had domesticated cereal.

Beer was one of the most common drinks during the Middle Ages. It was consumed daily by all social classes in the northern and eastern parts of Europe where grape cultivation was difficult or impossible. Since the purity of water could seldom be guaranteed, alcoholic drinks were a popular choice, having been boiled as part of the brewing process. Beer also provided a considerable amount of the daily calories in the northern regions. In England and the Low Countries, the per capita consumption was 275-300 liters (60-66 gallons) a year (yikes!) by the Late Middle Ages, and beer was downed with every meal. Prior to Prohibition, there were thousands of breweries in the United States, mostly brewing heavier beers than modern US beer drinkers are used to. Beginning in 1920, most of these breweries went out of business, although some converted to soft drinks and other businesses. Bootlegged beer was often watered down to increase profits, beginning a trend, still on-going today, of the American palate preferring weaker beers. By 1997 there were more breweries operating in the United States than in all of Germany.

Modern breweries now brew many different types of beer, ranging from ancient styles such as the spontaneously-fermented lambics of Belgium; the lagers, dark beers, wheat beers and more of Germany; the UK's stouts, milds, pale ales, bitters, golden ale and new modern American creations such as Chili Beer, Cream Ale, and Double India Pale Ales which may have been over 20%. As most know there are few of the giant beer breweries left. Our own Anheusers Busch has recently merged with a giant from Europe to make the largest beer company  in the world. We will see what happens to our own “Bud” and its place in the world