Brief History of Beer

4300 BC		Babylonian clay tablets from this time depict brewing and show detailed recipes for beer. Beer was produced in large quantities and there were about 20 varieties. Royal decree stipulated the proportion of water and grain to be used in brewing. Beer was also popular in ancient Egypt where it was brewed commercially.
2300 BC		There is evidence that the Chinese brewed a form of beer ("kiu").
1600 BC		An Egyptian text from this period contains 100 medicinal prescriptions that call for beer.
1200 AD		Beer-making is firmly established as an important commercial enterprise in Germany, Austria and England. Commercial brewing grew significantly in the next several hundred years with the rise of great brewing houses, first in Germany and then in Great Britain.
1420		German brewers begin to make lager. In years to come, in England, ale (a top-fermenting malt beverage) was the beer of choice, while in Germany, lager (a bottom-fermenting beer) was the favorite. The production of lager, which requires a longer and colder fermentation process than ale, was well suited to Germany where the beer could be stored, even through the summer months, in ice-cold caves in the Alps.
1516		Germany's "Reinheitsgebot" purity law takes effect (it states that the only ingredients permitted for brewing beer are water, malted barley, malted wheat and hops).
1602		Dr. Alexander Nowell discovers that ale will keep longer if stored in glass bottles, sealed with corks.
1620		The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock, bringing beer with them.
1623		The New World's first commercial brewery is built in Manhattan.
1786		Molson, the oldest surviving brewery in the New World, is founded.
Late 1700s		Many of the American colonists and Founding Fathers, including William Penn, Samuel Adams, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, brew their own beer.
1788		Ale is proclaimed "the proper drink for Americans" at a huge parade in New York City.
1789		In the first year in which the U.S. Constitution is effective, James Madison proposes in Congress that a duty of 8 cents per barrel be levied on malt liquors in the hope "that this low rate will be such an encouragement as to induce the manufacture of beer in every State in the Union."
1810		Oktoberfest is established in Munich as an official citywide celebration.
1842		The first clear, golden-hued lager is produced in the town of Pilsen in Bohemia. (The town was granted brewing rights by King Wenceslas in 1295.)
1850s		The modern era of brewing in the U.S. begins to take shape as German immigrants bring a love of lager and the technological expertise to make it to their new land. By the late 1800s, aided by the development of commercial refrigeration, automatic bottling and pasteurization, the modern era of big brands is in full swing. Brewers like Adolphus Busch and Frederick Pabst were able to make and sell their beers nationally by the turn of the century, giving rise to America's great brewing dynasties.
1860s		The first federal excise tax on beer was imposed as a "temporary" measure to help the Union during the Civil War.
1876		Louis Pasteur publishes Studies on Fermentation – The Diseases of Beer, Their Causes, and the Means of Preventing Them.
1880		Approximately 2,300 breweries are operating in the U.S. By 1914 the number of active breweries drops to 1,400. By 1935, only about 160 breweries survive Prohibition. By 1960, there are only 34 brewers left in the country.
1895		Pabst is the first U.S. brewery to sell more than 1 million barrels of beer in a single year.
1933		Prohibition ends for beer on April 7.
1935		The American Can Company and Kreuger Brewing introduce the aluminum beer can.
1938		Elise Miller John begins an eight-year reign as head of Miller Brewing. She is the only woman ever to run a major brewery.
1965		Fritz Maytag purchases the nearly bankrupt Anchor Brewing Company.
1966		Budweiser is the first brand to achieve 10 million barrels in annual sales.
1973		Miller Brewing unveils a new concept (and a new spelling) with the introduction of Miller Lite.
1990s-2000s		An explosion of microbrews and flavorful handcrafted beers changes the face of the beer industry in the U.S.
2007		Beer consumption in the U.S. reaches 2.93 billion 2.25-gallon cases, representing about $98 billion in retail dollar sales.