{"id":3268,"date":"2016-02-08T22:12:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T22:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beer-syndicate.com\/blog\/?page_id=3268"},"modified":"2017-09-15T00:56:32","modified_gmt":"2017-09-15T00:56:32","slug":"how-beer-saved-the-world-transcript","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/beersyndicate.com\/blog\/how-beer-saved-the-world-transcript\/","title":{"rendered":"How Beer Saved the World (Transcript)"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Beer Saved the World<\/strong> (Transcript)
\n<\/strong>[Transcribed by Daniel J. Leonard]<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrated by Henry Strozier<\/span><\/p>\n

List of people interviewed in order of appearance:
\n<\/span>[All quotes in the transcript will be followed by the initials of the person quoted.\u00a0 For example, if \u201cCharles Bamforth\u201d is quoted in the transcript, the quote will be followed by the initials \u201cC.B.\u201d]<\/span><\/p>\n

G.S.: Dr. Gregg Smith, Author & Historian
\n<\/span>P.H: Dr. Patrick Hayes, Professor of Food Science, Oregon State University
\n<\/span>G.A.: Dr. George Armelagos, Professor of Anthropology, Emory University
\n<\/span>C.B.: Dr. Charles Bamforth, Professor of Brewing Science, University of California
\n<\/span>Q.S.: Dr. Quentin Skrabec Jr., Associate Professor of Business, University of Findlay
\n<\/span>P.M. Dr. Patrick McGovern, Professor of Bio-Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania
\n<\/span>T.S.: Dr. Thomas Shellhammer, Professor of Fermentation Science, Oregon State University
\n<\/span>S.T.: Dr. Stephen Tinney, Associate Professor of Assyriology, University of Pennsylvania
\n<\/span>J.W.: Dr. Josef Wegner, Egyptologist, University of Pennsylvania Museum
\n<\/span>B.B.: Dr. Betsy Bryan, Professor of Egyptology, John Hopkins University
\n<\/span>R.U.: Dr. Richard Unger, Professor of Medieval History, University of British Columbia
\n<\/span>K.B.: Dr. Kyria Boundy-Mills, Professor of Microbiology, University of California
\n<\/span>D.B.: Drew Brosseau, Mayflower Brewery
\n<\/span>M.O.: Maureen Ogle, Author & Historian
\n<\/span>D.R.: Dr. David Ryder, Vice President Brewing & Research MillerCoors
\n<\/span>B.N.: Bernard Nagengast, Author & Technical Historian
\n<\/span>J.M.: Jaron Mitchell, 4\u00a0<\/span>Pines Brewing Company<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: In the 21st<\/sup> century, human beings are masters of the planet.\u00a0 Behind us lie 10,000 years of civilization, bending nature to our will, and it all started with one great invention.\u00a0 Not the wheel.\u00a0 Not the car.\u00a0 Not the plane.\u00a0 The greatest invention of all was beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer has changed the course of human history not once, not twice, but over and over again. Right from the very beginning.\u201d [G.S]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It sowed the world\u2019s first farm lands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe agricultural revolution came about because of the imperative, the need, to make beer.\u201d [P.H.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It hued the world\u2019s first wonders.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t have the pyramids if it weren\u2019t for beer.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Beer established modern health care.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer and science go hand in hand.\u201d [C.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: And beer shaped America.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer is the secret history of America.\u00a0 It\u2019s in our DNA.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It even ended one of history\u2019s great scandals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer was part, if not all, of the motivation for ending child labor.\u201d [Q.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: And most important of all, it gave us something to drink while watching the ball game. This is the story of the greatest invention of all time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing story, and one that really hasn\u2019t been told.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Until now.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithout beer, we\u2019d probably still be living in caves.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Title text: How Beer Save the World<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Human beings like us have been around for about 100,000 years.\u00a0 For the first 90,000, we were nomads.\u00a0 Hunter-gatherers. All we had to worry about was food.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe life of the hunter-gatherer is probably not as hard as some people would think.\u00a0 They spent about two hours a day gathering grains and hunting.\u00a0 And they spent a lot of time socializing.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Then, in 9,000 B.C., something happened that changed the world forever.\u00a0 In the Middle East, hunter-gatherers stopped wandering, and started farming.\u00a0 They swapped caves for houses.\u00a0 And created the first civilization: Mesopotamia.\u00a0 It was the beginning of the world as we know it.\u00a0 Historians call it the \u201cagricultural revolution\u201d. But the question is: Why did it happen?\u00a0 We asked at the local pub.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Publicans in\u00a0a bar]: \u201cWomen.