Gbekli Tepe: The Dawn of Civilization

[Warpy]

5. Partially agree about the connection between grain domestication and brewing alcohol

Primates and a few other species have shown an affinity for partially fermented fruit, so they had experience with booze, although it was likely restricted to just a few weeks a year.

Most early fermented alcohol was like Egyptian beer, a watery porridge left to ferment on its own with whatever airborne bugs were around (meaning a bad batch was really bad), then passed through a sieve o one sort or another to render it drinkable instead of merely edible.

Eventually someone realized grain got sweeter when it germinated and put that together with the boozy fruit idea, and stuff that would really get you hammered was born.