Beer History Essay

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Beer is one of the oldest and most popular beverages in the world. This alcoholic beverage is produced through the fermentation of grain. With a variety of different grains, yeasts, and techniques, brew masters are able to develop a variety of types and flavors. Over its thousands of years of existence, beer has been responsible for technological advancements that changed the entire world. This intoxicating beverage is seemingly a staple in the local bar/pub scene as well as many social gatherings all over the world. Beer is thought to be one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world. It is believed that the first occurrence of beer being brewed was some 10,000 years ago in early Mesopotamia. Beer immediately became a popular form of nutrition and safe drinking water. This would prove to be an essential trait of beer for time to come. It is because of these traits that monks began to brew beer in abbeys during the middle ages. In 1500, a breakthrough in beer making arose; lager beer is born in Germany. In 1516 the Germans develop a beer purity act which restricts the making of any “true beer” to hops, malted barley, water, and yeast. Less than ten years later beer makes its way to England which eventually brought it to the new world. It is there where the Native Americans teach settlers how to brew with corn. Beer was just as popular, if not more so, than it had ever been. By 1873 there were 4,131 breweries in America. Breweries thrived up until the prohibition of alcohol in 1919. By the end of prohibition many breweries closed or struggled to survive and failed. Larger breweries like Coors and Miller survived. By the 1970’s home and craft brewing became heavily popular which would spark a revolution in the micro-brewery business. As mentioned earlier, water, malt, hops and yeast are the four basic ingredients in beer. There 6 basic steps in the brewing

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