When I mention the word "beer" what image pops into your head? Maybe you're thinking of holding a frosty one in your hand while you flip burgers. Or perhaps you see a brewery with enormous vats holding beer that has been tweaked to have just the right balance of flavors. Both are contemporary images for a drink that we often think of as part of our time, but beer has been around for centuries. In fact, many historians believe that beer, which rose up with cereal agriculture, came into existence before bread.

Historians can't pinpoint exactly who created beer for the first time, but variations of beer are found around the world in early civilizations. In 4300 BC, Babylonians inscribed recipes for beer on clay tablets, and often used beer as part of workers' daily wages. Egyptians served beer to royalty and used it as medicine. Beer is even described as being a provision on Noah's Ark.

The Middle Ages

Beer only rose in popularity by the Middle Ages, when men, women, and even children were consuming ale on a daily basis. In Europe, it was difficult for people to find sanitary water sources, but brewing beer involved boiling water, which made it safe to drink. During this time, the use of hops in beer rose, in part because the hops act as a natural preservative, allowing beer to keep for longer. Although scientists were already warning people about the dangers of beer, it had already established itself as a commercial enterprise in Germany, Austria and England.

Renaissance Period

During the Renaissance Period, beer grew even more in popularity and industry. In 1553, Beck's Brewery opened and continues to operate today. Beer was so popular in England that Queen Elizabeth I had some for breakfast each morning. It's no wonder that it went with immigrants to the New World in the 1600s, where it seemed everyone wanted a good beer but—at least for some time—people had to get it shipped in from England.

In 1612, after sending to England for experienced brewers, New Amsterdam (Manhattan) opened its first commercial brewery. Brew houses began to pop up everywhere, and people continued to brew their own varieties of beer. In fact, you could say that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were two of the original craft brewers! Washington even wrote out his recipe in a piece entitled, To Make Small Beer.

Modern Period

The 1800s were a turning point for commercial beer, as German immigrants introduced US brewers to cold maturation lagers. Prior to cold maturation, brewers had to wait until weather conditions were optimal in order for the appropriate fermentation to occur. With cold maturation, breweries could produce much higher volumes of beer. The advent of refrigeration, automatic bottling, pasteurization, and railroads all contributed to making beer a booming business. By the 1890s, Pabst became the first brewery to sell over 1 million barrels in a year.

Of course, not everything went in favor of beer. In the 1920s, prohibition began and beer was outlawed. People continued to brew and drink beer illegally, and many smuggled beer across the Canadian border during this period. Some laws created during prohibition continue to remain in place, like in Massachusetts, where alcoholic beverages may not be sold until after noon on Sundays. By the time prohibition ended for brewers in 1933, only 160 of 1,400 breweries remained.

Contemporary Period

It didn't take much encouragement for beer to grow again in popularity in the United States. In 1935, innovation ramps up again with the introduction of aluminum cans to beer production. Within 30 years, the commercialization of beer reached an all-time high, with Budweiser selling over 10 million barrels of beer in a year.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, brewpubs and microbreweries begin to pop up in California, signaling a resurgence in small scale brewing. As big name commercial brewers like Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors continued to grow through the 90s, micro and craft brewers emerged for audiences looking for more distinctive tasting beers. By 2013, beer was a $100 billion per year industry in the United States alone...and poised to grow even more.