人類喝啤酒的歷史有多久？中國人9000年前就開始喝了

啤酒是人類最古老的酒精飲料，是水和茶之後世界上消耗量排名第三的飲品。關於啤酒的起源你知道多少？最古老的啤酒又是如何釀造出來的呢？

Humans have had a long history of consuming alcohol.

人類飲酒的歷史非常悠久。

It is believed the primitive cultures of Mesopotania could have been brewing malted barley scraps as far back as 10,000 BC but there are no records of it.

據稱在美索不達米亞原始文明時期（公元前一萬年），人類就已經開始用麥芽殘渣釀酒，但並沒有史料記載。

The earliest proof of beer-drinking dates back to Northern China 9,000 years ago.

人類飲用啤酒的最早證據出現在9000年前的中國北方。

This ancient brew was made using hawthorn fruit, Chinese wild grapes, rice and honey, and is the oldest known fermented beverage in history - older even than wine.

這種古老的啤酒是用山楂、中國野生葡萄、大米和蜂蜜製作的，是歷史上已知最古老的釀造飲品，比葡萄酒的歷史還要久。

To make it the corn was milled and moistened in the maker’s mouth to convert starches in the corn into fermentable sugars - before it was ‘spat’ into the beer.

爲了釀造這種啤酒，人們把玉米碾碎，並放入水合器里弄溼，以使玉米中的澱粉轉變爲可發酵性糖，之後“吐”到啤酒中。

Throughout history, the consumption of alcohol may have helped people become more creative, advancing the development of language, art and religion.

在歷史的長河中，飲酒或許幫助人們變得更有創造性，促進了語言、藝術和宗教的發展。

This is because alcohol lowers inhibitions and makes people feel more spiritual.

這是因爲酒精使人們放下拘束，感到更有精神。

It is believed the Egyptians started brewing beer around 5,000 BC, according to the papyrus scrolls.

據紙莎草卷軸上的記載，埃及人在大約公元前5000年開始釀造啤酒。

They were brewing things like dates, pomegranates and other indigenous herbs.

他們使用大棗、石榴和其他本地植物釀造啤酒。

At around 3150 BC, the Egyptians used industrial-scale breweries to provide beer for the workers who built the pyramids of Giza.

在大約公元前3150年，埃及人建造了工業化釀酒廠，爲修建吉薩金字塔的工人供應啤酒。

Eventually beer made its way from the Middle East to Europe where an abundance of barley crops provided lots of raw ingredient for brewers.

最終啤酒從中東傳到了歐洲，那裏有大量的大麥可用於釀酒。

Experts have now found evidence of brewing in Greece during the Bronze Age.

如今專家還發現了希臘人在青銅時代釀酒的證據。

Researchers believe that these prehistoric people enjoyed getting merry with alcoholic drinks for feasts all year-round and not just when the grapes were ripe.

研究人員認爲，史前人類在全年的宴會中都會飲酒歡慶，而不僅僅是在葡萄成熟時。

Not only was it considered nutritional it was also a safe alternative to drinking water.

人們認爲啤酒不僅營養豐富，還是飲用水的安全替代品。

It was in the Middle Ages that malted barley became the main source of fermented sugar and beer became the beverage we are familiar with today.

直到中世紀，大麥麥芽才成爲發酵糖的主要來源，啤酒也就成爲了我們今天熟悉的酒類。

小知識：“啤酒”名稱由來

“啤酒”的名稱是由外文的諧音譯過來的，拿啤酒的“啤”字來說，中國過去的字典裏是不存在的。後來，有人根據國外對啤酒的稱呼如德國、荷蘭稱“Bier”；英國稱“Beer”；法國稱“Biere”；意大利稱“Birre”；羅馬尼亞稱“Berea”等等，這些外文都含有“啤”字的音，於是創造了“啤”這個外來語文字，又由於具有一定的酒精含量，故翻譯時用了“啤酒”一詞，一直沿用至今。正因爲啤酒以大麥芽爲主要原料，所以日本人也稱啤酒爲“麥酒”。