The History of Alcoholic Beverages

From Mary Bellis,
Your Guide to Inventors.
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The history of alcoholic beverage consumption.

It is unknown when the first alcoholic was created. Evidence of intentionally fermented beverages exist in the form of beer jugs dated as early as the Neolithic period.

Beer

Apparently, beer was the first alcoholic beverage known to civilization.

Champagne

French monks were the first to bottle a sparkling form of wine called Champagne, named after the Champagne region of France.

Jagermeister

Jagermeister, is a alcoholic liqueur that was first made in 1935 in Wolfenbuttel, Germany. The name Jagermeister means "a master-hunter." That is why Saint Ubert, protector of hunters, is the deer symbol on the label. This drink is a mixture of 56 plants, roots, and fruit peels, that is matured for 12 months. No, deers' blood is not an ingredient.

Brandy

Most sources state that "an unknown Dutch trader invented brandy in the 16th century, by boiling wine to remove the water as a way to save cargo space." Brandewijn means 'burnt wine' in Dutch. A few sources credit the Chinese. Brandy is distilled from grapes or other fruit such as apples or apricots.