Archaeologica.org

Sumerians had concocted recipes for eight different beers made from barley and eight from wheat

Sounds like a microbrewery.

Wonder what kind of snacks they had to go along with their beverages.

Actually beer was not invented by anybody in the ancient world. Beer, as opposed to Ale, contains Hops, no Hops, then brewed grains are Ale.
In the UK the introduction of Hops into Ale was originally considered as an adulteration and punishable by law. Beer was reputedly introduced into the UK by the Dutch, and Beer and Ale are legal definitions in UK law for the two drinks.

Beer and Ale are legal definitions in UK law for the two drinks.

Same in Texas. Ale is allowed to be stronger.

Here's a tale to tell Charley. A statute of Edward the 4th (I think) was the first consumer protection law in history. Ale of course was safer to drink than water, (any excuse) and the statute laid down a test, the official tester sat in a patch of it wearing leather trousers, and apparently if he stuck to seat the Ale wasn't upto standard. As far as I know the story is true as it was in a book on the history of brewing from the middle ages till recently.

the official tester

Now, there's a job!

I might prefer drinking it to sitting in it, though.

Actually beer was not invented by anybody in the ancient world. Beer, as opposed to Ale, contains Hops, no Hops, then brewed grains are Ale.

Roy thats just the modern definition
here from a dictionary

beer
1. an alcoholic beverage made by brewing and fermentation from cereals, usually malted barley, and flavored with hops and the like for a slightly bitter taste.
2. any of various beverages, whether alcoholic or not, made from roots, molasses or sugar, yeast, etc.: root beer; ginger beer.

ale
1. a malt beverage, darker, heavier, and more bitter than beer, containing about 6 percent alcohol by volume.

so you don't need hops at all
its just a flavouring
You really shouldn't be complaining when you consider that all the taverns in ancient meso were subsidised by the state and the beer was free

better be careful though
public drunkeness was punishable by death

You really shouldn't be complaining when you consider that all the taverns in ancient meso were subsidised by the state and the beer was free

Now that's a government I could support.

better be careful though
public drunkeness was punishable by death

Ha! Or maybe not.

Well, every job has it's down side.

Back to "Erectus Ahoy", that voyage was supposedly made c800,000 ya. The Erectus fossil remains on the island dated from that old.

That really stretches my ability to believe it. The earliest date assigned to the use of fire is c 1 million ya. I wouldn't be too surprised to see the artifacts redated to around 500,000 yrs. at some point.

Ale of course was safer to drink than water, (any excuse) and the statute laid down a test, the official tester sat in a patch of it wearing leather trousers, and apparently if he stuck to seat the Ale wasn't upto standard.

Something to do with the consistency, maybe?

As Beag said, what a job!

well some of them were brewed with an extra ingredient that you don't get in any beer thesedays

now you know why these were invented in the middle east



just hope you're still drunk when theyre dragging you off to drown you in the river

For you Marduk.

PUBS.COM London Pubs Guide - BEER vs. ALE

London Pubs Guide

does it cover ancient mesopotamia then Roy ?
Belgian monks back in the dark ages first used hops in beer. Before that, they used stuff like wormwood, coriander, pine cones, allspice
but it was still Beer
you think rootbeer has hops in it ?
what about ginger beer ?

That really stretches my ability to believe it. The earliest date assigned to the use of fire is c 1 million ya. I wouldn't be too surprised to see the artifacts redated to around 500,000 yrs. at some point.

500,000 B.P., 800,000 B.P...what the heck.

well some of them were brewed with an extra ingredient that you don't get in any beer these days

Lol!

I actually take Marinol for PTSD, but only because Texas hasn't legalized medicinal herb. Chemists are very good these days, but sometimes it's hard to beat nature's work. Beats the hell out of taking Xanax or Clonazapam...suckers are evil. Addicting as all get out. My VA rep actual supports the Marinol choice, because it's friendlier.