What is beer really? Is it a weird fermentation between a group of ingredients (water, yeast, malt and hops), or is it more than that? Beer can be found dating back around 7000 years ago in Sumeria. Scientists discovered a tablet at a site in Uruk which is located in Southern Mesopotamia. The tablet described people gathering together, and beer was the beverage they enjoyed. They used beer in everyday life.

Now we move on to the Middle Ages. I personally love the Middle Ages. Beer was consumed by both social classes (nobility and commoners) in the northern and eastern parts of Europe. The reason why it was more popular in those particular areas is because they couldn't grow grapes to make wine like the people in southern parts of Europe did at the time. Though, even in southern Europe, beer still had a huge presence. The people were never sure if the water was actually safe to drink, so the only thing could actually drink was beer.

Toward the late Middle Ages beer was consumed with every meal. At this point in the beer world people really start playing the mad scientist when comes to brewing. They started trying new ways to change beer, to make it better (beer changes from culture to culture). Around 800 years ago Germany start using hops in place of gruit (a type of herb mixture). They would use hops to add more flavor to their beers. They started to call it godale which was a term meaning "good beer." Germany was the pioneer for discovering how to standardize barrel size, which allowed them to make it a major export item. Before that, beer was only brewed in the home.

At the end of the Middle Ages, Germany implemented Reinheitsgebot (purity law) which was later adopted by William IV, Duke of Bavaria in 1516. The purity law states the beer can only use water, hops, malt and yeast. Beer grew from being necessity to everyday life, to being a social device, to becoming a major business.

Now let us head on to the modern day (sort of). Brewing and experimenting with beer has seen a continuous growth. 60 years ago in New Zealand a man by name of Morton Coutts created a system for double fermentation. In the 70s a man by the name of Michael Jackson wrote a book called The World Guide to Beer. In his book he categorized beer by style. In a way, he gave each and every single beer its own identity. Michael Jackson is the Robert Parker of beer. He was the most influential writer and rater of beers in the world. He also has been credited for jump starting the beer renaissance around the world, particularly in the US. Beer is growing more and more every day. It started out as necessity to survive and moved to being a social device, to being a business, and now to having a life of its own.

Ken Ransom, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits Beer Consultant

Follow him on Twitter @abcbeerkenr