History of Beer
6000 B.C. – Pottery shard in Babylonia depicts brewing scene of stirring / skimming brewery vat.
Early thinking man (Homo Sapiens) developed malting grain and baking / brewing parallel
Egypt (Nile Valley) and Mesopotamians (Assyrians and Babylonians) of Tigres and Euphrates valleys
used barley, millet, wheat and spelt.
Egyptian Book of the Dead describes barley beer and its use in religious ceremonies.
Also used to fuel slaves and laborers. “Built the pyramids”
Egyptian beer called hequ or heqa.
Mesopotamians brewed until climate change rendered the delta lands arid. Gave first laws governing sale of alcohol. King Hammurabi (2000 BC) Abrahams time, chiseled in stone
Ancient Brewing – Definition of beer – 3 criteria
1 – Must have been brewed from small grains
2 – Procedure must include some malting
3 – Aqueous yeast alcoholic fermentation
Crushed grain was mixed with water and make into cakes, allowed to ferment then dried.
These were used as starters for subsequent batches. These could be used to make bread or beer.
Afforded nutrition by supplying b complex vitamins and protein residue. Was also more wholesome than water by sterilization. Alcohol and acidity made stable.
Grain Beers
Germination step = amylolytic enzyme development need to break down starch
Sorghum or kaffir in Africa
Bouza in Egypt as ancient as beer. Lightly baked loaf is prepared made of course ground wheat or milo
Bousa fermentation is initiated by mixing ground malt, crushed loaves and water I a container. Residue from another bouza fermentation is used as a starter. Ready in 24 hrs. Lactic acid bacteria join yeast.
Talla – Similar to bouza. Barley is cleaned, soaked drained and germinated in cool, clean.
Root bound mass is dried and stored. Barley and or other grains are ground, mixed with water and allowed to steep for 2 or 3 days. Then pieces of the dried barley cakes are crumbled into the mix.
This is heated quickly with some scorching with olive wood smoke. Can add hop leaves, stems, spices.
Germination step = amylolytic enzyme development need to break down starch
Greece and Rome
Greek –brytos, Roman – cerevisia. Classical explorer/writers recorded (Plineys, Herodotus and Tacitus)
Ancient Europe
Thraceans north of Greece 4000 yrs. Sythians (semi-nomadic) north of them, Germanic and Slavic tribes after them. All had brewing heritage.
Tribal Migrations in Europe
Celts migrated from Asia about 1000BC, Germanic tribes pushed them to Britain, Spain, France and Slavic tribes pushed them to Scandinavia, Germany, Holland and settled Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia.
Celts - cervesia, cerea and korma, Germans – beor or bior from latin bibere “to drink” and alo made from wheat and honey.
City states between Christ and 700ad
German – gau(province, shire) banded together under a Gaugraf or judge which led to nobility
In war a Herzog (duke) was chosen to lead the Heer (army)
Germans – beor or bior from latin bibere “to drink” and alo made from wheat and honey.
Rome continued to crumble and was forced to share space with the Germanic tribes. Roman Catholicism was adopted and resulted in a network of churches, abbeys and monasteries.
Ancient brewing process
Trade between city states led to larger brewing facilities and separation of malting from brewing.
Copper during the middle bronze age (2000BC) allowed for larger vessels.
Use of hops – cultivated in Greek and Roman gardens before 1000BC. Bohemian tribes probably used hops to flavor beer but no record.
Hops in Medieval brewing – St. Hildegard the abbess in a Benedictine convent. Wrote Physica Sacra a natural history book of plants which described health benefits of hops as well as the preservative effect on potable liquids. By her death in 1179 hop use in beer had spread throughout continental Europe.
Malt Production – Evidence of brewing malt production by 4000BC. Large wooden steeping tanks and floor germination turned by special rakes and forks. Prevalent by 500AD
Mashing – Scale up of mashing around 500AD
Wort clarification and boiling – No indication of boiling early on but clarification started around 500 AD because it prevented gushing and foaming of fermenting beer.
China – kiu from millet. Black millet for religious ceremonies vinuous
India – Anceint Aryans made sura2000BC, occupied Persia made hura
Africa – Northern tribes brewed bouza from wheat bread. Southern Bantu tribes brewed kafir or sorghum beer. Still popular.
Bouza - Barley is cleaned, soaked drained and germinated in cool, clean vessel.
Root bound mass is dried and stored. Barley and or other grains are ground, mixed with water and allowed to steep for 2 or 3 days. Then pieces of the dried barley cakes are crumbled into the mix.
This is heated quickly. Can add hop leaves, stems, spices.
Americas – 2-3k yrs before Columbus. Mexicans grew maize 7000 yrs ago. No record of beginning of fermented corn but Incas made chichi and sora. Aztecs made sendechoand Mayans made similar.
Brewing in Colonial America
Came from Europeans – Mexico City in 1544AD was the first. Hearth brewing done by many settlers in North American colonies
New Netherland – First set up by the West India Company (log house) 1612 AD
Public brewery built in 1632 by WIC in New York
Massachusetts – First brewery in English colonies by Captain Sedgewick and the Mass Bay Colony in 1637. Hoped to combat excessive use of liquor.
