JUST HOW AWESOME IS BEER? TAKE A STROLL WITH ME DOWN BREWING BEER’S MEMORY LANE! 7000 YEARS OF BEER BREWING
Hello, my people! Hope y’all are brewing well! Hopefully, if you’re reading this you are already acquainted with my material. WE LOVE BEER HERE! How could you not, right? It’s amazing stuff. The best drink on the planet, if you ask me.
I know not everyone agrees, but I think beer is above the rest when it comes to beverages.
Beer has been a beloved drink by all types of people throughout the ages. Beer has been consumed for thousands of years and there is no sign of people stopping anytime soon.
I thought it would be fun to brush up on our brewing history and take a stroll down the brew-memory lane together. So here we go!
**** HEY Y’ALL, I WANTED TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW THAT AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE I EARN A SMALL COMMISSION FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES YOU MAKE FROM MY LINKS. HOWEVER, THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY SUGGESTIONS OF WHAT I RECOMMEND FOR YOU TO USE. IF YOU DO DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE, OUR FAMILY HERE AT BREW WITH KITS WANTS YOU TO KNOW HOW MUCH WE VALUE YOUR SUPPORT. ****
Brew Timeline
As Far Back as 7000BC,
There are records of villagers in China making their own fermented drinks. These are the folks who originally got the party started. Cheers to our forerunners.
4000 BC-
Archaeological evidence has shone a light on the fact that people in ancient Mesopotamia have been drinking beer as far back a 6000 BC.
3000 BC-
It is recorded that people were drinking barley beers in the mountains of Iran. Beer recipes have even been found by the mummified Pharos in Egypt (thanks to Dogfish Head Brewery you can even try this resurrected recipe).
1,800 BC-
Mesopotamian Tablets relate to us a poem about the goddess of beer. This is the oldest surviving beer recipe. Here at BREW WITH KITS we salute the Mesopotamians for preserving this recipe. I am sure these guys never fathomed a day when people could make beer as easy as we do by using beer kits.
700 BC–
King Midas loves beer so much he is actually buried alongside his brew. Apparently, he wanted to be the life of the party in the afterlife and took some of his beloved beers with him when it was his time to go.
Some 2,700 years later you can go ahead and taste this brew thanks to Dogfish Head.
822 AD–
A huge year for all beer drinkers. This is the first recorded year which hops were added to the beer brewing process. Great idea, y’all.
A big thanks from a man who enjoys himself a hoppy beer!
1,000 AD–
What comes to mind when you think of the Medieval Times? Jousting, huge roasted turkey legs, and of course, big mugs of beer!
Because of the popularity of beer back then, how can you not think of beer while reminiscing about the medieval times? Besides the great taste of beer and its other effects on humans, beer was largely consumed because of its known effects to kill off diseases. With illnesses like the bubonic plague going around, it’s easy to see why people would have wanted to be frequently doing a little elbow bending down at the local pub.
Drink beer and live sounds like a good motto to me! L’chaim!!!!!
1040 AD–
Oh Yeah! This is the year that saw the first continuously operating brewery. The WEIHENSTEPHAN ABBEY BREWERY. All abbeys brewed their own beers for monks and for traveling pilgrims. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the oldest brewery and some of the best-brewed beers in the world have been made by “men of the cloth”.
It’s my conviction that God Himself has given beer to mankind to “gladen their hearts”, as the Bible tells us. How can you not appreciate the way these guys paved for us? I currently live overseas in a place where they still sell this stuff. Even after all these years they still haven’t lost their touch.
Keep up the good work!
1420 AD–
During this year Bottom-Fermented beers that we now call Lagers were discovered. This was purely by accident, though. I am sure no one since has objected to this fortunate discovery. This may be one of the tastiest accidents that have ever been made.
1516 AD–
The Bavarian Purity Law was passed. According to the Duke of Bavaria’s law of the land, no beer in his realm could contain anything other than 3 ingredients. These ingredients were Barley, Hops, Water, and later added in Yeast. Seems like this Duke was bierernst (beer serious) about good beer.
While some German brewery may feel hamstrung today, I am sure this law was passed with the best intentions to keep good beer good and to help newer brewers to produce only good beer.
With all the craziness of the American “Craft” brew scene and the proverbial “Jumping the Shark” thereof, one wonders if it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to start heading back to the simplicity of this law as a general rule of thumb.
1553 AD–
I appreciate this date. It is the year Alexander Norwell figured out Ale stored in a glass bottle sealed with a cork lasts longer. Ain’t nobody dope as Alexander’s beer. It was so fresh, so clean (so fresh and so clean, clean)!
Here is the 1st record of beer being bottled. Alexander you da man and your work is still being appreciated by us all today.
1721 AD-
The year that the Porter is first mentioned.
The Porter is a dark, strong, tasty, beer that has its origins in London. Porters were the rage of the 18th century in London. Visitors were recorded saying that the Porter was London’s “universal cordial of the populace.”
In plainer words, The London Porter is the bomb and all of England knows it. I have never been to London, but the London Porter’s charm is not lost on me.
1750 AD-
Not so sure this was the best year for beer all around. This date marks the year where beer production moved from domestic to the industrial manufacturers.
