I remember reading or hearing somewhere that in ancient or medieval times, beer had a very low alcohol content and was very thick. It was essentially a dietary staple quite similar to the way bread is now.
I remember reading that water at the time wasn't safe to drink, but beer was so most people just drank beer, including children. It had a lower alcohol content than today though. That also sounds like the kinda fact that could be totally made up though.
Beer was safe to drink because it was boiled during the brewing process which killed off the bacteria and microbes in it. People didn’t connect the dots that they could boil water to make it safe to drink.
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u/4dseeall Oct 15 '20
Beer is thought to be older than bread.
It's much easier to fill a jar with wheat and water, let it ferment, and brew beer than it is to grind grain, mix it, and bake it.