Barley, Beer and the Dawn of Civilization

The rise of the human civilization started about 12 000 years ago when agriculture developed. There is a theory that beer is at the origin of the Neolithic revolution that started when plants got domesticated. Indeed, there is evidence that the barley plant, whose grain gives beer, was one of the first plants to be domesticated from its wild relative Hordeum spontaneum. Archeologists have also found remains of beer on ancient vases proving the existence of the drink at the very first stage of civilization.

The barley plant and its grains

http://mashbang.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/barley-hanging-on/

Agriculture and the Neolithic Revolution

http://www.myhistro.com/story/neolithic-revolution/13833#!early-agriculture-in-the-middle-east-30618

The discovery of beer was no more than an accident when barley grains were malted by the rain and then turned into beer. From that time on, beer became indispensable and barley had to be cultivated, ending hunter-gathering in the Levant and leading to a cascade of events and inventions.

Some beers

http://www.foodsci.wisc.edu/extension/brewing_beer_styles/

Agriculture led to a sedentary lifestyle and the domestication of the surrounding environment. It also had a social impact; the population could now grow and new political and hierarchical orders evolved. Much more came from the domestication of barley such as, trade, writing, art and mathematics that truly changed the world.Barley is also at the heart of the English measurement units. For example, an inch is equal to three grains of barley placed one after the other. We also owe the pyramids to beer since the workers who built them were paid with the popular drink.

More recently, beer has played a very important role in the discovery of germ theory by Louis Pasteur during the 19^th century and is responsible for the medicine that we have today. Beer also instigated the invention of refrigeration and the end of child labor. Today it remains one of the most popular drinks in the world as for example, in 2012, 55.1 billion gallons of beer were sold in the US and tens of thousands of brands of beer exist around the world. And barley remains the fourth most important cereal after wheat, rice and corn. If it weren’t for barley, our world, as we know it, would probably not exist.

Different beer brands 

http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2012/04/building-a-successful-global-beer-brand/

Relevant sites

http://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/barley-february-grain-of-the-month

http://www.academia.edu/1662242/Barley_Malt_and_Ale_in_the_Neolithic_Near_East_10_000_-5000_BC

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/beer1.htm