WI: Mankind doesn't invent beer!

oberdada

I really can't post a POD, it probably would have to bee a couple of PODs, since I am pretty shure that beer was invented by many civilisations.

Or is this to ASB?
 
Thande

Thande

Donor
I wouldn't say ASB, but it doesn't seem very likely.

Assuming it could happen, what would happen is that the Egyptian and Babylonian civilisations adopt the same method as the Chinese in OTL--boil water to kill bacteria rather than killing them with alcohol. So we might see homegrown Western equivalents to tea and an earlier popularisation of coffee.
 

mowque

Banned
Fermentation is a very natural process (happens in the wild). And to most cultures it is tasty. So hard to stop. We could have it be out of favor in comparison to hard liquor or wine though. That is very doable.

Ninja-ed- With a better post to boot...
 
NHBL

NHBL

No Frats!

Well, the reason that some college fraternities seem to exist would be gone--that's a good thing!
 

Daylight Savings

Thande said:
I wouldn't say ASB, but it doesn't seem very likely.

Assuming it could happen, what would happen is that the Egyptian and Babylonian civilisations adopt the same method as the Chinese in OTL--boil water to kill bacteria rather than killing them with alcohol. So we might see homegrown Western equivalents to tea and an earlier popularisation of coffee.
Click to expand...

It wasn't the alcohol in beer that killed bacteria it was the fact that you had to boil the grain to reduce the starches to sugar. But the end result is probably right. Someone will create some other drink involving boiling the water and notice that less people get sick while drinking that than water and it will be quite popular as a result.
 
Pangur

Pangur

Donor
That would a world that I would not care to live in :)

I am pretty sure that bar the Inuit every other society past and present has/had beer. That being the case (the Inuit) I would suggest that you would have to have a global climate where its not possible e.g. Arctic conditions which I don't think is possible
 

Neala

I doubt wine would be more popular in Northern Europe than in OTL, the climate really doesn't suit grapes and people, especially in the pre-modern period tend to drink alcohol that is produced from local ingriedients unless they are particularly well of. There for in place of beer you'd probably see large scale consumption of cider as well as mead remaining popular. You may also see far more 'wines' produced from local fruits and vegetables
 

jeff

I remember reading somewhere that bread was invented as a by product of beer making, but I'm not sure.
 

Jotun

The human drive to get hammered on whatever is available is infinite. If beer isn't invented, some other stuff is going to be used. It's that simple :D
 

twovultures

Donor
Municipal Engines said:
Didn't some civilisations start just to cultivate alcohol?
Click to expand...

That's a theory, though IMO it's way too simplistic. Food security, human propensity to violence, and cultural/religious factors were all involved in creating every civilization.

Admittedly, the ability to get intoxicated on a regular bonus is a perk of civilization, and the human drive to get f***ed up is a pretty hard thing to work against. I think it's highly unlikely that beer would never be invented.

Perhaps the POD could be that God hates humanity and doesn't want us to be happy?:D
 

torque7844

No pyramids? I've read that one of the earliest forms of beer was made as a way to provide essentially a high calorie soporific to the slaves who provided the grunt labor for the pyramids.
 
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