BEER HISTORY
Ancient History
Historians speculate that prehistoric nomads may have made beer from
grain & water before learning to make bread.
Beer became ingrained in the culture of civilizations with no
significant viticulture.
Noah's provisions included beer on the Ark.
4300 BC, Babylonian clay tablets detail recipes for beer.
Beer was a vital part of civilization and the Babylonian, Assyrian,
Egyptian, Hebrew, Chinese, and Inca cultures.
Babylonians produced beer in large quantities with around 20 varieties.
Beer at this time was so valued that it was sometimes used to pay
workers as part of their daily wages.
Early cultures often drank beer through straws to avoid grain hulls left
in the beverage.
Egyptians brewed beer commercially for use by royalty served in gold
goblets, medical purposes, and as a necessity to be included in burial
provisions for the journey to the hereafter.
Different grains were used in different cultures:
a) Africa used millet, maize and cassava.
b) North America used persimmon although agave was used in Mexico.
c) South America used corn although sweet potatoes were used in Brazil.
d) Japan used rice to make sake.
e) China used wheat to make samshu.
f) Other Asian cultures used sorghum.
g) Russians used rye to make quass or kvass.
h) Egyptians used barley and may have cultivated it strictly for brewing
as it made poor bread.
1600 BC Egyptian texts contain 100 medical prescriptions calling for
beer.
If an Egyptian gentleman offered a lady a sip of his beer they were
betrothed.
Early brewers used herbals like balsam, hay, dandelion, mint, and
wormwood seeds, horehound juice, and even crab claws & oyster shells
for flavorings.
Romans brewed "cerevisia" (Ceres the goddess of agriculture & vis
meaning strength in Latin).
55 BC Roman legions introduce beer to Northern Europe.
49 BC Caesar toasted his troops after crossing the Rubicon, which began
the Roman Civil War.
Before the Middle Ages brewing was left to women to make since it was
considered a food as well as celebration drink.
23 BC Chinese brewed beer called "kiu"
500-1000 AD the first half of the Middle Ages, brewing begins to be
practiced in Europe, shifting from family tradition to centralized
production in monasteries and convents (hospitality for traveling
pilgrims).
During Medieval times beer was used for tithing, trading, payment and
taxing.
1000 AD hops begins to be used in the brewing process.
1200 AD beer making is firmly established as a commercial enterprise in
Germany, Austria, and England.
a) German's preferred cold temperature lagers (bottom-fermentation)
stored in caves in the Alps.
b) English preferred mild temperature ales (top-fermentation) stored in
cellars.
1295 King Wenceslas grants Pilsen Bohemia brewing rights (formerly
Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia & Czech Republic).
1420 German brewers develop the lager method of brewing.
1489 Germany's first brewing guild, Brauerei Beck, was established.
1490's Columbus found Indians making beer from corn and black birch sap.
Renaissance History
1516 Bavarian brewing guilds push for the Reinheitsgeobot purity laws
make it illegal to use any ingredients but water, barley, and hops in
the brewing of beer (they didn't know yeast existed).
1553 Beck's Brewery founded & still brewing today.
Late 1500's Queen Elizabeth I of England drank strong ale for breakfast.
1587 the first beer brewed in New World at Sir Walter Raleigh's colony
in Virginia--but the colonists sent requests to England for better
beer.
1602 Dr. Alexander Nowell discovers that ale can be stored longer in
cork sealed, glass bottles.
1612 the first commercial brewery opened in New Amsterdam (NYC,
Manhattan) after colonists advertised in London newspapers for
experienced brewers.
1620 Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock because the beer supplies were
running low.
1674 Harvard College has its own brewhouse.
1680 William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania) operated commercial brewery.
1757 Washington wrote his personal recipe "To Make Small Beer."
1786 Molson brewery is founded in what is today Canada.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had their own private brewhouses.
Samuel Adams operated commercial brewery.
Soldiers in the revolutionary army received rations of a quart of beer a
day.
1789 James Madison proposes that Congress levy a low 8-cent duty per
barrel on malt liquors to encourage "the manufacture of beer in every
State in the Union."
Beer and bread were the mainstays of the ordinary person's diet for
centuries.
Yeasts during this time were exactly the same as those used in bread.
Modern History
Before the 1800's most beer was really "Ale."
1810 Munich establishes Oktoberfest as an official celebration.
1830's Bavarians Gabriel Sedlmayr of Munich and Anton Dreher of Vienna
developed the lager method of beer production.
1842 the first golden lager is produced in Pilsen, Bohemia.
In the mid-19th Century (1850's) German immigrant brewers introduced
cold maturation lagers to the US (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors, Stroh,
Schlitz, and Pabst roots begin here).
