It's ancient beginings Beer making was already established six thousand years ago in ancient Mesopotamia and Sumeria, the world's earliest civilizations,   In fact, many historians claim that beer predates bread, which isn't too surprising considering that barley, the first grain cultivated by man, makes poor bread but excellent beer. Archeological digs have shown that the neighboring Babylonians and Nubians also brewed beer.

The builders of pyramids were paid in jugs of beer - the national drink of ancient Egypt - instead of currency. Millet- brewed beer was mentioned in chinese documents dating to 2500 B.C.   The ancient Romans & Greeks consumed beer regularly, considering it a healthier alternative to water, which was often contaminated. In fact, the word beer comes from the latin word bibere, meaning "the drink".

From the ancient times into the middle Ages, beer was traditionally brewed at home and considered the domestic duty of women . The malting of barley was unrefined process. Typically a sack of barley was placed in the river for few days, dried in a warm, well-ventilated room, then the malted over a fire. Beer was brewed in porous, wooden tubs and barrels, where wild fermenting yeasts were naturally encouraged to take up residence.

Because domesticated yeast had not yet been discovered, the household breweing vessels and tools were handed down through families in the belief that they contained special spirits. Industrial Progress.... The golden age of beer arrived in the mid nineteenth century with the Industrial Revolution. The invention of steam engine, pasteurization, and refigeration enabled commercial breweries to thrive for the first time.