The First Brew Recipe


This is the Hymn to Ninkasi, the oldest beer recipe ever recorded.


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Which came first, the bread or the beer?

In the 1950’s, Robert Braidwood of the University of Chicago proposed a link between breadmaking and the domestication of grains nearly 10,000 years ago. In response, Jonathan Sauer of the University of Wisconsin suggested that perhaps these grains were used for beer rather than bread. It has also been postulated that beer was an accidental discovery. Stored barley seeds may have sprouted after becoming moist. With exposure to airborne yeast and more moisture, the sweeter barley sprouts could ferment, making the first beer. We do know from ancient texts that the earliest beers are Sumerian, from ancient Mesopotamia. Beer appears to have been an important part of Sumerian culture: the word “beer” appears in many contexts relating to religion, medicine and myth. The code of Hammurabi from the 18th c BC details stiff penalties for owners of ancient “brewpubs” who overcharge customers or fail to inform authorities of criminals in their bar. The artifact below, dating to 1800 BC, is etched with a hymn to Ninkasi, the goddess of brewing. Its translation (on the left) describes how bappir, Sumerian bread, is mixed with “aromatics” to ferment in a big vat. It is interes- ting to note that bappir is a bread stored for long periods of time and is eaten only during food shortages. Yet it is a primary ingredient in the brewing process that supplies the necessary starches for sugar production. This is an effective way of storing raw materials for the brewing of beer. So which came first, the bread or the beer?

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