A Very Short History of Beer

So where did beer come from, how long has it been around? Even if you drink just every once in a while, I'll be there has been a time or two when you have stared pensively at your half empty beer glass and asked yourself those, or similar questions.

Well, as you stare into your glass beer mug, would it surprise you that beer is the third most popular drink in the world? Water and Tea take the two top slots (really). It certainly would not surprise you to discover that beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage. Or that beer predates both wine and liquor to claim the title of world's oldest alcoholic beverage.

Beer as a beverage probably dates back on the early Neolithic era, some 11,000 years ago. The process of brewing beer was, most likely, discovered by many cultures independent of each other. The earliest chemical evidence of beer was found in the Zagros Mountains in western Iran.

Brewing beer and distributing it are referenced in some of the earliest human writings. Remember your high school history and the "Code of Hammurabi"? If not, that's okay. Anyway, this Babylonian code of laws was written almost 4,000 years ago and it contains rules regarding the production and distribution of beer. Or how about this; in Mesopotamia they had a beer goddess, Ninkasi, and one of the prayers recited to her was a recipe for beer! In fact, several years ago, Anchor Brewing Company made a limited edition and branded it Ninkasi. The recipe was based on a reconstruction of the original ancient one and included twice baked bread, malt, honey and dates. Interestingly, it did not include hops so it ended up being much sweeter than modern beers. This just proves that those golden suds have a much more interesting history than you knew!

All beers are classified into two main types: Pale Lagers which are the most popular around the world, and Ales which are distinct to the region where they are brewed. These two main types are further defined into other varieties like stout, brown ale and pale ale. Beer is usually produced with about 4%-6% alcohol but can contain as little as less than one percent or, rarely, over 20%!

Beer was introduced to Europe around 5,000 years ago and was most certainly not the same sort of beer we know today. In those days beer brewing used fruits, honey, various types of plants, spices and even some narcotic herbs.

Notice that hops are not on the list. The first mention of hops in the brewing of beer comes 1,200 years ago by an Abbot (by the 7th century beer was being brewed and sold by monasteries).

It took the Industrial Revolution to bring beer brewing into what we would recognize today. It was during this time that both hydrometers and thermometers were invented. These gave the brewers much more control over the process and the ability to predict the results. This ability to standardize results led to brewing in much larger quantities and shipment over much wider areas.

Now, the brewing industry spans the globe. Where there are several huge international companies that dominate the market, there are literally thousands of small brewers also producing beer. Here is another fun fact: in 2006 more than 35 BILLION gallons of beer were sold for about $294.5 billion dollars.

How much of that did you spend?

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A Brief History of Beer

America is the top global beer producer and has the largest market of beer consumers. Over 133 billion liters of beer are sold per year and almost half of the population consuming that beer are Americans alone. It is safe to say that today the 90 million and more Americans who enjoy drinking their beer enjoy it double than anywhere else on the planet, however, that was not always the case.

Beer is the world's oldest alcoholic beverage and comes in at third after water and tea in beverages consumed overall. Beer is made from the brewing and fermentation of starches, particularly barley. Beer gets flavoring from hops that create a level of bitterness to the beer and also acts as a preservative. Because almost any substance containing sugar or starch can naturally undergo fermentation it is believed that beer-like beverages were independently invented by a number of civilizations across the Earth.

Beer possibly dates all the way back to 9000 BC in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Beer was part of a Pharaoh's daily diet in ancient Egypt and was used in religious practices. The earliest chemical evidence of beer dates back to 3100 BC in the mountains of western Iran. Some early Sumerian writings show references to a certain type of beer. The writings served as both a prayer as well as a method of remembering the recipe for the beer. Other writings discovered in Elba, Syria dating back to 2500 BC reveal that the city produced a number of different beers.