The modern era of brewing in the US began in the late 1800's with
commercial refrigeration (1860), automatic bottling, pasteurization
(1876), and railroad distribution.
1870's Adolphus Busch pioneers the use of double-walled railcars, a
network of icehouses to make Budweiser the first national brand.
1876 Pasteur unraveled the secrets of yeast in the fermentation
process, and he also developed pasteurization to stabilize beers 22
years before the process was applied to milk.
1880 there are approximately 2,300 breweries in the US.
1890s Pabst is the first US brewer to sell over 1 million barrels in a
year.
1909 Teddy Roosevelt brought over 500 gal. of beer on safari in Africa.
1914 commercial competition drives the number of operating breweries
down to 1,400.
1933 Prohibition ends for beer (April 7).
1935 only 160 breweries survive Prohibition.
1935 the beer can is introduced (American Can Co. & Kreuger Brewing).
1938 Elise Miller John heads Miller Brewing for 8 years as the first and
only woman ever to run a major brewing company.
1965 Fritz Maytag purchases Anchor Brewing Co.
1966 Budweiser is the first brand to sell 10 million barrels in a year.
1976 New Albion is the first in the rebirth of brewpubs and
microbreweries in the US opening in California.
1988 Asahi Super Dry (Japan) introduces new beer category (soon to
follow is Michelob Dry).
1991 the US produces 20% of the world beer volume (world's largest).
1992:
1) The US beer industry produced & sold 2.62 billion cases of beer.
2) Estimated per capita consumption was 22.7 gallons (ranked 13th
worldwide).
3) Beer drinkers consumed 5.89 Billion gallons, enough to fill the
Houston Astrodome over 12 times or 330 oil tankers.
4) Five brewers produced 89.4% of domestic product:
a) Anheuser-Busch (A-B), 44.5%
b) Miller Brewing, 21.8%
c) Coors, 10.4%
d) Stroh, 7.4%
e) G. Heileman, 5.3%
5) The world's largest combined-site brewer was A-B, at 1.166 Billion
cases.
6) The world's largest single-site brewery was Coors Brewing, Golden,
Colorado, at 272 Million cases.
1993 US retail beer sales exceed $45 Billion.
First half of the 1900's beer was associated with men, blue-collar
workers, college students, and mainstream sports enthusiasts.
Late 1900's beer had a different image and cultural function, with
growth in popularity among a more diverse share of the population.
Ancient History
Historians speculate that prehistoric nomads may have made beer from
grain & water before learning to make bread.
Beer became ingrained in the culture of civilizations with no
significant viticulture.
Noah's provisions included beer on the Ark.
4300 BC, Babylonian clay tablets detail recipes for beer.
Beer was a vital part of civilization and the Babylonian, Assyrian,
Egyptian, Hebrew, Chinese, and Inca cultures.
Babylonians produced beer in large quantities with around 20 varieties.
Beer at this time was so valued that it was sometimes used to pay
workers as part of their daily wages.
Early cultures often drank beer through straws to avoid grain hulls left
in the beverage.
Egyptians brewed beer commercially for use by royalty served in gold
goblets, medical purposes, and as a necessity to be included in burial
provisions for the journey to the hereafter.
Different grains were used in different cultures:
a) Africa used millet, maize and cassava.
b) North America used persimmon although agave was used in Mexico.
c) South America used corn although sweet potatoes were used in Brazil.
d) Japan used rice to make sake.
e) China used wheat to make samshu.
f) Other Asian cultures used sorghum.
g) Russians used rye to make quass or kvass.
h) Egyptians used barley and may have cultivated it strictly for brewing
as it made poor bread.
1600 BC Egyptian texts contain 100 medical prescriptions calling for
beer.
If an Egyptian gentleman offered a lady a sip of his beer they were
betrothed.
Early brewers used herbals like balsam, hay, dandelion, mint, and
wormwood seeds, horehound juice, and even crab claws & oyster shells
for flavorings.
Romans brewed "cerevisia" (Ceres the goddess of agriculture & vis
meaning strength in Latin).
55 BC Roman legions introduce beer to Northern Europe.
49 BC Caesar toasted his troops after crossing the Rubicon, which began
the Roman Civil War.
Before the Middle Ages brewing was left to women to make since it was
considered a food as well as celebration drink.
23 BC Chinese brewed beer called "kiu"
500-1000 AD the first half of the Middle Ages, brewing begins to be
practiced in Europe, shifting from family tradition to centralized
production in monasteries and convents (hospitality for traveling
pilgrims).
During Medieval times beer was used for tithing, trading, payment and
taxing.
