THE BREWSPAPER / WORLD’S OLDEST BEER

Carving found in Shaanxi, China revealed it is a 5,000 year old recipe for beer.

Although only one-tenth of the land in China is suitable for agriculture, they have used this land with the highest efficiency possible for more than 10 millennia.

China was the first to develop row-crop farming, irrigation control and the iron plow.  Contrary to what most people think, for much of their history, millet was a more important crop than rice.

Millet was being grown as early as 10,300 years ago in Northern China.  Its tolerance to drought and poor soils has made it a favored crop in Africa and Southeast Asia.  In the USA, millet is most frequently seen being sold as birdseed, but it is a versatile grain which was used to make the oldest noodles ever discovered, 4,000 year-old pasta from the Laija archaeological site, and the oldest liquid beer ever discovered, a millet and rice beer preserved inside a 3,000 year-old sealed bronze vessel from a Shang Dynasty tomb.

To learn true stuff about the roots of beer in the ancient world, San Diego Museum of Man’s current “Beerology” exhibit offers other intriguing beer centric stories, including ancient artifacts that reveal the links between beer and culture.

Craft beer has roots.  It reflects the foundations of civilization.

“Beerology,” The Exhibit is linked with occasional live beer pairings at the venerable Balboa Park museum (under the California Tower).   For info and beer tasting dates check in at http://www.museumofman.org/exhibits/beerology/

“Beerology” at the San Diego Museum of Man closes in February, 2017.