A Storm Is Brewing Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cuneiform

Cuneiform is considered to be the earliest form of writing known to man. It dates back to the Sumerian civilisation (4500-1900 BC) centred around Mesopotamia. Noted for its wedge shaped letters, hundreds of thousands of cuneiform written tablets have been unearthed by archaeologists in modern times. Found among these ancient recordings are various recipes for brewing beer.

This indicates that if these recipes were put into writing by the date indicated on the tablets, the actual art of making this drink would have existed some time prior to that.

Historians have noted that although the ancient Sumerians were indeed the first to put beer brewing recipes into writing some 6,000 years ago, chemical analysis of ancient pottery jars reveal that the art of brewing was known in ancient Iran one thousands year prior to this.

Answer: Yes

Deities associated with the brewing profession in ancient Sumeria guaranteed the social standing of the brewer and offered that person divine protection. These included Ninkasi (Sumerian high priestess and goddess of beer and other alcohol), Siris (another goddess, whose name itself was a synonym for beer) and Siduru (the goddess associated with the actual enjoyment of the amber fluid). Perhaps you are puzzled as to this excess of goddesses? This is because beer brewing was a task that women were closely associated with over time, back then and later in pre-industrialised nations. American's Carrie Nation (1846-1911) would no doubt be shocked to learn of that.

She was one very radical proponent of the temperance movement in that country and famous for attacking with a hatchet many places that sold alcohol to the public. You may be interested in looking up a photograph of that determined woman in Wikipedia. If any thirsty gentlemen saw her approaching his drinking hole with her hatchet, he'd probably convert to drinking water immediately.

Answer: Cereal

Because it was known that any cereal was capable of spontaneously fermenting, simply due to yeast spores in the air, historians believe that many early societies developed the use of cereals in the brewing process independently of one another - ie, not from knowledge gleaned via trade routes and so on.

It is also suggested that once a society moved from being hunter-gatherers to settlement and domestication of cereal crops, this was followed shortly afterwards with the development of the brewing process. Hopefully this was only of secondary importance in the life span of early man and not its main focus.

Answer: Bread

Along from using barley in its grain form in making beer, bread made from barley was also quite commonly used in the manufacture of early beer in the early civilisations that sprang up around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. No doubt this added a different flavour to the beverage.

A 3,900 year old copy of an ancient poem dedicated to the goddess Ninkasi (the deity responsible for beer production) gives a glowing testimony to this barley bread drink. A slight dob of strawberry jam would have topped it off nicely as well, don't you think?

Answer: Monasteries

Although beer brewing was usually a home craft for very many centuries following its early use by mankind, it was also produced on a somewhat larger scale by the later European monasteries as well. Those establishments began to make their appearance throughout the European world from the time of the Greek saint, Pachomius (292-348).

He initiated the concept of monks combining to live and work in the one establishment instead of the previous solitary lives led by hermits and earlier cenobites. It is thought that he may have based this concept on the Roman barracks in the time period in which he lived.

Initially the beer brewed in early monasteries was for the use of the monks and deputies who ran the monasteries only, but this evolved into being manufactured for travellers in search of food and shelter, and, by default, a source of finances for the monasteries as well.

This of course was nothing like the impact that the much later Industrial Revolution (circa 1760 onwards in Europe) would have on the brewing process and output.

Answer: Medicine

Dating back some 5,000 years, archaeologists have identified jars in the tomb of one of Egypt's earliest pharaohs, Scorpion I, to have contained, along with beer, various herbs used for medicinal purposes. These early people, who led the world in so much important knowledge at one time, knew that alcohol, apart from its enjoyable effects, was also an effective antiseptic, and, taken in sufficient quantities, had anaesthetising abilities - thus enabling early surgical procedures to be carried out. From there, this knowledge travelled outwards to the Greek and Roman worlds and thus to the rest of Europe.

