Brewing, or the art of preparing an alcoholic drink from starchy grains by fermentation, is of very ancient origin. It was practiced by the Egyptians, and the Greeks and Romans learned the art from them. Herodotus speaks of the Egyptians making wine from corn, and it was undoubtedly practiced by the Greeks in the fifth century before Christ, as the use of malt beverages is mentioned in the writings of AEschylus and Sophocles, poets of that period. It is also mentioned by Xenophon, 400 B. C. The Romans are also supposed to have derived a knowledge of the art from the Egyptians, and Pliny and Tacitus both speak of its use amoung the Gauls and Germans of Spain and France.

It is supposed that the art was introduced into Britain by the Romans and acquired from the natives by the Saxons. According to Verstigan "this excellent and healthsome liquor, beere, anciently called ale, as of the Danes it yet is, was of the Germans invented and brought into use." Ale-houses are mentioned in the laws of Ina, king of Wessex, A. D. 680. Ale-booths were regulated by law A. D. 728.

The art of producing an alcoholic drink from starchy seeds seems to have been nearly as extensively known and practiced among the various nations of the earth as the less complex operation of preparing a fermented liquor from the juice of fruits and plants containing sugar. Thus the Kaffre races of South Africa are said to have prepared for many years a malt liquor from the seeds of the millet (Sorghum vulgare) going through all the processes of germinating the seed, extracting the malt, and fermenting the wort. In the north of Africa another seed is used. The Chinese prepared the drink called sam shee from rice.

The process of brewing consists of two distinct operations : the malting and the brewing proper. In fact the two operations are frequently separated, many small breweries buying their malt ready prepared. When kept dry it retains its qualities for an indefinite period and is handled as an article of commerce.