A frequently asked question: which came first – beer or wine? Beer was being produced in Mesopotamia at least 6,000, and perhaps even 8,000, years ago. This presumably makes it the first alcoholic drink produced by humans, predating wine. Beer and wine were the earliest components of drinking culture. In Egypt, around 4,000 BC, half-baked bread was fermented with water to produce a kind of beer. The god of fertility, Osiris himself, is said to have taught the Egyptians how to grow grapes and brew beer. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates back to around 2700 BC, recounts the transformation of the primitive man Enkidu into a ‘civilised man’. He is offered beer, which he had not known until then. He drank seven cups of it and felt a lightness in his heart. In this state, he washed himself and thus became human.
![]()
As honorary chairman of the Domäne Wachau, it is the easiest and quickest way for me to access the wein.plus encyclopaedia when I have questions. The certainty of receiving well-founded and up-to-date information here makes it an indispensable guide.
Hans-Georg Schwarz
Ehrenobmann der Domäne Wachau (Wachau)