World's oldest beer recipe: archaeologists and brewers recreate Sumerian technology

Gourmets have been enjoying beer since ancient times, even before money was invented to buy it.

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Ancient Egyptian brewers were brewing a strong barley drink around 2575 BC, but some historians suggest that beer could have been invented by different civilizations around the same time.

The most reliable evidence of brewing was found in ancient Mesopotamia, and it belongs to the Sumerians.

Among the most significant finds is a beer recipe, which is currently considered the oldest in the world. It is immortalized in the table song "Hymn of Ninkasi" written on clay cuneiform tablets dating back to 1800 BC.

Some historians believe that the heyday of the Sumerian civilization was in the 18th century BC. And at that time, the Sumerians had a kind of beer cult. The drink had ritual and religious significance along with oil, which was considered a sacred gift from the gods.

Beer consumption was also reflected in mythology. In the pantheon of Sumerian gods, Ninkasi was the patroness of brewing, fertility, and harvest. One of the legends tells of Enki, the god of wisdom and father of Ninkasi, who loved beer and occasionally got drunk.

Another interesting fact is that the Sumerians invented beer 300 years before they invented money. That's why they often paid their employees with beer.

Sumerian beer brewing technology

Chemical traces of beer have been found on fragments of clay jugs that are more than 5,500 years old, but it was the song of praise to the goddess Ninkasi that made it possible to recreate Sumerian brewing technology.

Miguel Civil, a professor of Sumerian studies at the University of Chicago, translated the poems, and Fritz Meitag, founder of the Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, managed to brew beer according to this ancient recipe.

The resulting beverage had a strength of 3.5% and tasted mild and similar to both modern beer and hard cider, despite the differences in brewing technology.

The researchers also found that Sumerian beer was brewed without hops, which were unknown in Mesopotamia at the time, and did not require maturation. Therefore, it was drunk immediately after cooling with straws from large jugs.

It is known that brewing in Mesopotamia was based on the process of natural fermentation. However, it is still a mystery whether this was an accidental discovery or the result of deliberate experiments.

The Ninkasi Hymn describes in detail the stages of Sumerian brewing technology. The process began in a special pit where bappir (malted barley dough), honey, and aromatics were mixed. After that, the mixture was baked in an oven to produce the so-called malted grain.

Bappir was added to this grain again and left in fermentation vats. The fermented mixture was boiled, and then the pellet was separated from the wort. The wort was brewed again with wine and honey, after which it was filtered and the finished beer was poured into jugs.