Editing Beer (section)

== History ==

{{Main|History of beer}}

=== Prehistory ===

[[File:Stèle Mercenaire syrien 18ème dynastie Neues Museum image éclaircie et perspective corrigée.jpg|thumb|Ancient Egyptian painting, [[18th dynasty]], reign of [[Akhenaten]], {{Circa|1300 BC}}, showing Syrian mercenary drinking beer through a straw. [[Egyptian Museum of Berlin]]]]

Beer is one of the world's oldest prepared alcoholic drinks.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ben |last=McFarland |year=2009 |title=World's Best Beers: One thousand craft brews from cask to glass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHh-4M_QxEsC&pg=PA10 |publisher=[[Sterling Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4027-6694-7 |page=10}}</ref> The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000 year-old residues of a beer with the consistency of gruel, used by the semi-nomadic [[Natufian]]s for ritual feasting, at the [[Raqefet Cave]] in the [[Carmel Mountains]] near [[Haifa]] in northern Israel.<ref name="BBC 2018 oldest brewery">{{cite news |title='World's oldest brewery' found in cave in Israel, say researchers |date=15 September 2018 |website=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-45534133 |access-date=15 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=13,000&nbsp;year-old brewery discovered in Israel – the oldest in the world |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/13000-year-old-brewery-discovered-in-israel-the-oldest-in-the-world/ |date=2018-09-12 |last1=Borschel-Dan |first1=Amanda |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=16 September 2018}}</ref> There is evidence that beer was produced at [[Göbekli Tepe]] during the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] (around 8500&nbsp;BC to 5500&nbsp;BC).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dietrich |first1=Oliver |last2=Heun |first2=Manfred |last3=Notroff |first3=Jens |last4=Schmidt |first4=Klaus |last5=Zarnkow |first5=Martin |date=September 2012 |title=The role of cult and feasting in the emergence of Neolithic communities. New evidence from Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern Turkey |journal=Antiquity |volume=86 |issue=333 |pages=674–695 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00047840 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The earliest clear chemical evidence of beer produced from [[barley]] dates to about 3500–3100&nbsp;BC, from the site of [[Godin Tepe]] in the [[Zagros Mountains]] of western Iran.<ref name=McGovern-2009>{{cite book |last=McGovern |first=Patrick |year=2009 |title=Uncorking the Past |isbn=978-0-520-25379-7 |pages=66–71}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jar in Iranian ruins betrays beer drinkers of 3500 B.C. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/05/world/jar-in-iranian-ruins-betrays-beer-drinkers-of-3500-bc.html |date=1992-11-05 |last1=Wilford |first1=John Noble |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=10 November 2010}}</ref>

=== Early civilisations ===

Beer is recorded in the written history of [[ancient Egypt]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Beer |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britanica]] |edition=online |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-66615/beer |access-date=27 August 2023 |via=Britannica.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Homan |first1=Michael M. |date=June 2004 |title=Beer and its drinkers: An ancient Near Eastern love story |journal=Near Eastern Archaeology |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=84–95 |doi=10.2307/4132364 |jstor=4132364 |s2cid=162357890 }}</ref> and archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilizations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Archeologists link rise of civilization and beer's invention |date=8 November 2010 |website=[[CBS News]] |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/archeologists-link-rise-of-civilization-and-beers-invention/ |access-date=10 November 2010}}</ref> Approximately 5000&nbsp;years ago, workers in the city of [[Uruk]] (modern day Iraq) were paid by their employers with volumes of beer.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=George |first=Alison |date=22 June 2016 |title=The world's oldest paycheck was cashed in beer |magazine=[[New Scientist]] |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2094658-the-worlds-oldest-paycheck-was-cashed-in-beer/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625140953/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2094658-the-worlds-oldest-paycheck-was-cashed-in-beer/ |archive-date=2016-06-25}}</ref> During the building of the [[Egyptian pyramids]], each worker got a daily ration of four to five litres of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment and was crucial to the pyramids' construction.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Abigail |last=Tucker |date=August 2011 |title=The beer archaeologist |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]] |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-beer-archaeologist-17016372/ |access-date=30 October 2023 }}</ref>

