History and production of beer

This is not what I'm searching for. Written on 30-04-2010 by Loretta

Beer is a alcoholic drink, made out of water, hop, malt, and yeast. It is a popular drink, which people drink on parties, but also in bars and restaurants.

History

It is not entirely clear who invented the first beer. With the use old clay tablets, it was found out that beer is already ages old. Presumably, the Sumerians were the first beer brewers. They invented beer approximately 6000 years ago in Mesopotamia. The Sumerians first baked bread, which they subsequently soaked in water. By this process, a batter emerged that became yeasted. Next, a flavour was added, such as honey or some herbs.

The old Egyptians also drank beer. In the time they lived there were already about 14 sorts of beer known. The old Egyptians regarded beer as an elevated good, so very often it was used as an offer for the gods. Likewise, when people got buried after they died, a big jar of beer accompanied them into their graves, for they believed it would be very miserable if one was not able to enjoy a nice beer in the hereafter. Hundreds of years later, the recipe for beer fell into Roman hands. However, they had a different view of beer. They were much more contented with a good glass of wine. The Celts and Germans however, were great fans of beer. They found out that instead of bread, also cereal seeds could be used to brew beer.

In the 19^th century, the Frenchman Louis Pasteur did a huge discovery for the process of brewing beer. He explained how a process of yeasting operated, the process by which alcohol emerges. Besides that, he discovered that with heating up to 70 degrees, bacteria got killed. This way, the drink could be preserved longer. This heating process is also called pasteurising.

But even before the discovery of Pasteur, the method was used already, though somewhat different, in a town called Pilsen, in the Czech Republic. They made use of a process called ‘top fermentation yeasting’. The yeasting mass lies on top of the brew in this process. The drink was not always stable of quality, and looked very blurred. This led the brewers from Pilsen to an idea: they stored the beer in cool cellars, giving the yeast the time to sink to the bottom. Now, the clear, blond beer came into being. This beer was a great success. And up to this day, Pilsener beer is still consumed.

Production of beer

The United States are at the top of biggest beer producing lands. Second place is China, followed by Germany, Brazil, and Japan. The Netherlands are on the 11^th place in the list. Although The Netherlands do not appear in the top five of producents of beer, yearly, each person drinks as much as 84 litre. However, compared to the Czech this is nothing: yearly they consume 160 litre each.