BEER

Beer is one of the most popular drinks in the world – and history tells us this is nothing new: the earliest written records of humanity, dating back more than 5,000 years ago to Mesopotamia, contain references to barley, malt and beer. However, there is much to suggest that the oldest brewing processes took place far earlier, when intoxication and rituals were still closely linked. In this book, Martin Zarnkow and Franz Meußdoerffer have interwoven the diverse cultural, social, religious, economic and historical legal aspects of the art of brewing and beer into a fascinating and informative account. They offer a concise yet comprehensive and entertaining overview of the many thousands of years of beer history. In addition, they clearly explain how beer is brewed, what raw materials are required, and the processes they have to go through before you can enjoy a good beer. Anyone reading this book will quickly appreciate that drinking beer makes them part of a rich cultural tradition and why it is worth preserving this tradition in all its diversity.