{"id":225,"date":"2011-08-10T14:04:29","date_gmt":"2011-08-10T14:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/warrenmyers.com\/blog\/?p=225"},"modified":"2011-08-10T14:04:29","modified_gmt":"2011-08-10T14:04:29","slug":"a-history-of-brewing-and-distillation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merikebi.warrenmyers.com\/?p=225","title":{"rendered":"a history of brewing and distillation"},"content":{"rendered":"

{I am indebted to the wonderful work<\/a> of wikipedia<\/a> editors<\/a> and contributors<\/a> to find<\/a> original<\/a> sources<\/a> on much of this}<\/sub><\/sup><\/p>\n

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Brewing alcoholic beverages is known to have started with the Babylonians at least by the second\u00a0millennium\u00a0BC (3000-4000 years ago). Some\u00a0archaeological\u00a0evidence puts production in ancient Mesopotamia<\/a> as early as 5400 BC. The Code of Hammurabi<\/a>\u00a0had regulations surrounding beer and beer parlors. There was a Mesopotamian goddess of beer, Ninkasi<\/a>. There are written records of beer in ancient Egyptian texts.<\/p>\n

The oldest brewery in Europe is the Weihenstephaner<\/a> abbey brewery, which has been in operation since 1040.<\/p>\n

In 1516 (with an origination in 1487) the\u00a0Reinheitsgebot<\/a><\/em> was passed in Bavaria.<\/p>\n

Distillation of alcohol spread to\u00a0Europe\u00a0via the Moors in the 800s. Distillation was written about by Greek alchemists<\/a> in the first century AD, and by the 12th century, whisky was being produced in Ireland and brandy in Germany.<\/p>\n

Wine<\/a>\u00a0(originally, and most commonly, fermented grape juice) is spoken of throughout the Bible<\/a>;\u00a0archaeological\u00a0evidence also supports wine production back to the earliest days of civilization.<\/p>\n

Alcohol has been produced for a variety of reasons:<\/p>\n