Beer History Storyline
Early Beer History
Follow brewing from prehistoric fermentation and ancient production sites to the written, administrative, and legal beer cultures of the ancient world.
Chronological milestones
Sources and further references are available on each individual event page.
c. 11,000 BCE
Raqefet Cave Preserves the Earliest Known Evidence of Cereal Beer Brewing
80th century BCE
People at Shangshan Brew a Rice-Based Fermented Beverage
3600s BC
Large-Scale Brewing Develops at Hierakonpolis
3400 BC
Barley Beer Is Produced at Godin Tepe
3100 BC
Beer Rations Enter Mesopotamian Administration
3000 BC
An Industrial-Scale Brewery Operates at Abydos
2600 BC
Beer Sustains Workers in Old Kingdom Egypt
2000 BC
Egyptian Tomb Models Document Brewing Techniques
1800 BC
The Hymn to Ninkasi Describes Mesopotamian Brewing
1750 BC
The Code of Hammurabi Regulates Female Tavern Keepers
500 BC
Celtic Brewers Malt Barley at Hochdorf
440 BC
Herodotus Describes Egyptian Barley Beer
77
Pliny the Elder Describes Grain Beers in Gaul and Spain
98
Tacitus Describes the Beer of the Germanic Peoples
301
Diocletian’s Price Edict Sets Maximum Prices for Beer
8th century
Fermented Maize Drinks Are Placed in Elite Tombs at Copan
800
The Capitulare de Villis Requires Skilled Brewers for the Royal Court
825
The Plan of Saint Gall Includes Three Bake-and-Brew Houses
1266
The Assize of Bread and Ale Regulates English Ale Prices