Apparently, there have been several theories over the years that the main impetus for the development of agriculture was beer, not bread. Here's a longwinded article that looks at that theory, and a related article where the author tried replicating the beer of the ancient Sumerians.
Posted by Fatboy at January 13, 2004 11:57 AMI drank a Scottish Ale last night based on a 4,000 year old recipie (so it says, 2000 BC) where one of the main ingredients was pine needles. Seriously - it was a Scots Pine Ale or something. It is now after 3:00 and I can still taste fucking tree in my mouth. Screw old beer.
Didn't they find beer recipies where ingredients were like, urine and manure of priests and shit? Forget that. Screw old beer.
Posted by: Chris at January 15, 2004 03:14 PMThe recipe that the guy tried was pretty standard- just barley and wheat. The biggest difference I saw from modern beer is that it had no hops, which probably would have made it a little bland.
Posted by: Fatboy at January 16, 2004 05:38 PM