Beer is one of the oldest biotechnologically manufactured products of mankind. It was already known to the Sumerians and ancient Egypt. Grain is the starting product that is converted into malt during beer production and then into a mash. The sugars contained in the mash are fermented by yeast into alcohol.

When and where people invented beer brewing is not exactly known. The oldest descriptions come from the Sumerians from the 4th millennium BC. The Sumerians considered beer as a divine drink and offered it to their gods. But it could also have been created much earlier.