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cPumpkins.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cPotatoes.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWe just got tired of moving rocks.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI have no idea. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: In fact, the agricultural revolution was started by barely.\u00a0 For years, experts assumed it was to make bread.\u00a0 But now there\u2019s a new theory that has shaken the world of science.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe agricultural revolution is all about beer, and beer is all about barely.\u201d [P.H.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: For food scientist Dr. Patrick Hayes, it\u2019s an open and shut case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that barely was domesticated to make beer.\u201d\u00a0 [P.H.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Archaeologist Dr. Pat McGovern backs up the barely for beer theory.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason that it was domesticated at 9,000 B.C. is they were using it to make beer.\u201d [P.M.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The proof?\u00a0 Residue from ancient jugs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTurned out that this residue was what\u2019s called beer stone.\u00a0 Now, this is evidence then that we had a vessel that would have originally been used for beer.\u201d [P.M.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: McGovern has found evidence of beer more than 3,000 years before anyone was baking bread.\u00a0 But hold on a minute.\u00a0 Brewing is a complex science.\u00a0 So how could primitive people have invented beer?<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Thomas Shellhammer is a fermentation scientist— a beer boffin.\u00a0 And he thinks that they stumbled across it by complete and utter accident.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers were collecting wild barely as a source of nutrition.\u00a0 During one of these collections, they were taking barely and placing it into some sort of collection device.\u00a0 This group then go on a hunt.\u201d\u00a0 [T.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: While they\u2019re away, a natural miracle occurs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, we get some rains, and these rains moisten that barely, and that barely begins to grow.\u201d [T.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: As it grows, it produces sugars.\u00a0 Now it needs more water.\u00a0 Luckily, it rains again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd at this point, we have substantial amount of rain.\u00a0 Enough rain that this vessel becomes basically full with liquid.\u201d [T.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Now the real magic happens.\u00a0 Wild yeast converts the barely sugars into CO2 and alcohol.\u00a0 A few days later, the hunters return.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they look inside this vessel, and they see a bubbly mixture.\u00a0 Then someone takes the chance to actually taste it.\u00a0 And, taking a taste, they think, \u201cWow, this is something that is very, very different.\u201d\u00a0 This is the very first accidental beer, and from this point on, things will never be the same.\u201d [T.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Humans hadn\u2019t touched a drink in 3,000,000 years of evolution. Suddenly, life looked a lot more interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, ‘This stuff is good.\u00a0 How can we make more of that?’\u201d [P.H.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Today, experts like Dr. Hayes believe it was beer\u2019s feel-good factor that changed the world forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe intoxicating effects of that beer surely persuaded people to continue propagating barely.\u00a0 And then in turn, starts this whole cascade of inventions that make for better beer.\u201d [P.H.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The thirst for more beer and more barely to make it with created an explosion of new technologies in a domino effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re gonna get tired of going out with a stick and trying to poke a hole in to hard ground.\u00a0 And so what does that lead to?\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s gonna lead to the plough. \u00a0Once you start opening up ground, some of that ground is not going to be suitable for agriculture unless you irrigate it.\u201d [P.H.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: A host of inventions we still rely on today came about thanks to a taste for beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you start raising all of this food, you don\u2019t wanna go dragging it around behind you, so what do you have?\u00a0 You have wheeled carts to transport the stuff.\u201d\u00a0[P.H.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: More beer plus more barely equals more farms, and the invention of math.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was beer that made them go and study how to divide borders between their fields, which led to mathematics.\u00a0 And so we can even say that math and measurement came about because of beer.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: After land surveys, came bookkeeping and beer\u2019s greatest early invention: writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Publicans in\u00a0a bar]: \u201cBeer invented writing?