10/31/14
Per. 7
Beers Course Throughout History
Beer is one of the world's oldest prepared beverages that originated in Mesopotamia at the Goldin Tepe in as early as 10000 BCE, when agriculture first developed, but we first see evidence of beer in paintings in Mesopotamia around 3500-3100 BCE, where cereal grains were first farmed. Beer was most likely discovered on accident through grains used for bread making that fermented. In early Mesopotamia, Beer was not just a drink, but a way of life to the people. Beer served a religious, social and monetary value to the people of Mesopotamia which majorly differed from the purpose and meaning of beer today. Today, beer is used as a social drink and a luxury, that not everybody has to have. Beer has had a major impact on history for over 5000 years and continues to be a major part in some people's life.
As I mentioned in my introduction to beer, beer in early Mesopotamia was a way of life, not just a luxury like it is today. People in ancient Mesopotamia enjoyed beer so much, that it was drank with every meal and was consumed by men, women and children alike. Beer was also used somewhat as a currency. Beer was used for barter and people were given a daily ration of beer depending on their social status. People also traded beer, especially with the Egyptians who traded beer for certain technological advancements of their own. Most importantly, beer was used as a social aspect. Sharing a beer in ancient Mesopotamia symbolized friendship and trust, and ultimately brought people closer together as neighbors and a community. Today, beer still serves as a social aspect in communities but not a religious or monetary aspect. We still see aspects if mesopotamian culture today, such as sharing a beer with somebody still symbolizes a level of friendship and trust.
Originally, beer was discovered by grains used to make bread that was left out, probably on accident, and fermented. The process of making, or brewing, beer in ancient Mesopotamia was taking grains like barley and putting them in a mash tub where the grains can mix with hot water before yeast is added for the fermentation process. Eventually, the solution is given flavor given flavor with bappir, which is essentially flattened grains, and mixed together to make beer. The Mesopotamia's used straws to drink the beer for two reasons. The first reason was so the leftover grains floating on the top of the water would not be ingested by the drinker. Secondly so a person can share their beer with another for a social or religious reason. Beer brewing today has a similar approach, but is more complex. The basic ingredient of beer, wort, is made of a mixture of grains and water, which is then heated until enzymes break down starches into sugars. Wort is what gives beer its basic flavor. The grains are washed away from the wort in a process called wort separation where the grain bed is used as the filter medium. Wort must then be cooled witch leads to dissolved oxygen acting as a catalyst or fermentation and yeast production. There is also a great deal of science behind this process and is much more complex than the ancient Mesopotamia's way of brewing.
In conclusion, beer has had a tremendous impact on history and continues to make history every day with new development of private breweries. Beer was used as a monetary, religious and social aspect that overall made Mesopotamia's legacy. Today beer still lives on as a social aspect and traditions originally seen in Mesopotamia are still used today. Even though beer was most likely discovered on accident, the Mesopotamia's pursued and perfected beer brewing until it was a focus in each and every individual's life. That same idea lived on today, more complex obviously, but still shows the basic ideas of beer brewing. I believe that beer has a very prominent future and will continue to serve as a way to bring people together. Without the creation of beer, Mesopotamia's legacy would not be remembered as it is now, and who knows what society would be like today without the social aspect of beer?
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