Anthropology

that strongly suggests that the original impetus for cultivating grain was to brew beer, not bake bread. Thus, beer came before bread. Makes sense to me. Grain, mixed with water and left alone will ferment. Consuming the liquid brings about certain, ahh, effects and behaviors, which most humans like and will seek out.

What possessed early humans to turn grain into flour has always struck me as a huge mystery. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad our distant ancestors figured it out. I like bread, I've even been known to bake it myself.

The other thing is that older beers would have been highly nutritious, as well as having the oft-desired effect of intoxication.