Based on historical evidence, it seems that the Egyptians taught the beer brewing process to the Greeks, the Greeks taught the Romans, and the Romans in turn taught the British and Anglo-Saxons. Beer spread through Europe by non other than the Irish and the Germans as far back as 3000 BC. However, people may not recognize the product the early Europeans drank as beer today because, although it contained starch, herbs, and narcotics, it did not contain hops. Beer's perfect accessory, the beer mug, is believed to have originated in Israel almost as far back as 2000 BC.

During the rise of Christianity the brewing of beer grew remarkably due to the fact that monks had major roles in the production of beer. Monasteries were some of the first groups to brew beer to provide comfort to travelers. Many Christian saints are patrons of brewing beer, even the one and only Saint Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus.

Beer has come a long way both geographically and culturally since it's birth thousands and thousands years ago. The brewing process has passed through the hands of artisanal manufacturers to industrial manufacturers in almost every culture. In 2006 the total global revenues from beer reached over 294 billion dollars. Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser and Bud Lite are number one and number two atop the list of global beer producers with Coors and Miller ranking at six and eight placing America in four spots in the top ten, more than any other country. It seems good ole Saint Nick keeps bringing America its favorite beverage, beer.

Bill works for Wearyourbeer.com. They sell quality Miller Lite Products as well as Corona Apparel and other beer related t-shirts and also movie and humorous t-shirts.

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Belgian Beer - The History and Background of the Beers of Belgium

In Belgium today there are 125 breweries which are able to produce 500 different kinds of Belgian Beer. Beer has been brewed in Belgium since the Middle Ages when originally it was produced in monasteries only. However today this is a country where the most varieties of beer are brewed and can be drunk.

The alcohol content of these particular beers is considerably higher than some of the other varieties available in Europe and in some cases it reaches a level of between 6 and 8 percent. Breweries were forced into making higher alcohol content beers because a law was passed stating that spirits (which beer was classed as) could not be drunk in public houses. However, although this law stood for many years it was finally rescinded back in 1983.

As we have already mentioned there are 500 different kinds of Belgian beer being brewed in Belgium today and they fall into a number of different categories. In this article we take a look at what these different types of beer are.

Trappist Beer - Only beer that is brewed in one of 6 monasteries in Belgium can be classified as being this type of beer. The whole process of brewing the beer should have either been overseen or carried out by the Trappist monks who reside at the monastery where beer is produced. Each bottle of beer that is brewed comes with a label on it clearly indicating that it is the genuine Trappist product and that monastery has complied with rules decreed by the International Trappist Association.

Lambic Beer - Is a very unique beer to Belgium and wild yeasts grown in abundance near Brussels are used in its fermentation process. The actual time that it takes for this beer to ferment is considerably longer than many others. Some forms of this beer the fermentation process lasts between 3 and 6 months and others it as long as 2 to 3 years.

It is this fermentation process which provides this particular variety of beer with its very distinctive flavor, which some people may dislike. It is very dry, vinous and cidery which results in it having a somewhat sour aftertaste.

Fruit Beers - These are made using Lambic beer and will contain either a fruit concentrate or fresh fruit in them. The most commonly produced and drunk of the fruit beers is Kriek which contains cherries, but there are many other varieties including those made using blackcurrants, raspberries and peaches. Once the fruit has been added to the Lambic beer a second fermentation process takes place.

White Beer - This particular Belgian beer is made using wheat hops and spices and will often contain orange peel and coriander. However, each beer that the various breweries around Belgium produce comes with its own distinctive flavor and this will be down to the ingredients and brewing methods used.

There are a wide range of different types of Belgian Beer available to buy online, many of the popular beers are mentioned above such as Blond Beer and Fruit Beer. Trappist Beer is also very popular amongst beer loves throughout Europe.

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The Early History of Beer Commercials

The history of beer is a long tale since beer has been with us almost since man learned to make fermented beverages. Many stories throughout history talk about beer and beer like products. But until recently (historically speaking), beer was just a product made locally and distributed locally through pubs, inns and ale houses. Advertising was unnecessary since much of life centered around the inns as a place to get and disseminate information.

