One of the world's oldest stories, The Epic of Gilgamesh, is a lively tale of
heroism and sacrificefrom ancient Sumer. It also contains one of the earliest
references to beer. In the story, a female friend of the hero changes a wild,
primitivebeast into a cultured human being by giving him seven cups of
beer.
In reality, drinking that much beer is more likely to have the opposite
effect. Nowadays, it is the beverage of choice among rowdy ball mill people
on a Saturday night out, and it has fueled acts of violence and destruction in
more than a few societies. It is, nevertheless, the oldest known alcoholic drink
in the world and is widely enjoyed.
Fermentedbeverages made from various
types of grainappeared independently in different locations all over the ancient
world from Africa to China. The word beer itself comes from a Latin verb meaning
"to drink", and the ancient Romans were certainly no strangers to the brew.
However, because they considered it the drink of barbarians , the Romans
generally preferred wine.
In ancient times, people who made beer lacked the
means to preserve and filterit properly, so the drink was cloudy and turned bad
quickly. It was medieval European monks who introduced scientific brewing
techniques in an effort to produce a nutritious beverage to supplementtheir
meagerdiets.
The monks were not restricted to only brewingthe beer, and
consumption of it within the monasteries reached astonishing levels. One report
from Belgium said that monks were drinking as much as five liters a day.
Monastery breweriesin Europe also ran their own pubs and enjoyed a tax-free
status that came to be resented by the growing merchant class.
As the power
and influence of the church declined, the art of brewing became an important
commercial activity. Today, beer production is largely a high-tech process in
the hands of huge corporations or government monopolies. However, recent years
have seen a growth in the popularity of small-scale breweries, reflecting an
increasing global demand for quality and variety.
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