How Old is Beer?

By Daniel Strain/University of Colorado Boulder

Oktoberfest, the German beer festival, kicked off this week in Munich. To mark the occasion, Travis Rupp, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Classics, tackles the question: “How old is beer?”

Humans are no strangers to kicking back with a cool pint of beer. The Ancient Egyptians, for example, had a hankering for beer that was a little bit tart, almost like a modern-day gose, a lemony beer from Germany. Homer, the Ancient Greek poet, spoke of a beverage called κυκέων (pronounced “kee-kay-own), which was a mixture of grape wine and fermented grains.

But exactly how old is beer? Old, says Rupp. Really, really old.

Deeply Historic Role of Beer

Rupp, a.k.a. the “Beer Archaeologist,” has arguably one of the tastiest jobs in academia. He travels the world to learn how ancient cultures made beer, then recreates those recipes in a research brewery in his garage. Currently, he’s aging two variations of Homer’s Greek libation, which, Rupp said, are higher in alcohol than traditional beers. 

“When I’m drinking a glass of wine, typically I want to sip on it with my wife,” he said while sipping on a Kiwi Herman New Zealand Lager at Vision Quest Brewing in Boulder, Colorado. “If I’ve got scotch out, I want alone time…But when it’s beer, I want to drink beer with other people. Beer has been the thing that’s bound us together for a long time.”