Discover the world of beer with Beerologist Allen Winn Sneath. You can even ask your own questions online.

Is the brewing of beer older than wine making?

The controversy has been fermenting for ages and there is no definitive answer because both wine and beer making began before recorded history. Historians believe that the brewing of beer was coincident with the dawn of civilization about 10,000 BC in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the land we know today as Iraq.

Winemaking is said to have originated during the same Neolithic period somewhere between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea corresponding to present day Iran, Georgia and Armenia. The first documented evidence is based on archeological findings in ancient Sumeria that reveal a beer recipe found on clay tablets from 6,000 BC and a clay wine jar from the Zagros mountains of Iran dated about 5000 BC.

While wine became a valuable trading commodity, beer of yore did not travel well and was restricted to local use. It is interesting to note that the origin of beer making is attributed to women, while wine making was a man's task.

Allen knows his subject matter well. As an ad agency executive for over 25 years, he developed some of the Canadian beer industry's most memorable campaigns. He was a founding partner in the Algonquin Brewing Company, one of the country's first generation microbreweries. Allen is the author of Brewed In Canada, the only book documenting Canada's colourful 350-year-old brewing industry. The work was awarded the Quill & Tankard Trophy by the North American Guild of Beer Writers. Allen is available for informal and entertaining speaking engagements. You can contact him direct via email at ad-vantage@rogers.com.