THE BARBARIAN’S BEVERAGE A History of Beer in Ancient Europe

THE BARBARIAN’S BEVERAGE

A History of Beer in Ancient Europe

Max Nelson

Beer is at present the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world, and

is the most popular drink after water and tea. Yet throughout the world pints

of ale and cans of lager are consumed with little thought of how such a beverage,

made from malted cereals, hops, yeast, and water (and sometimes other

ingredients as well) came to look and taste the way it does or even came to be

thought of the way it does. It is my intention here to show that much of this

was already formulated before

AD 1000, and not in Egypt or Mesopotamia, but

quite independently in Europe. But before embarking on our examination of

the history of beer in ancient Europe it is important first to pause to understand

what is meant by beer.