Pennsylvania – 1685 –Philadelphia by William Frampton
New Jersey – (New Sweden) 1698 Burlington, West Jersey
Maryland – Baltimore – 1744 – Globe brewery
Georgia – Oglethorp – 1740 to supply soldiers
Rhode Island – brewing tavern in 1639
New Hampshire – Samuel Wentworth – 1670
Malt produced in Conn and R.I. Much imported from U.K.
Molasses, sugar, corn meal, wheat bran, Jerusalem artichokes and persimmons used in beer.
Brewing in United States
First Congress in 1789 passed tax laws on the import of Ale, porter, beer, cider and rum.
James Madison implemented a light tax on beer and malt to root the industry and combat liquor consumption.
Pennsylvania had 5000 stills for 500000 people and were heavily taxed resulting in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1874
Breweries in U.S.
100 at the beginning of the 19th century
1900 at the end of the 19th century
1568 by 1910 (due to railroads, distribution etc)
1345 by 1915
<1000 by 1919 prohibition (18th amendment) Jan16th 1920 to Dec 5 1933 Volstead act repealed.
756 by 1934 repeal
714 by 1935 made 32Mbbls
605 by 1939
220 by 1962
55 by 1974 made 150M bbls
35 by 1982
26 by 1989 ((60 plants) Tax revenue in 1992 approx 3.6billion
Timeline of Brewing – America
1829 – Yeungling –PA
Early settlers – Hearth brewing
1612 - New Netherland – Log house – West India Co. – Adrian Block and Hans Christiansen
1632 – New York – West India Co. –
1637 – Massachusetts – Captain Sedgewick - Mass Bay Colony
1685 – Philadelphia
1683 – Private brewery of William Penn
1698 – Burlington West Jersey
1744 – Baltimore – Globe brewery
1740 – Georgia – Oglethorpe for troops
1639 – Rhode Island – Brewpub
1670 – New Hampshire – Samuel Wentworth
1800 - 100
1900 - 1900
1910 – 1568
1915 – 1345
1919 – less that 1000
1933 – 756
1935 – 750
1947 – 404
1958 – 211
1967 – 124
1975 – 57
1982 – 35
1989 – 26
1990 – 210
1992 – about 500
By 1982 90% of beer in the US was made by 6 companies in 32 plants (up to 19M bbls/ yr) Coors
99 licensed breweries made 177M bbls
10 major breweries made 175M bbls, smallest 20 made about 30K
Rebirth of Microbreweries
1990 20 breweries made 190M bbls
Late 1970s micros started and in 1990 190 made less than 300K bbls
By 1992 number of breweries was almost 500
Brewing in Canada
Quebec 1668 New France
1768 John Molson in Montreal oldest active brewery in N. America
Brewing in Mexico
1544 Don Alphonso de Herrera In the hacienda “El Portal” near Mexico City. Ill fated
Pulque was principal fermented beverage in Mexico till 19th century.
Central America
Costa Rica (1) 600K bbls
El Salvador (1) 600K
Guatemala (2) 800K
Honduras (1) 400K
Panama (2) 900K
Belize (1) 5K
West Indies
Barbados 1
Jamaica 1
Martinique 3
Puerto Rico 1
Trinidad 2
Total = 3M bbls
Curacao 1 50K
Surinam 1 50K
South America
Argentina 1 5M bbls
Bolivia 3 1M
Brazil 23 50M
British Guiana 1 100K
Chile 2 2.5M Southernmost brewery in hemisphere Punta Arenas Cerveceria Polar on Magellan sts
Colombia 3 15M
Equador 2 1.5
Peru 5 5M
Uruguay 2 .5M
Venezuela 7 10M
Classical beer types see attachment
built around sources of good water
Tesguino (latin America) some still brewed today
Zendecho is one. Maize kernals are malted in a dark place then ground. Water added then slurry boiled. Placed in clay pots and fermented with ale yeast. yeast not added.
Kvass is most beer like of the grain beverages. Made from malted barley and malted rye. Water and rye flour are added and the mash is boiled and cooled fro several hours. Boiling water is added to heat the slurry again and after cooling yeast is added. Finished product flavored with peppermint. Goes back as far as earliest beer.
Beer – like beverages
Japanese sake – rice wine. before fermentation, rice is subjected to an enzymatic digestion which breaks down the rice starch and protein. This produces fermentable sugars. Degradation of the proteins to simple amino acids and small peptides which the yeast uses to replenish itself. Enzymes are from a cultured fungus called Aspergillus oryzae instead of malted barley. Lactic acid micro-organisms lower pH
Chicha has unusual substitute for malt. Indians of the Andes region use amylase from the saliva of old women and children to convert the starch in maize. They chew up corn and make cakes which are dried and used later. Fermentation in 6 to 10 days with some starter from a previous batch (yeast)
Today malted maize is used instead of spit.
Tape ketan (Indonesia) is thick, paste-like product.eaten as dessert and alcoholic.
Ragi
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