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The history of the Armenian Beer and the Beer itself goes as back as the history of human civilization. Even though there is no direct reference of Armenians being the inventors of beer but we were one of the original consumers of the ancient beer. Let’s look into where and when beer was invented?
Germany, might cross your mind first? Everybody knows that present-day beer was mostly developed in Europe (especially in Germany). The research shows that beer was first enjoyed in ancient Mesopotamia. Brewing emerged more than 5,000 years ago in the fields of southern Babylonia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
The residue of the first known barley beer was found in a jar at the Godin Tepe excavation site in modern-day Iran around 3400 B.C. But chances are, the first beer had been “cracked” millennia before that.
Here are some facts of the ancient civilizations being involved in the foundation of the beer we know and love today.
The Babylonians had about 20 recipes for beer. One of the first written recipes for beer comes from a poem, a 3800-year-old ode to brewing that was etched into clay tablets. Found in ancient Sumer (modern-day Iraq), the “Hymn to Ninkasi” celebrates the Sumerian goddess of beer and also conveniently outlines steps for brewing.
Egyptian Pharaohs were buried with vats of the stuff, even the workers who built the pyramids were essentially paid in beer.
In these times wine was so popular that beer was the drink of the lower classes. Beer brewing techniques made their way to Greece from Egypt. The legions of Rome brought beer to Northern Europe. At those times beer was one of the most common drinks in the suburbs of the empire.
Beer rapidly took over as one of civilization’s favorite and safest drinks considering the fact that water was not reliably potable for most cultures, and alcoholic drinks like beer would have been safer.
Source of the pictures: Heartland Brewery
Monks were the leading brewers of this era, every monastery had a brewery on site. Historians relate monks with several innovations related to brewing like the introduction of hops, and lagering, or cold storing of the beer to improve flavor. Even in modern times, the monastic brewing tradition holds, with a number of Belgian monasteries ranking today among the greatest breweries in the world.
Besides Northern European countries like Belgium and Germany, Britain also became a brewing center. Many styles of beer familiar to drinkers today have their roots in Britain; pale ales, porters, and stouts have been brewed in England and Ireland for hundreds of years. British brewers discovered that a beer with higher alcohol and extra hops-both of which act naturally preserve longer and could survive the long journey to the other side of the globe.
The Americans being familiar with the English style ales brewing techniques made all early American beers similar to them. That began to change, though, in the mid-1800s as new immigrants came from Northern and Central Europe, they were bringing with them a taste for a new style of beer that had taken hold on the Continent: Pilsner-style lagers typical of Germany and the Czech Republic. Very rapidly, the pale, clean tasting beers were replaced by the darker and heavier ales that had characterized American beer in the previous centuries.
Throughout Europe and the United States, breweries built great empires of commerce in the late 1800s. Britain built its fortunes on ales, whereas central Europe, Scandinavia, and America focused on lagers. By 1900, three of Japan’s current top four brewing companies were already well established.
Source of the image: Beer and Brewing
Breweries were emerging one after another in the colonies of North America. The first brewery on the New Continent was in New Amsterdam (current New York City). Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were producing beer. George Washington himself wrote a recipe on how to brew beer.
In the nineteenth century, beer was widely famous as the world’s number one alcoholic beverage. This period of modern history marks the start of the biggest changes in beer production, such as using yeast for fermentation.
As mentioned earlier, it was the famous Louis Pasteur who discovered that yeast causes fermentation. His writings on the impact of yeast to control fermentation marked the single biggest discovery to allow for faithful replication of consistent beer batches.
Along with the newly invented processes of automatic bottling and refrigeration, breweries and beer grew tremendously across the world. By the end of the 19th century, there were about 3200 breweries in the USA.
Greenwich Village Hotdog Festival
Vintage Union Square
Source of the pictures: Heartland Brewery
We started seeing the first mentions of beer factories in Armenia in the late 1800s when beer was emerging as a profitable industry in the Russian Empire. At this time we already had Armenian beer factories in Alexandrapol (nowadays Gyumri) and Kars.
The most famous Armenian brewery in Yerevan was Zanga Brewery, located in the picturesque Hrazdan River Gorge. Founded in 1892 by Harutyun Avedyants, the son of a successful factory owner. Zanga produced only one style of beer, a traditional German Bock.
Hrazdan gorge in Yerevan where Harutyun Avedyants’ Zanga beer factory was located.
Image Source: Smithsonian
In the mid-1950s there were difficulties with the brewery and alcoholism overall. The USSR and the world were actively having anti-alcoholism propaganda on the government level. This resulted in an extremely correlative market in which any variety from outside the Iron Curtain had to be procured through an underground black market.
Luckily, in the early 2010s, we are seeing the rise of the Armenian brewery. Little by little local Armenian breweries started to open up in Yerevan and the regions.
Yerevan Beer Factory was established in 1952. In 1997 it was reorganized into a Joint-Stock Company. “Beer of Yerevan” Company with its 60 years of history has occupied its solid place among Armenia’s leading enterprises for years and “Kilikia” trademark has become an exceptional synonym to high quality. Currently, Yerevan beer Factory produces 12 sorts of beer, 10 sorts of natural juices and nectars, as well as 13 sorts of refreshing beverages.
In 1998 and 2003, the Company has been awarded the Republic of Armenia Government prize in the field of “ Products and Services Quality Area”.
Kotayk Brewery was founded in 1974, as a state-owned enterprise by the government of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, with a limited scale of production. After the completion of the entire equipment, the factory started large-scale production in 1978.
Gyumri, Ararat and Aleksandrapol from the Gyumri Beer brewery, located in Gyumri. Opened in 1970, it is the second largest brewery in Armenia. However, the old brewery of Gyumri dates back to 1898. Currently, seven types of pale lager beer are produced by the brewery under the Gyumri, Ararat and Aleksandrapol labels.
The first craft brewery in Armenia proudly serves over 15 types of craft beer, made with high-quality ingredients, best traditions of brewing and the latest technologies. Darget’s interior, music and service are all intended to give the visitor a complete “craft” experience. This place is for both beer lovers and those who are just starting to discover the world of craft beer.
Opened in 2016 in Yerevan as a brewpub, it currently produces and serves a large variety of unfiltered beer made in the brewery opened in 2019.
Dilijan Brewery is a newly opened beer company in Armenia, which has been introducing the Dilijan brand to the domestic market since July 2017.
The factory was founded in 2016 in the city of Dilijan, Tavush region, but the foundation work started in 2011.
The company now has more than 120 jobs.
Academia Beer from the Beer Academy brewpub is located in Yerevan, Armenia. Opened in 2012, it currently serves 7 types of unfiltered beer produced in the brewpub.
You can find Armenian beer being served in most cafes, restaurants, and clubs. So what? Don’t you want to travel to Armenia and try Armenian beers yourself? Make sure to let us know which one is your favorite.
I-AM.AM was founded with the ultimate goal to support the economic growth of Armenia. By connecting Armenian Owned Businesses globally, creating a centralized hub of everything Armenian and implementing numerous projects that will boost the economy of the outer regions of Armenia, I-AM.AM community is creating a self-sufficient economy throughout the country.
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