The menu listed an astonishing selection ranging from the tavern's own micro-brew "with a hint of raspberry" to the thin watery beers popular in the USA to the opaque chocolate milk stouts of England.

Confronted with the vast variety and wishing to make an informed choice of a novel experience for his palate, the traveler asked the bartender for a recommendation. The young woman gestured to an elderly man sitting at a quiet corner table, and said, "Ask him. He knows his beer."

The gentleman inquired of the man's tastes and finally suggested a mid-blonde hybrid. The beer came with a half inch head of bright white foam and the body color of late summer sunshine. He gulped and sighed.

"Nothing like a good beer," the old gent said.

The ancient Sumarians would have agreed. As early as 4000 BC, they had discovered the fermentation process and may have begun to domesticate grains. In an early tale of how civilization evolved, man was described as shaggy and unkempt creatures that ate grass and pilfered milk from wild animals. One of these beasts challenged Gilgamesh, a demi-god, to a battle of strength. Gilgamesh sent one of his wives to seduce Enkidu and learn his secrets. She, despairing of bedding such a filthy being, introduced him to bread and beer. He drank deeply of the brew and his heart soared. In this euphoria, he bathed - and became human.

When Sumaria collapsed, the Babylonians rose. They had learned the technique of beer making from the earlier culture. Hammurabi, a powerful king, had set his mind to codifying the laws of the time. One of these laws insured his subjects of a daily measure of beer, depending on their social standing. In those days, beer was exchanged for the barley to make more and it was illegal to sell the brew for silver. Serving poor quality beer was also a crime, punishable by drowning.

In Egypt, women used the same dough for brewing beer as for baking bread. This process is still practiced among the Fellahs, peasants living along the Nile. Dates were added to improve the flavor. So important was the art of beer brewing that the scribes instituted a new hieroglyph for 'brewer'.

In Italy, where grapes could be cultivated, wine replaced beer in the homes of urban Romans. Only in the rural areas did the old beverage still hold sway. Far north of Rome, where grapes could not grow, barley thrived in the cool Germanic climate. From about 800 BC, the Germans have brewed beer. They established the first purity laws and uphold these rules to the present day. As with most of the early cultures, the brewing of beer, like the baking of bread, was considered a woman's province. Only since the Middle Ages, when Christian monks cloistered in large monasteries, did brewing become a man's work.

The monks began brewing beer for its nutritive value. Beer, a liquid, was permitted during fasting and was a nourishing, pleasant addition to an otherwise frugal diet. Eventually, these monastery breweries began to surpass their internal demands and sold the excess to nearby towns. The demand increased and local, non-monastic breweries evolved. Sovereigns quickly took advantage by taxing the product, which was an unpopular but effective way to fill their coffers. Exceptional brew-masters were often hired by local monarchs to make the middle-ages version of private label microbrews.

The process was refined over the years, but was still dependent on seasons and the happenstance of a bit of yeast drifting into the vat at the right moment. Four men of sciences unrelated to brewing - James Watt, Louis Pasteur, Christian Hansen, and Carl von Linde - introduced the steam engine, pasteurization, artificial culture media capable of supporting yeast, and mechanical cooling and revolutionized the technique during the 18th and 19th centuries. Beer became very similar to the product we know today.

Historians believe that beer may have sustained our forefathers through hard times, prevented scurvy and other diseases of poor nutrition during migrations and long voyages of discovery, and provided a source of pure hydration during periods of rampant water and well pollution.

Beer is "in" again. Jimmy Carter legalized home brewing in the USA and opened the floodgates for every tavern owner to indulge in his own special blend. Presidents and kings, celebrities and celebrants are favoring beer over wines, cocktails, and liquors. As it was, it is again.

Experiencing a renaissance in popularity for its earthy flavor, beer is at the forefront of new discoveries in healthy living. Moderate alcohol consumption appears to reduce the risk of heart disease, cataracts, cancer, respiratory disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, digestive ailments, Alzheimer's, tremors, kidney and liver disorders and circulatory problems, including erectile dysfunction, stroke, thrombosis.

People who report consuming moderate amounts of alcohol also live longer than those who drink heavily or not at all, though no expert suggests that people should begin drinking as a result of these findings. Only smoking cessation has a greater impact on the participants' health and well-being. Binge drinking doesn't have the same health payback and heavy drinking has entirely different set of risks.

Rich in antioxidants, beer has the same benefits as wine and spirits. Unlike wine and spirits, however, beer is a nutritious beverage and doesn't contribute mere empty calories. Like milk, beer is full of trace vitamins and amino acids. Beer, though, is cholesterol and fat-free, sodium-poor, fiber-rich and better tolerated intestinally by adults than milk.

Beer is multicultural. From the tribesmen of Africa, to the polite societies of the Far East, to the bitter cold yurts of Tibet, to the native cultures of the Americas, beer brewers are well regarded and the beverage lauded.

Whether sipped through filtration straws or gulped from steins, whether aged in oak barrels or aluminum casks, beer has been on the menu as long as man has been civilized. Perhaps, as the Sumarians believed, discovering beer made man reach for the trappings of civilization, either by encouraging people to settle in one place to domesticate grain or by providing enough nutrition to permit higher thought.

Beer and bread have been the staples of life since ancient times and, maybe, the building blocks of civilization itself.

Take a sip of beer and sample a pint of history and a quart of health.

References:

Alcohol Problems & Solutions Site Alcohol & Health

Bavarian Brewery Technologies What Is Moderate Beer Consumption?

BBC News Online Beer keeps cataracts away

BBC News Beer may be good for you

Eat Online History of Beer

History of Beer.com The Story of Beer

MilkSucks.com (PETA) Got Beer? Better Than Milk!

Andrew Webber, Archaeology and the Bible Project Beer or Bread: Was Beer the First Great Cereal Food?

      Lisa Binkley works within the medical industry and is the popular author of this health series in the Kudzu Monthly. She serves as the fiction editor of this ezine, edits for the online sci-fi magazine Distant Worlds, and maintains her own site called Jolie Howard Fiction.
      As Lisa phrases it, "Woman, wife, worker, writer. We all wear many faces and fill our niches as best we can."

Images: Top: Pipe and Beer, Alexi Antonov, courtesy ArtPapa.com
Midarticle: Herzogliches Brauestueberl Tegernsee (Beer Garden), advertising poster, Ringberg, Germany, from the website of Dr. Thomas Herbst, Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Heidelberg
Lower: Yuengling Beer label, Tampa, FL

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