As populations grew and became more decentralized and news became more readily available through printed media like newspapers and magazines, the importance of pubs and inns grew less. At the same time, production of beer was migrating from being a series of local operations to a few very large entities making massive amounts of beer and using innovative packaging and distribution networks to distribute it globally. To keep their companies growing, they needed to advertise their products to ensure that they kept (and even captured more) market share and also to grow market share by building images that would induce people to drink beer and get the same benefits in their life intimated by the advertising pitches.

The birth of sophisticated advertising of beer began shortly after prohibition ended. At that time, the efforts were very cautious. Many changes were occurring in America. Prohibition ended. Television was just starting to grow a viewership base. Advertising on television was a very new and uncertain endeavor. Public opinion about the advertising of beer to a general audience was very mixed.

Against this backdrop, the first efforts to advertise beer on television were very timid - consisting of mostly late night sponsored shows followed by numerous surveys to be sure the commercial efforts were not causing a backlash against the beer companies.Through this initial period of timidity, the beer advertisers learned something very important. The majority of early television sets were located in neighborhood taverns. (Keep in mind that very early televisions were quite expensive and a television in a tavern was quite a draw.) People would go to the tavern, get a beer and watch a bit of television to relax and unwind after a hard day's work. In terms of finding a targeted audience, the beer companies couldn't ask for anything better. If they could run a beer commercial for their brand while their customers were in the exact place where they could buy that beer with no effort, what could be better.

From this study was born the link between sports and beer. After all, it was the sporting events that people wanted to watch in taverns (much like in modern sports bars.) The comaraderie of sharing the game with old and new friends, drinking beer, celebrating victories and drowning sorrows at losses made the matchup of sports and beer in the 40's a perfect match. An advertiser couldn't ask for a better demographic and psychographic match than sports and beer.

By the early 50's, beer commercial advertising and show sponsorship was so accepted that beer was ready to move to prime time television. It began in 1950 when Blatz Beer sponsored the migration of the Amos n' Andy radio show to television. They invested $250,000 to make this the major event of the year and were wildly successful. In fact they were so successful, they quickly became one of America's top television advertisers.

Other brewers, seeing the success of Blatz Beer, quickly jumped on the bandwagon and sponsored a variety of other television shows and developed a variety of means to spread the message - testimonials, mini-dramas, celebrity endorsements, demonstrations and identifiable characters - like Mabel, the waitress who would bring the bottle of Carling Black Label when called with the famous phrase "Hey Mabel - Black Label!" In fact this commercial is attributed with growing Carling Brewing Company from number 28 in 1951 to number 6 in 1957.

By the mid-50s, beer commercials were in their heydey. It was big business run by sharp Madison Avenue ad agencies and beer companies with lots of money to invest in growing their market share. They had learned that the right ad campaign could make their company and the wrong one could break them faster than anyone could imagine. Literally, for the first time in history, the fate of beer rested in the ability of the manufacturers to get their message to their current and potential customers delivered in a compelling manner on television. The mantra from this time forward literally became success on tv or perish.

As an interesting sidenote from the 21st century, the commercials did their work. The many beer companies of the early 20th century dwindled to just a fer very large ones and is now swinging back again with the advent of microbreweries and specialty beers. As peoples wealth grew, their desire for more sophisticated beers grew and now there are microbreweries and specialty beers to satisfy every taste. Of course this is only a small percentage of the beer being offered but you can now go into a supermarket and choose from a large variety of beers - something you couldn't really do not too many years ago.

Do you like beer and beer history? Then you need to grab a copy of the DVD classic - The History of Beer where you will learn the fascinating process major brewers use to manufacture beer and the levels of sophistication they take in their ad planning to ensure that you choose their beer as your favorite beverage.

The Historical Archive offers a variety of Historical DVDs and CDs. You can visit us at http://www.thehistoricalarchive.com and shop our large, robust library of DVD and CD based products covering a wide range of significant and interesting historical events and cultural moments through film, photos, audios, maps and other documents.

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