About this time, some Late Stone Age gourmand probably tasted the contents of a jar of unattended honey that had been left unattended longer than usual. Natural fermentation had been given the opportunity to occur, and the taster, finding the effects of mild alcohol ingestion provocative, probably replicated the natural experiment. The technique was fairly simple; leave the sweet substance alone to ferment. Beer relies on large amounts of starchy grains, and the production of this substance would have to wait until the advent of agriculture. (Vallee 81)
The fertile river deltas of Mesopotamia and Egypt produced massive crops of wheat and barley; the diets of peasants, laborers and soldiers of these ancient civilizations were cereal-based. It might be viewed as a historical inevitability that fermented grain would be discovered, wrote Bert Vallee, Doctor. (Vallee 81)
The arrival of agriculture led to food surpluses, which led to an even larger population and close living quarter, in villages or cities. These people faced a problem of how to provide inhabitants with enough clean, pure water. The water supply in cities quickly became polluted with their waste products and in turn made the water dangerous or deadly if drank. The lack of liquids safe for human consumption prevented long-range voyages over the oceans until recently. Christopher Columbus made his journey to the New World with wine on board, and the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock only because their beer provisions ran out. (Vallee 81)
Evidence arguing against the widespread use of water can be found in the examination of both the Bible and Greek texts. In both versions of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is virtually empty of references to water as a common drinking source. Likewise, Greek writing make scant references to water drinking, with exceptions to deep wells, mountain spring water or rain water. Ancient civilization clearly understood that most of their water supplies were contaminated. (Vallee 82)
Since most water was polluted to the point that it was undrinkable, ethyl alcohol may have been the number one source of hydration. Beer and wine are both free from pathogens. The antiseptic power of alcohol, as well as the natural acidity of wine and beer, killed many pathogens when the drinks were diluted with the dirty water supply. With the application of the fermentation process, people of all ages consumed beer and wine on a daily basis. The alcohol content of these daily drinks was low, consumers focused their brewing techniques on issues of taste, thirst quenching, hunger satisfaction and storage, rather than on intoxication. (Vallee 82)
Eastern civilization differed greatly in the coming of alcohol. For at least the past two thousand years, the practice of boiling water for such things as tea, created a potable supply of nonalcoholic beverages. Genetics played an important role in Asians avoidance to alcohol. Almost half of all Asian people lack an enzyme necessary for complete alcohol metabolism, making the experience of being intoxicated miserable. Consequently, beer and wine took their place as staples in the western world and remained there until the end of last century. (Vallee 83)
Alcohol was also used to distract from the fatigue and boredom of day to day life in most cultures, and alleviating pain for which remedies were nonexistent. Today people have all sorts of ways to rid themselves of pain. Until this century the only anesthetic available in the West was alcohol. The Book of Proverbs states: Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto them that be heavy of hearts. Let him drink. And forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. Wine was used as a remedy for almost all acute or chronic sicknesses known at the time. A Sumerian cuneiform tablet dating back to 2100 B.C. is cited as the oldest preserved record of medicinal alcohol. (Vallee 83)
People in ancient times knew the potentially delirious effects of drinking. The call for moderation began early in Hebrew, Greek and Roman cultures. The Old Testament frequently disapproved of drunkenness. In the New Testament, Jesus approved of alcohol consumption, resorting to miracle in the transformation of water to wine, and act that may acknowledge the goodness of alcohol versus polluted water. His followers worked to balance the use and abuse of alcohol but never supported total prohibition. Rather than rebuking the drunken effects of alcohol, Christians considered it a gift from the Gods, both for medicinal qualities and tranquilization characteristics that offered relief from the pain and anxiety of day to day life. (Vallee 83)
After about nine thousand years of relatively low alcohol beer, mead, and wine, Western civilization was faced with alcohol in highly concentrated form, due to distillation. Arabic alchemists developed distillation around AD 700. This brought about a significant change in the mode and magnitude of alcohol consumption since the beginning of civilization. Although yeast produces alcohol as a byproduct in their life cycle, they cannot tolerate concentrations over 16 percent before killing themselves by their own excretions. Therefore fermented drinks had a natural maximum proof. (Vallee 83)
The Arab method spread to Europe, and distillation of wine to produce spirits started around AD 1100. The medical school at Salerno, Italy, was an important center for the exchange of thoughts and theories relating to chemicals and medicines. Combining traditional alcoholic drinks of beer and wine, which had low alcohol concentration and positive nutritional benefits, with beverages that have high alcohol levels to cause widespread problems still plaguing us today. (Vallee 84)
The process of distillation eventually spread from Italy to Northern Europe. Hieronymus Brunschwig described this process in detail in his book Liber de arte distillandi, the first printed book on distillation. By the time he was a best-selling author, distilled alcohol had a split personality as nourishing food, beneficent medicine, and a harmful drug. The drinking of spirits followed the bouts of plague, especially the Black Death. Alcohol, completely ineffective as a cure, was used to make the victims feel relatively better. No other substance could do even that much. (Vallee 84)
Economic recovery following the plague throughout Europe generated higher standards of luxury and increased urbanization. People of this time witnessed unparalleled display of, gluttony, self-indulgence and inebriation.
Despite the obvious negative effect of drunkenness, and despite attempts by authorities to curtail drinking, the practice continued until the beginning of the 17th century, when nonalcoholic beverages made with boiled became popular, said Bert Vallee, Doctor.
Coffee tea and cocoa began to break alcohol s monopoly on safe drinking water. (Vallee 84)
I have learned quite a lot on the subject of beer. To my surprise there was a wealth of information on the subject. My job shadow also provided me with much information on the brewing process. I now know that beer most likely originated in Sumeria about thirteen thousand years ago after the early nomadic people started to farm grains. I know that Egyptians were also brewers, using bread for the starch instead of grain. An interesting thing I found in my research was that hops, a main ingredient in beer, was once illegal to grow or posses. Another item I found interesting was that since water in the middle ages was mostly stagnate and since there wasn t any way to filter water beer was made as the daily drink for hydration. Brewing has come a long way to where it is today. Early brewing was literally hit or miss. Unknowingly the brews of old relied on stray yeast particles in the air to ferment their beer. Different yeast s can change the flavor of beer. It wasn t until a Danish scientist, Christian Hansen, isolated a single yeast cell. Also, refrigeration was a key factor in the success of brewing. I have learned a lot from my job shadow at Portland Brewing Co. I know how the brewing process works and what happens in each step. The research I did was beneficial to me I have learned quite a lot about brewing. I know enough to say that this most likely will not be my career of choice. The money isn t great you wouldn t make much starting out, and even the master brewer doesn t make that much either, somewhere in the range of forty-five thousand to sixty thousand if you are really good. Although I probably will work as a brewer when I going to college because the hours a very flexible. Portland brewing has many brewers that come in and different hours of the day, which would be good while going to school.
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Carter, Rachelle. Consumption of Beer and Ale in the Middle Ages
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Vallee, Bert L. Alcohol in the Western World . Scientific America. June, 1998