Some of the earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer; examples include a prayer to the goddess [[Ninkasi]], known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi",<ref>{{cite journal |last=Prince |first=J. Dyneley |year=1916 |title=A Hymn to Ninkasi |journal=The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=40–44 |doi=10.1086/369806 |doi-access=free}}</ref> which served as both a prayer and a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people, and the ancient advice ("Fill your belly. Day and night make merry") to [[Gilgamesh]], recorded in the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' by the alewife [[Siduri]], may, at least in part, have referred to the consumption of beer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartman |first1=L.F. |last2=Oppenheim |first2=A.L. |year=1950 |title=On beer and brewing techniques in ancient Mesopotamia |journal=Supplement to the Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=10}}</ref> The [[Ebla tablets]], discovered in 1974 in [[Ebla]], Syria, show that beer was produced in the city in 2500 BC.<ref>Dumper, Stanley. 2007, p. 141.</ref> A fermented drink using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike [[sake]], mould was not used to saccharify the rice (amylolytic fermentation); the rice was probably prepared for fermentation by [[Mastication|chewing]] or [[malting]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McGovern |first1=Patrick E. |last2=Zhang |first2=Juzhong |last3=Tang |first3=Jigen |last4=Zhang |first4=Zhiqing |last5=Hall |first5=Gretchen R. |last6=Moreau |first6=Robert A. |last7=Nuñez |first7=Alberto |last8=Butrym |first8=Eric D. |last9=Richards |first9=Michael P. |last10=Wang |first10=Chen-Shan |last11=Cheng |first11=Guangsheng |last12=Zhao |first12=Zhijun |last13=Wang |first13=Changsui |display-authors=5 |year=2004 |title=Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=101 |issue=51 |pages=17593–17598 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0407921102 |pmid=15590771 |pmc=539767 |bibcode=2004PNAS..10117593M |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Li wine: The beer of ancient China |date=15 July 2009 |series=China Beer Festivals |volume=2009 |website=echinacities.com |url=http://www.echinacities.com/Special/Beer-Festival/Content.aspx?n=3223 |access-date=21 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719014915/http://www.echinacities.com/special/Beer-Festival/Content.aspx?n=3223 |archive-date=19 July 2009}}</ref> During the [[Vedic period]] in [[Ancient India]], there are records of the consumption of the beer-like ''[[Sura (alcoholic drink)|sura]]''.<ref name=Eraly2002>{{cite book |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |year=2002 |title=Gem in the Lotus |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-93-5118-014-2 |page=165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YokatCwNG90C&pg=PT165}}</ref><ref name="Prakash2005">{{cite book |first=Om |last=Prakash |year=2005 |title=Cultural History of India |publisher=New Age International |isbn=978-81-224-1587-2 |page=503 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzpYb5UOeiwC&pg=PA503 |access-date=8 October 2013}}</ref> [[Xenophon]] noted that during his travels, beer was being produced in Armenia.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Karine |last=Vann |date=13 September 2017 |title=Armenia might be one of the oldest and youngest beer-making countries in the world |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]] |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/armenia-might-be-one-oldest-and-youngest-beermaking-countries-world-180964860/}}</ref>

=== Medieval ===

[[File:François Louis Jaques Paysans fribourgeois au bistrot.jpg|thumb|François Jaques: ''Peasants enjoying beer at pub in Fribourg'' (Switzerland, 1923)]]

Beer was spread through Europe by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] and [[Celts|Celtic]] tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it was mainly brewed on a domestic scale.<ref name=Nelson-2005>{{cite book |first=Max |last=Nelson |year=2005 |title=The Barbarians' Beverage: A history of beer in ancient Europe |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-31121-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6xul0O_SI1MC |pages=1-2, 110, 1025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Beer history |publisher=Dreher Breweries |place=Hungary |url=http://www.dreherrt.hu/portal/main.php?heading_id=27&article_id=&language=en |access-date=21 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709015742/http://www.dreherrt.hu/portal/main.php?heading_id=27&article_id=&language=en |archive-date=9 July 2009}}</ref> The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today. Alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers may have contained fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices, and other substances such as [[narcotic]] herbs.<ref name=Nelson-2005/> This mixture was called gruit, where if some were improperly heated could cause hallucinations. The mixture of gruit was different from every brewer. What they did not contain was [[hops]], as that was a later addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard W. |last=Unger |year=2004 |title=Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance |page=57 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=0-8122-3795-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMNf-p1mu6AC&dq=hops+Carolingian+Abbot&pg=PA57}}</ref> and again in 1067 by [[abbess]] [[Hildegard of Bingen]].<ref name=Nelson-2005/> 

