啤酒是人類(lèi)最古老的酒精飲料，是水和茶之后世界上消耗量排名第三的飲品。關(guān)于啤酒的起源你知道多少？最古老的啤酒又是如何釀造出來(lái)的呢？

Humans have had a long history of consuming alcohol.

人類(lèi)飲酒的歷史非常悠久。

It is believed the primitive cultures of Mesopotania could have been brewing malted barley scraps as far back as 10,000 BC but there are no records of it.

據(jù)稱(chēng)在美索不達(dá)米亞原始文明時(shí)期（公元前一萬(wàn)年），人類(lèi)就已經(jīng)開(kāi)始用麥芽殘?jiān)劸?，但并沒(méi)有史料記載。

The earliest proof of beer-drinking dates back to Northern China 9,000 years ago.

人類(lèi)飲用啤酒的最早證據(jù)出現(xiàn)在9000年前的中國(guó)北方。

This ancient brew was made using hawthorn fruit, Chinese wild grapes, rice and honey, and is the oldest known fermented beverage in history - older even than wine.

這種古老的啤酒是用山楂、中國(guó)野生葡萄、大米和蜂蜜制作的，是歷史上已知最古老的釀造飲品，比葡萄酒的歷史還要久。

To make it the corn was milled and moistened in the maker’s mouth to convert starches in the corn into fermentable sugars - before it was ‘spat’ into the beer.

為了釀造這種啤酒，人們把玉米碾碎，并放入水合器里弄濕，以使玉米中的淀粉轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)榭砂l(fā)酵性糖，之后“吐”到啤酒中。

Throughout history, the consumption of alcohol may have helped people become more creative, advancing the development of language, art and religion.

在歷史的長(zhǎng)河中，飲酒或許幫助人們變得更有創(chuàng)造性，促進(jìn)了語(yǔ)言、藝術(shù)和宗教的發(fā)展。

This is because alcohol lowers inhibitions and makes people feel more spiritual.

這是因?yàn)榫凭谷藗兎畔戮惺?，感到更有精神?/p>

It is believed the Egyptians started brewing beer around 5,000 BC, according to the papyrus scrolls.

據(jù)紙莎草卷軸上的記載，埃及人在大約公元前5000年開(kāi)始釀造啤酒。

They were brewing things like dates, pomegranates and other indigenous herbs.

他們使用大棗、石榴和其他本地植物釀造啤酒。

At around 3150 BC, the Egyptians used industrial-scale breweries to provide beer for the workers who built the pyramids of Giza.

在大約公元前3150年，埃及人建造了工業(yè)化釀酒廠，為修建吉薩金字塔的工人供應(yīng)啤酒。

Eventually beer made its way from the Middle East to Europe where an abundance of barley crops provided lots of raw ingredient for brewers.

最終啤酒從中東傳到了歐洲，那里有大量的大麥可用于釀酒。

Experts have now found evidence of brewing in Greece during the Bronze Age.

如今專(zhuān)家還發(fā)現(xiàn)了希臘人在青銅時(shí)代釀酒的證據(jù)。

Researchers believe that these prehistoric people enjoyed getting merry with alcoholic drinks for feasts all year-round and not just when the grapes were ripe.

研究人員認(rèn)為，史前人類(lèi)在全年的宴會(huì)中都會(huì)飲酒歡慶，而不僅僅是在葡萄成熟時(shí)。

Not only was it considered nutritional it was also a safe alternative to drinking water.

人們認(rèn)為啤酒不僅營(yíng)養(yǎng)豐富，還是飲用水的安全替代品。

It was in the Middle Ages that malted barley became the main source of fermented sugar and beer became the beverage we are familiar with today.

直到中世紀(jì)，大麥麥芽才成為發(fā)酵糖的主要來(lái)源，啤酒也就成為了我們今天熟悉的酒類(lèi)。

小知識(shí)：“啤酒”名稱(chēng)由來(lái)

“啤酒”的名稱(chēng)是由外文的諧音譯過(guò)來(lái)的，拿啤酒的“啤”字來(lái)說(shuō)，中國(guó)過(guò)去的字典里是不存在的。后來(lái)，有人根據(jù)國(guó)外對(duì)啤酒的稱(chēng)呼如德國(guó)、荷蘭稱(chēng)“Bier”；英國(guó)稱(chēng)“Beer”；法國(guó)稱(chēng)“Biere”；意大利稱(chēng)“Birre”；羅馬尼亞稱(chēng)“Berea”等等，這些外文都含有“啤”字的音，于是創(chuàng)造了“啤”這個(gè)外來(lái)語(yǔ)文字，又由于具有一定的酒精含量，故翻譯時(shí)用了“啤酒”一詞，一直沿用至今。正因?yàn)槠【埔源篼溠繛橹饕?，所以日本人也稱(chēng)啤酒為“麥酒”。

英文來(lái)源：每日郵報(bào)

翻譯&編輯：yaning