Beer, revisiting it from 5000 years ago

[argonsagas]

A delightful article, with historical insights I had never heard of.
Maybe you will find the same:

https://aeon.co/essays/mesopotamians-found-beer-celebratory-intoxicating-and-erotic

[Brendan W]

Interesting. I have a theory that what we now call brewing or fermenting had a least one foot in the preservative side of the house.
Belonging to the same kinds of practices that developed pickling, salting, smoking and preserves in general.
The alcohol was a welcome side effect.
As to the matter of strength. In The Odyssey, Homer writes frequently of the wine being mixed with water in bowls before distribution.
At low alcohol concentrations things would not keep as well?
We have a thing called the Fulacht Fiadh, a Bronze age stone lined pit into which heated rocks were put to heat water.
It was said it was for boiling meat or perhaps bathing. Lately people are looking at brewing beer and have done it successfully.