In 1516, [[William IV, Duke of Bavaria]] adopted the ''[[Reinheitsgebot]]'' (purity law), perhaps the oldest food-quality regulation still in use in the 21st century, according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, [[hops]], and barley-[[malt]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=492&nbsp;years of good beer: Germans toast the anniversary of their beer purity law |date=23 April 2008 |magazine=[[Der Spiegel]] |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/492-years-of-good-beer-germans-toast-the-anniversary-of-their-beer-purity-law-a-549175.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622065706/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/492-years-of-good-beer-germans-toast-the-anniversary-of-their-beer-purity-law-a-549175.html |archive-date=22 June 2017 }}</ref> Beer produced before the [[Industrial Revolution]] was made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced and sold by European [[Monastery|monasteries]]. During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from [[artisan]]al to [[Manufacturing|industrial manufacture]], while domestic production ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century.<ref name=sotp>{{cite book |first=Martyn |last=Cornell |year=2003 |title=Beer: The story of the pint |publisher=Headline |isbn=978-0-7553-1165-1 }}</ref>

=== Modern ===

In 1912, brown bottles began to be used by the [[Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company]] of [[Beer in Milwaukee|Milwaukee, Wisconsin]], in the United States. This innovation has since been accepted worldwide as it prevents light rays from degrading the quality and stability of beer.<ref name="Schlitz">{{cite web |title=A chronological history |department=Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. |via=slahs.org |url=http://www.slahs.org/history/brewery/schlitz/history4.htm |access-date=16 March 2019 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020150826/http://www.slahs.org/history/brewery/schlitz/history4.htm |archive-date=20 October 2019 }}</ref> The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers, ranging from [[brewpub]]s to [[regional brewery|regional breweries]].<ref name=market>{{cite report |title=Company list |department=Industry browser – consumer non-cyclical – beverages (alcoholic) |series=Finance |website=[[Yahoo!]] |url=http://biz.yahoo.com/p/bevalcmktd.html |access-date=5 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002045616/http://biz.yahoo.com/p/bevalcmktd.html |archive-date=2 October 2007}}</ref> As of 2006, more than {{convert|133|e9l|e9gal|abbr=off}} of beer are sold per year, producing global revenues of US$294.5 billion. In 2010, China's beer consumption hit {{convert|450|e9l|e9gal|abbr=off}}, or nearly twice that of the United States, but only 5 per cent sold were premium beers, compared with 50 per cent in France and Germany.<ref>{{cite news |title=Premium Chinese beer a bitter brew for foreign brands |date=3 November 2011 |department=Analysis |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-beer-china-idUSTRE7A20X520111103 |access-date=30 June 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131217032328/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/03/us-beer-china-idUSTRE7A20X520111103 |archive-date=17 December 2013}}</ref> Beer is the most widely consumed of all alcoholic drinks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Volume of world beer production |website=European Beer Guide |url=http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/eustats.htm#production |access-date=17 October 2006}}</ref> A widely publicised study in 2018 suggested that sudden decreases in barley production due to extreme drought and heat could in the future cause substantial volatility in the availability and price of beer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Xie |first1=Wei |last2=Xiong |first2=Wei |last3=Pan |first3=Jie |last4=Ali |first4=Tariq |last5=Cui |first5=Qi |last6=Guan |first6=Dabo |last7=Meng |first7=Jing |last8=Mueller |first8=Nathaniel D. |last9=Lin |first9=Erda |last10=Davis |first10=Steven J. |display-authors=5 |year=2018 |title=Decreases in global beer supply due to extreme drought and heat |journal=Nature Plants |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=964–973 |pmid=30323183 |doi=10.1038/s41477-018-0263-1 |bibcode=2018AGUFMGC31E1301X |s2cid=53085959 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-018-0263-1 |access-date=16 October 2018}}</ref>