*If you have read any of my other blogs, I am sure you are aware that this blog practically exists to reverse what happened during this year. It is about time for the beer making baton to be handed back from the big industrial cats to the domestic brewer again.
Here at BREW WITH KITS, we are doing exactly that with every batch we brew.
1810 AD-
The first ever Octoberfest took place during this year! It was to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (fake name? Just kidding, I am sure that was his real name) and Princess Therese of Saxe Hildburghausen.
It was that epic of a party that it has been celebrated every year since. The saying should really be “Tonight we are going to party like its 1810!”
1817 AD-
In this year D. Wheeler invented the drum roaster. This opened up the options to add dark, roasted malts to beer. I may be biased because my last name is Wheeler, but wow, what a genius! Great inventions guy.
1820 AD-
A year in which a new type of beer was created by G. Sedlmayr. He made a Pale Lager by mixing brewing techniques for Pale Ale and Lagering together.
Personally, my favorite style of beer is a Pale Ale and I thoroughly enjoy a good Lager. Just thinking about this combination has got my mouth watering for this delicious beer combo.
1822 AD-
Samuel Allsopp is asked by The East India Trading Company to begin brewing an India Ale. In Burton-on-Trent, in the English Midlands, where the water seems to be a miraculous gift from God to beer brewers.
Here this English town became the epicenter of Indian Pale Ales.
Click here to check out this great article on the brewing history of Burton.
1883 AD-
Emil Christian Hansen isolates a pure cell of yeast. Click here to read more about who he was and what he did for the beer drinker’s world. It’s really amazing to think that before this date there was not a single healthy yeast strand to brew beer with.
Kit brewers as ourselves are so blessed to be able to pitch a healthy yeast strand into our beer kits. It is so easy to forget that this has not always been the case.
1842-
Brewed by a Bavarian named Josef Groll from Bohemia for the first time on October 5, 1842, the world’s first Golden Pilsner is made in the Czech Republic.
People of the city of Pilsen (Plzen), tired of the dark, crap beer they were getting from the municipal brewery, revolted by dumping out barrels in front of town hall. That is when Josef Groll broke the status quo by brewing the 1st golden beer, the “pilsner”. Groll’s new golden “pilsner” beer was made using slightly roasted, light malts, which gave it its color and by using the bottom-fermented technique that we learned about earlier.
Thanks to a bunch of disgruntled beer drinkers, now two-thirds of all beers worldwide are pilsners. Think about what can be accomplished when the “powers that be” are challenged.
1920-
The U.S.A. prohibition was set in place.
BOOOOO BBBBBOOOOOO BBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This year was without a doubt a 100% massive bummer for beer lovers inside the US. The Prohibition placed a ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of all alcoholic drinks.
As a U.S. citizen, even as I am writing this article, I am seriously having a hard time believing that this actually happened. What in the name of everything that is good and holy could have possessed the government to think this was actually a good idea? Can someone please explain to me how anyone could have thought that prohibiting alcohol consumption is anywhere in-line with what our nation’s founding fathers would consider as freedom?
Sure glad that this wild hair on someone butt got plucked and it only remains as a dark shadow over our beer drinking history as a nation.
1933-
Prohibition Lifted. Thank you, Lord! That must have been a rough 13 years for beer drinker in the U.S. Thanks to his anti-prohibition campaign during the 1932 election cycle, final victory for the American beer lover came with the ability to “stick it to the man” that was keeping them down when FDR won the presidency.
Take that, Uncle Sam! We want beer, not some big government telling us what we can and can’t drink!
1935-
The beer world is introduced to cans. During this year in the U.S., The Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company produced the first can of beer. I for one really enjoy a cold one in a can on a nice hot summer day.
Here’s to you Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company, L’chaim!
1953-
M. Coutts created continuous fermentation. Not by any means the most preferred method of brewing. This method is still regularly used commercially by New Zealand Breweries.
More info on this brewing method here.
1975-
Anchor’s Liberty Ale hits the shelves this year setting the modern craft beer scene in motion. This hoppy ale was just the beginning of the new craft brew revolution that has swept the western world since.
I owe thanks to this forefather of the craft for setting in motion the death of crap beer in my life.
1989-
Plastic widget discs are introduced in cans to give a smooth head when poured out.
2010-
The monster 55% abv ale called “The End of History” is brewed. This is said to be the strongest beer ever to be brewed to date. At 55% abv, after finishing “The End of History” you will find your self at the end of your night.
Hopefully, before the end of history, I will get to try this killer abv beer.
2018-
The Creation of Brew With Kits. I created this blog to help beer lovers everywhere like yourselves to realize that YOU CAN BREW IT!
You really can brew your own great tasting beer for your self at home using a beer kit. It’s cheap and super easy. GO ahead and give it a try.
There you go. A brief and by no means all-encompassing jog down beer brewing’s memory lane.
For a quicker reference or even a cool poster of most of this information, check out these sources I drew my material from here
For a more in-depth and extremely detailed overview of all things, homebrew check out this book.
Until next time remember that
YOU CAN BREW IT!
Peace out, y’all!
Join the Brew with kits easter egg contest READY BREWER ONE today!