Who the heck invented Beer?
March 8th has been designated as the day that we celebrate women across the world. The best way to celebrate International Womens Day is to honor great women who contributed positively to history. What does that have to do with the invention of beer? You'll find out in another 300 words.
Now, before we can answer “who the heck invented beer?” It would be useful to answer “what, why and how the heck is beer?”
What the heck is beer?
Beer is a lovely concoction of brewed cereal grains (rice, wheat, barely etc.) That goes through a fermentation process that creates alcohol and fizz (carbonation for the nerds.)
Why was beer invented?
The most popular theory is that beer was created out of necessity. Evidence suggests beer has been around since 10,000 B.C, with the first recorded evidence coming from 3500-3100 B.C. This recorded evidence comes from the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (modern day Iran.) Water wasn’t known for being clean in ancient times. As a result, people had to boil their water before drinking.
How was beer invented?
The story goes that a Sumerian priestess (name unknown… thanks a lot, history) decided to boil water and add cereal grains for nutritional purposes. This priestess was trying to create the ultimate power drink for the every-day-Sumerian who was too busy to work and chew food. During the process, fermentation took place and created that sweet nectar known as beer. Beer was cleaner than water, and provided daily nutrients. A win-win, really.
Wait, so who exactly invented beer?
Unfortunately, no one knows exactly who first invented beer. It’s almost universally agreed upon that it was a Sumerian woman like described above. There are epic Sumerian poems honoring the goddess Ninkasi and attributing the invention of beer to the goddess Ninkasi. Whether Ninkasi was a real person, or a fictional god, or both, is up to you to decide. Please consider the following: the last time you had your favorite beer, did it not taste like the sweet nectars of the gods?
Yeah. Thought so.
