QUIZ: How well do you know your beer history?

We know you’re pretty accomplished when it comes to drinking beer. But how deep is your knowledge of beer history?

People like to argue about whether beer actually tastes any good. And sure, the mass produced beers made by mega global conglomerates can hardly be deemed delicacies. They’re made in locations far removed from the beer’s supposed home.

They make use of automated processes and often include hop and malt extracts rather than raw ingredients. But people in their millions drink commercial brews every day, so can they really be that bad?

There’s a school of thought that contends beer doesn’t even need to be delicious. These folks scoff at beer labels that include tasting notes. Drink it ‘til you don’t know what you’re drinking it for. Then drink it a little bit more. This has been the general attitude of the old-school, beer-loving anti-snob.

But these days craft beer is a thriving industry. We live in time where people get accused of preferring convenience above all and always taking the cheap, disposable option. By contrast, craft beer usually costs more, requires a bit of beer literacy to hunt down and the industry benefits independent producers who’re often locally based.

So what is it about craft beer that allows it to buck commercial trends? Well for starters it’s bloody delicious. Plus, in the craft beer world beer doesn’t simply taste like beer – a fact that’s negatively reinforced by people who can be heard pining for a something that “just tastes like beer.”

Beer has been around for a friggin’ long time, anyway. The alcoholic drink produced from cereal grains dates back to around 4000 BC. Hard working Egyptian labourers took solace in a pot of beer after a hot day constructing pyramids and the like. Beer has been consumed by European royalty, American presidents and stars of film and television.

How well do you know your beer history?

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine