History of beer

Beer is an important foodstuff. Used in moderation it has no harmful effects for a person engaged in physical work. Although the nutritional elements in beer are low in volume, they are all contained in a highly pleasing form …. (Otto's Dictionary part XIX, p. 816)

… the cradle of beer is considered to be Mesopotamia, where local people cultivated grain from as early as the seventh millennium BC and probably also knew fermented grain drinks.

… Chammurapi's Code mentions blossoming brewing activity and the legal stipulation of the wort content in beer and its price. A breach of the law was punishable by death by drowning.

…according to the ancient Egyptians it was the gods who invented beer. Apparently, it was the god of sun himself who taught man how to make beer.

… Edda, the collection of legends from the northern countries of the ninth century, considers mead and beer as a gift of the gods and believes that after death men in Valhalla drink beer from the hand of a beautiful girl.

… the first mention of beer production in the Czech lands comes from the Brevnov Monastery. The record states that in 993 AD the Benedictine monks produced wine and beer.

… The English have produced beer since ancient times. In the thirteenth century, special supervisors of breweries and hop-gardens were appointed.

… the first historical document relating directly to beer production is the endowment document issued by the first Czech king, Vratislav II, for the Vysehrad' chapter of 1088.

… in the old days, serious songs were sung around the vat. The superstition held sway that without divine songs the brew would fail. Or they were sung in order to overcome lack of sleep so that nobody fell into the vat.

… Saint Otta's biography states that in Pomerania, the Saint's companions preferred Slav beer to foreign wine.

… probably the oldest document on the cultivation of hops in the lands of what is today the Czech Republic is the endowment document from Prince Bretislav from the 1030s. The growing of hops spread in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and they were even cultivated in Prague, for example on Strelecky Island.

… the great popularity of beer among our ancestors, which often led to an inordinate love of the drink and drunkenness, is evident in the laws issued in 1039 by Prince Bretislav I. These contain punishments for publicans serving drunkards, such as breaking all the publican's dishes and serving vessels, shaving his head, or putting him in the pillories in a public place.

… beer has been brewed in Pilsen since the city's foundation in 1295.

… in 1530, the English king, Henry VIII, banned the adding of hops to beer, although the ban was lifted after 22 years.

You can view an extensive collection of more than 15 000 items and documents from the malter's, brewer's and catering trades in the Brewery Museum in Pilsen.