Talk:History of beer/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Roman beer

"The Greeks later taught the Roman civilization the process of brewing" the article tells us in one place, but it also notes that the very word for beer itself comes to Latin from a Celtic source. Not everything came to Rome from Greece. --Wetman (talk) 22:27, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

Agreed, and along those lines, this article falsely states that the Romans gave knowledge of beer to germanic and british tribes. Not everything came to Europe from Rome either (as it would seem Encyclopedia Britannica would have us believe. Seems the Brits still style themselves as Romans). I'm going to remove that because the archaeological record clearly states otherwise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.64.218.144 (talk) 11:31, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

alcohol content over time

Has the usual alcohol content of the most popular varieties of beer been roughly constant over time? Nowadays I'd put it at between 4-5% ABV, would these figures have been similar in Medieval Europe? --86.28.246.176 (talk) 09:32, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

It's a good question - and we should include information about fluctuations in abv over time. We don't, of course, know the strength of early beers, as the strength wasn't recorded or even measured until fairly recently. However, by looking at brewery records of ingredients we can deduce strengths. Beers were often made quite strong by today's standards, but after the first running, a brewery would make several weaker beers from the same mash, and might then blend together the different strengths. Given that we are aware that people would drink beer in preference to water all day long (because beer was free from contaminents due to the brewing process) it is highly unlikely they would be drinking beers of the strength of 6% or 7% all day long - and, also, this would not be economical for the brewery. So it is likely that the everyday beer strength was actually quite low. But this is mainly conjecture, as we simply don't know! We do know that the average alcohol strength of beer in the UK was very low during the ealry 20th century for economic reasons, and that this tradition has largely remained. The strength is creeping up now due to the influence of lager imports from Europe. SilkTork *^YES! 10:30, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Interesting! thanks for the response. --86.28.246.176 (talk) 11:23, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

A Linear B Tablet from Heidelberg

Beware academic jokes! Thomas G. Palaima is a genuine Mycenologist, but A Linear B Tablet from Heidelberg is the kind of concoction that tickles the academic fancy. It was evidently created to amuse the conference-goers at the Aegaeum 5 conference in Heidelberg. Not a word of it is true. I have therefore removed the reference to it. --Genie (talk) 18:58, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Beer & History of Beer article

The "Beer" article states that the invention of beer goes back to 9500 BCE or so, while the "History of Beer" only states that the first written (cunieform) reference of beer was in Sumeria (Mesopotamia). Which of course was the earliest form of writing. I'm taking liberty of including what is referenced on the "Beer" article so that both pages are congruent with one another.JanderVK (talk) 23:49, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

Beer as a beverage is not mentioned in the Bible. I think this fact should be included, and if possible, explained. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.82.127.174 (talk) 14:38, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

--Actually, I believe it has been argued that beer IS mentioned in the Bible, and that some references to wine have been mistranslated. M. Homan talks about this in an article In Biblical Archaeology Review. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.94.45.94 (talk) 06:16, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Cuneiform Image

The image of the cuneiform tablet is upside down, and almost certainly came from the Sumerian city of Umma, and not Ur.

Bad math?

Maybe it is just me, but I do not see how these two quotes from different sections of the article can both be true.

"Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced about 3,500 BC in what is today Iran."

"Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced about 7,000 years ago in what is today Iran," — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.204.202.184 (talk) 17:39, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

History

Does notating where beer wasn't used really qualify as history? "In contrast to the Egyptians and Sumerians, 'beer never played an important role among the drinking customs of the land of Israel.' This is the current state of archaeology pronounced by the Jewish Museum, New York and Jerusalem, relating to the practices of Ancient Israelites.[citation needed]"

What does this line contribute to the article? It sounds fishy as well- why would a museum feel the need to state a negative regarding "current state of archaeology?" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.128.191.236 (talk) 07:27, 13 April 2013 (UTC)