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 | Before civilization some lucky caveman (or woman, more than likely) discovered a bowl of grain mush that had been sitting out for a few days after a rain, drank the frothy liquid, enjoyed the ensuing euphoria and beer brewing was born. |
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| Approximately 8000 B.C. Neolithic man made the transition from hunter-gatherer to an agrarian society. The most likely reason seems to be that this allowed for the cultivation of grain for brewing beer (even though some tea-totaling historians state that it was for baking bread).
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| Early Babylonian clay tablets (3000-4000BC) depict beer brewing. |
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| 3000 BC, some of the earliest cuneiforms of the Sumerians show the belief that beer came from the gods-those beings that held sway over the sun, soil, water (all things that control the basic ingredients in beer. Women brewed the beer(brewsters) and became Priestesses, overseeing drinking, acting as barmaids and making sure the men didn't hurt themselves(so some things never change).
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| Tablets excavated from Assyria (Iraq) show beer to have been taken aboard the Ark by Noah.
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| Egyptians considered beer a drink for the Royalty, flavoring it with honey, ginger and date sugar. |
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| 200-300 BC, Chinese beer was written about by Marco Polo.
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| Norse legends promised warriors a "brimming Ale Horn" in the Afterlife.
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| 700 AD, Europeans began using hop to replace flowers and spices as a flavoring. |
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| 1100 AD, the Germans establish large scale breweries.
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| 1502, Christopher Columbus drank Native American beer made from corn and tree sap.
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| 1609, Colonists advertise in London for brewers-the first American want ads. |
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| 1620, the Mayflower landed at Plymouth rock due to a shortage of beer. |
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| 1633, New Amsterdam (New York) is the sight of the first US brewery.
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| 1685, Philadelphia got its first brewery, but has since had more breweries than any other US city.
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| 1910, there were over 1500 US breweries. |
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| 1920, the Volstead Act passed, establishing Prohibition. Organized crime blossomed as bootlegging took hold and speakeasy's replaced fine dining restaurants.
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| 1933, the "Great Experiment" ended with the 21st Amendment, the only Amendment ever enacted to repeal a prior Amendment to the Constitution. |
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| 1977, the first US "microbrewery" opened-New Albion Brewing Co. in Sonoma, CA.
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| 1990, Vino's Pizzeria is born in Little Rock, AR-specializing in New York-style pizza, calzones and imported beer on tap. |
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| 1991, Arkansas legalizes brewpubs.
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| 1993, Vino's becomes "Vino's Pizza*Pub*Brewery", and begins craftbrewing in Central Arkansas as Little Rock's Original Brewpub. |
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