Pliny the Elder Describes Grain Beers in Gaul and Spain

Around 77 CE, the Roman author Pliny the Elder described grain-based alcoholic drinks in Book Fourteen of his Natural History. He wrote that the western provinces produced intoxicants from grain soaked in water and specifically identified Gaul and Spain as regions with several local varieties made according to the same basic principle. Pliny also observed that brewers in the Spanish provinces had developed drinks capable of being stored for extended periods. His account does not provide a complete brewing method, and it reflects a Roman literary culture that generally treated wine as the preferred drink. Nevertheless, it documents the continued importance and regional diversity of grain beer within the western Roman provinces.