Beginning with the Neolithic Revolution, the consumption of beer and other drinks produced from wheat and barley reigned prolific throughout world-wide cultures. Since nearly 6000 BCE, many societies heavily consumed beer and other related beverages and it fueled social and economic growth. But before any of this change came about, the process in which beer is produced through wheat and barley cultivation began to develop.

Barley Plant
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 Discovered by accident, fermentation was a process realized by humans of hunter-gatherer lifestyles when grain was left out in moist environments for extended periods of time. Once the necessary steps required to brew this early form of beer were discovered and taste for the beverage grew, these hunter-gatherers began to cultivate grain on a larger scale.

Development of Agricultural Lifestyles
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Prior to the cultivation of barley, the Earth’s Last Glacial Maximum occurred; this was a period in which the ice covering the Earth’s surface between 24,500 and 17,000 BC reached its peak. With the melting of continental regions of ice, a period known as the Younger Dryas, or a consistent cold period after the ice melted, began. The collapse of the American ice sheets is believed to be a major contributing factor to this “cold spell.” With a difficult climate for the wheat and other grains and cereals to grow in, the hunter-gatherers needed to store seeds to protect the longevity of their crops. With this, the earliest forms of agrarian societies began to develop.

Cereal Crop
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With agriculture, certain crops such as cereals, pulses (lentils), and also flax were domesticated and specialized roles in society began to emerge. This created structure for civilizations as well as a sustainable food and living source. With the shift from nomadic lifestyles stemming from wheat and barley cultivation involved with beer, social and technological progress was brought about on a vast scale. This eventually incentivized world exploration and colonial expansion.

Today beer is consumed worldwide as a social, recreational, and tasteful beverage among all socioeconomic classes in developed and developing countries. It is a major industry leading back to the earliest forms of society, having contributed to the development of world cultures.