1000 AD hops begins to be used in the brewing process.
1200 AD beer making is firmly established as a commercial enterprise in
Germany, Austria, and England.
a) German's preferred cold temperature lagers (bottom-fermentation)
stored in caves in the Alps.
b) English preferred mild temperature ales (top-fermentation) stored in
cellars.
1295 King Wenceslas grants Pilsen Bohemia brewing rights (formerly
Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia & Czech Republic).
1420 German brewers develop the lager method of brewing.
1489 Germany's first brewing guild, Brauerei Beck, was established.
1490's Columbus found Indians making beer from corn and black birch sap.
Renaissance History
1516 Bavarian brewing guilds push for the Reinheitsgeobot purity laws
make it illegal to use any ingredients but water, barley, and hops in
the brewing of beer (they didn't know yeast existed).
1553 Beck's Brewery founded & still brewing today.
Late 1500's Queen Elizabeth I of England drank strong ale for breakfast.
1587 the first beer brewed in New World at Sir Walter Raleigh's colony
in Virginia--but the colonists sent requests to England for better
beer.
1602 Dr. Alexander Nowell discovers that ale can be stored longer in
cork sealed, glass bottles.
1612 the first commercial brewery opened in New Amsterdam (NYC,
Manhattan) after colonists advertised in London newspapers for
experienced brewers.
1620 Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock because the beer supplies were
running low.
1674 Harvard College has its own brewhouse.
1680 William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania) operated commercial brewery.
1757 Washington wrote his personal recipe "To Make Small Beer."
1786 Molson brewery is founded in what is today Canada.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had their own private brewhouses.
Samuel Adams operated commercial brewery.
Soldiers in the revolutionary army received rations of a quart of beer a
day.
1789 James Madison proposes that Congress levy a low 8-cent duty per
barrel on malt liquors to encourage "the manufacture of beer in every
State in the Union."
Beer and bread were the mainstays of the ordinary person's diet for
centuries.
Yeasts during this time were exactly the same as those used in bread.
Modern History
Before the 1800's most beer was really "Ale."
1810 Munich establishes Oktoberfest as an official celebration.
1830's Bavarians Gabriel Sedlmayr of Munich and Anton Dreher of Vienna
developed the lager method of beer production.
1842 the first golden lager is produced in Pilsen, Bohemia.
In the mid-19th Century (1850's) German immigrant brewers introduced
cold maturation lagers to the US (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors, Stroh,
Schlitz, and Pabst roots begin here).
The modern era of brewing in the US began in the late 1800's with
commercial refrigeration (1860), automatic bottling, pasteurization
(1876), and railroad distribution.
1870's Adolphus Busch pioneers the use of double-walled railcars, a
network of icehouses to make Budweiser the first national brand.
1876 Pasteur unraveled the secrets of yeast in the fermentation
process, and he also developed pasteurization to stabilize beers 22
years before the process was applied to milk.
1880 there are approximately 2,300 breweries in the US.
1890s Pabst is the first US brewer to sell over 1 million barrels in a
year.
1909 Teddy Roosevelt brought over 500 gal. of beer on safari in Africa.
1914 commercial competition drives the number of operating breweries
down to 1,400.
1933 Prohibition ends for beer (April 7).
1935 only 160 breweries survive Prohibition.
1935 the beer can is introduced (American Can Co. & Kreuger Brewing).
1938 Elise Miller John heads Miller Brewing for 8 years as the first and
only woman ever to run a major brewing company.
1965 Fritz Maytag purchases Anchor Brewing Co.
1966 Budweiser is the first brand to sell 10 million barrels in a year.
1976 New Albion is the first in the rebirth of brewpubs and
microbreweries in the US opening in California.
1988 Asahi Super Dry (Japan) introduces new beer category (soon to
follow is Michelob Dry).
1991 the US produces 20% of the world beer volume (world's largest).
1992:
1) The US beer industry produced & sold 2.62 billion cases of beer.
2) Estimated per capita consumption was 22.7 gallons (ranked 13th
worldwide).
3) Beer drinkers consumed 5.89 Billion gallons, enough to fill the
Houston Astrodome over 12 times or 330 oil tankers.
4) Five brewers produced 89.4% of domestic product:
a) Anheuser-Busch (A-B), 44.5%
b) Miller Brewing, 21.8%
c) Coors, 10.4%
d) Stroh, 7.4%
e) G. Heileman, 5.3%
5) The world's largest combined-site brewer was A-B, at 1.166 Billion
cases.
6) The world's largest single-site brewery was Coors Brewing, Golden,
Colorado, at 272 Million cases.
1993 US retail beer sales exceed $45 Billion.
First half of the 1900's beer was associated with men, blue-collar
workers, college students, and mainstream sports enthusiasts.
Late 1900's beer had a different image and cultural function, with
growth in popularity among a more diverse share of the population.
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