I was about to say, beer is as old as civilization itself. I don’t think people can quite determine whether beer or civilization came first
There is evidence that we made beer before bread. That’s the kind of scale we’re talking here.
My understanding of the current theory.
Grains were eaten as a porridge.
People started to realise if you let some watery porridge sit open for a few days, something good happens.
People experimented…beer was created.
People then found adding beer to ground grains to be baked caused it to rise.
People experimented…bread was created.
We just domesticated beer around then. Before that beer bottles ran around wild and unboxed.
You jest, but this isn’t far from the truth. Mammals used to get drunk by eating rotten fruit that had fallen off trees.