The famous 13th century philosopher and alchemist, Roger Bacon (circa 1219/20-1292) would say in a 1683 later translation of his writings (available at the British Royal College of Physicians) that alcohol could "...preserve the stomach, strengthen the natural heat, help digestion, defend the body from corruption, (and) concoct the food till it be turned into very blood...". He also, however, did take the time to warn against its over consumption, a fine piece of advice, one suspects, that was thoroughly ignored by its consumers.

His exact all too true words in that regard were "If it be over-much guzzles, it will on the contrary do a great deal of harm: For it will darken the understanding, ill-affect the brain... beget shaking of the limbs and bleareyedness."

Answer: Most water was polluted and unsafe to drink

As large numbers of the landless working class began to move into the cities seeking employment following the enclosure of common lands hitherto used by families for growing crops and so forth, and with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution already in place, those cities began to expand at an alarming rate. This massive growth saw accompanying problems of spreading slums, overcrowding, contaminated water, very poor sanitation and recurring and deadly outbreaks of cholera and typhoid as raw effluent made its way into the water systems. The taste and smell of same saw people, more often than not, quenching their thirst with the safer brews of the time which had undergone a boiling process in their manufacture. Even children were given a glass of ale or beer whenever a thirst arose and jugs of these fluids were a more than common sight on the table during any mealtime. It was a bandaid solution at best, and this over consumption of alcohol would go on, in London for example, to have deadly consequences within a few years.

Just to put things into perspective for you before you begin thinking that our forefathers were all a mob of drunks, about one billion people worldwide, even today, do not have access to safe drinking water, with more than five million deaths annually recorded as a result of consuming polluted water. The potential for a disaster on a massive scale was and still is unimaginable. So it is understandable the necessity for water's alternatives throughout history.

Answer: Water

Beer is the third most popular drink world wide after water and tea apparently. The major component of all three is...well, water. Water is a product that health authorities say we should be drinking around two litres a day. Heavy beer drinkers then could argue, with tongue in cheek, that they're simply looking after their health with their consumption of that amber fluid.

Common other ingredients in beer, apart from its major component of water, are hops and barley, but there are varieties to this in different countries world wide. This product has been valued by man to such an extent for thousands of years that the authorities in some ancient cities even paid their employees with several litres of beer a day as wages. Workers on the pyramids of Egypt, for example, were paid four to five litres per day. No doubt many a worker would have been quite happily passed out at the end of each day, quite oblivious to the fact that thousands of years of history were being erected all around him.

Answer: Clarifying agents

Clarifying agents act on beer to collect any remaining solids in the fluid from the brewing process, so that by the time the beer arrives in your glass, there are only imperceptible amounts left in its clear amber contents. They give the beer its typical clear and sparkling look, although it's doubtful whether any thirsty drinker pauses to rhapsodise over that after a hard day's work.

A given example of a clarifying agent in the encyclopaedia is isinglass. It is obtained from the bladder of fish. Oh, have I put you off your drink? It's not as bad as you think, however.

It's actually the swim bladders of fish that are the source of isinglass. These are a little like flotation devices. They contain gases which help keep the fish buoyant in the water.

Answer: Bricks

One of the final processes in the manufacture of many beers on an industrial level is filtering. This removes any last impurities that may be in the drink, and most of the yeast as well. Some companies even use sterile filters in this process to remove microorganisms, leaving you with one very healthy product - relatively speaking. All those filtered out products from the manufacturing process are then dried, packaged and sold as brewer's yeast. This is turned into products such as Vegemite, or utilised as poultry feed. Oh how wonderful. My favourite spread on toast is right up there with chook food.

On the other hand, the spent grain in the brewing process (mostly husks), is chocker block full of carbohydrates and protein. It is also resold and has quite an amazing number of uses. These include animal feed, fertilisers, making breads and flour, biogas (amazing isn't it?), as a base in which to grow mushrooms, and even in the manufacture of bricks! Brewing beer then, as you see, is much, much more than just admiring the froth on the top of a glass before you toss it back. It's a massive industry that feeds many other industries as well. So go ahead, lads and gals, knock yourselves out, and drink a brick or two.