Beer History: My Dad Turns 60

The last few weeks on this blog have been focused on Beer History.  Continuing on that trend I would like to discuss my father's old age, 60.  He used to be a Busch guy and then he went onto Bud Light.  From Bud Light he went to American Ale by AB and now loves Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale.  My brother and I have been working to change his taste his horizons are rapidly expanding .

I think Dad owes me $101.93 for this.

What does an obnoxious son do for his father's birthday?  First, I had to drive to Wisconsin to get him a beer he asked for  back in October.  A six pack of Dale's Pale Ale for his office fridge, delivered cold of course.  Secondly, since I just drove about 7 hours to get there, we need food.  I will take him out to lunch at the same bar he has been going to for the last 40 years.  Finally, he gets one heck of a sampler pack including beer from Oskar Blues, Goose Island, New Glarus,  Bell's and others.  To pull this off I have travelled through four states, flattened a tire, and lied to my family all in the name of surprise.  Happy Birthday Old Man.

Beer History: Medicine & Health

Beer has played a role in medicine and health since it was invented.  Everyone knows you are supposed to eat your grains daily, and early beer was a source of grain based nutrients.  It is even possible the first beer was consumed like porridge or gruel.  The recipe used by Ancient Egyptians contained tetracycline a powerful antibiotic.  (A cruel twist of fate- this site stole my thunder yesterday.)

It is also important to note the role beer played in preventing illness from E. coli and other bacteria.  People moved into cities and water supplies became contaminated.  The idea of pathogens had not been thought of.  People knew water could make them sick, but beer did not.  What many did not realize is the boil stage of brewing was killing bacteria.  Beer saved thousands if not millions of lives.  Everyone drank beer as it was the only known safe beverage in Europe.

While we do not think of beer as health food today, it was likely more nutritious back then.  Beer today lacks  nutrition and the filters and ingredients used by many brewers likely do not yield the same punch.  However, it is important to remember where beer played a role in history.

Beer History: Writing & Building

Cuneiform for Beer

The first written language was called Cuneiform (3000 BC), and yes they had a symbol for beer.  Beer and barley were some of the earliest commodities that could be bought, sold or more likely bartered for.  It is believed that written language was created as a way to track the exchange of these commodities.  Ancient Sumerian peoples had more than 160 words related to beer.  Since the Agricultural Revolution, many other cultures have come up with their own words for beer.  Some of my personal favorites are beer, bier, pivo and cerveza.  But nothing beats the Egyptians that used the symbols for beer and bread to mean a meal.

The rise of written language allowed individuals to use commodities such as beer by being able track who was paid and who was owed.  Ancient beer was a vital source of nutrition.  Laborers building the pyramid were paid about a gallon of beer a day or about 231,414,717 gallons a pyramid.  Frequently the laborers were given a chit that was worth a certain amount of beer.  Very similar in concept to modern debit cards they could use the chit at the equivalent of a modern bar or store.

The tradition of paying in beer comes up throughout history, and today employees of breweries are still partially compensated with beer to drink both at work and to take home.  Beer has played an integral role in building society.

Keep checking back as I continue to look at beer in pivotal moments in history.

Beer History: Settling Down

Over the next several weeks come back each Tuesday to see how beer had major influence in society.  In many cases people look at me and say "It is just beer."  Yeah it is just beer, but beer played a role in everything from the Agricultural Revolution to the Industrial Revolution to technological advancements to massive government policy decisions.  Thousands of people rely on beer for employment and the modern craft movement is one of many elements driving our society to be more sustainable.  So yes it is just beer, but beer is huge.

For years scientists assumed that civilization went from a hunter gatherer society to an agrarian one for the generic concept of growing grains and raising livestock.  Scientists are now beginning to believe early humans may of settled to raise grain for beer.  While no one knows exactly how beer came about there are some theories.

It is believed that originally a group of hunter gatherers left grain in a container and it either deliberately or inadvertently became wet.  Then wild airborne yeast mixed in and the grains fermented.  Some lucky man or woman got to be the first to taste beer.  Their identity will never be known but they told their friends to try beer.  It was discovered to be tasty and early man decided to settle down and domesticate barley.  We know barley was among the earliest domesticated grains.  Now most people would likely say grains were domesticated to make bread.  Scientists have dated beer to 9000 BC which is 3000 years before evidence of bread.  The domesticated grains were the spark that created what we now call Mesopotamia the cradle of civilization.

I am not one to argue that without this discovery we would of never settled down, but what if the catalyst for the Agricultural Revolution did not happen for 100 years?  I likely would be working in a factory instead or typing a blog on the internet.  Something to think about isn't it?