\u201d \u201cThe written language?\u201d \u201cNo way, that\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Impossible, but true.\u00a0 Dr. Stephen Tinney is an expert in ancient texts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason for inventing writing was the need to record the production and distribution of commodities like beer.\u201d [S.T.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The beer trade created record keeping— symbols on clay tablets that evolved into writing.\u00a0 In the first ever written language called cuneiform, this [see symbol below] is the word for beer, and it\u2019s everywhere in the ancient dictionary called ‘the word lists’.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cuneiform<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most important word lists has over 160 different words relating to beer.\u201d \u00a0[S.T.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: That\u2019s more than the Eskimos have for snow.\u00a0 That\u2019s how important beer was.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer was essential to the people, essential for their nutrition, and essential to the origin of writing.\u201d [S.T.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: So beer ended hunter-gathering, started agriculture, invented the plough, and the wheel, and gave us math and writing.\u00a0 By 3,000 B.C., civilization was in full flow, all thanks to beer. \u00a0But it was only just getting started.\u00a0 [Coming up: How beer built the pyramids. \u201cIt\u2019s just mind-boggling.\u201d [G.A.]]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Of all ancient civilizations, this is the big one.\u00a0 But now, Egyptologists are discovering its wonders exist thanks to a secret ingredient: beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAncient Egyptian civilizations would not have existed without beer, and beer in great quantities.\u201d [J.W.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there was anyone in ancient Egypt that didn\u2019t have the right to drink beer, even small children.\u201d [B.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe ancient Egyptians saw beer as a gift of the gods.\u201d\u00a0 [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The most powerful of all the Egyptian gods was Ray [Ra].\u00a0 He is the creator of life, love, and beer, in this world and the next.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey consumed it all the time and when they died, they would go to the afterlife hoping they would continue consuming beer in great quantities.\u201d [J.W.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: This inscription on an ancient Egyptian tomb answers the age old question \u2018How many beers do you need in the next world?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked for a thousand jugs of beer that he hoped to take advantage of in his afterlife.\u201d [J.W.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The pyramids are the ultimate icons of the afterlife.\u00a0 Just how they were built remains a mystery, especially when you learn how workers were paid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe daily rations, the wages of ancient Egypt, were paid in beer.\u201d [J.W.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey would be given a chit that would say you have earned 50 jars of beer.\u00a0 It was almost as if it was a debit card.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: To Egyptians, beer was money.\u00a0 Today, a few noble individuals still trade in beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Publicans in a bar]: \u201cI\u2019ll do somebody\u2019s laundry for a 6-pack of high quality beer.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve helped someone move.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know if I should say because if this is out there my parents will see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Our modern beer economy might buy you a favor, back then it would buy you a pyramid.\u00a0 The going rate for a pyramid builder was a whopping gallon of beer a day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was just an incredible amount of beer that went into building the pyramids.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It takes a gut-busting 231,414,717 gallons of beer to build the pyramid of Giza.\u00a0 The reason?\u00a0 Ancient beer was a vital source of nutrition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer was absolutely fundamental to the Egyptians, it was one of their very basic foodstuffs.\u201d [J.W.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer was one of the main foods in ancient Egypt, it wasn\u2019t just a question of being a beverage.\u00a0 Even schoolboy[s] would get up in the morning and have a dish of beer.\u00a0 [B.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: This ancient beer, we\u2019ll call it \u201cPyramid Lite\u201d, was very low in alcohol [image indicates \u201c3%\u201d], but packed with minerals and vitamins, which kept the ancient strong, healthy, and astonishingly productive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have the pyramids if it weren\u2019t for beer.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: So, beer built the pyramids and was Egypt\u2019s staple food, and its common currency.\u00a0 I know what you\u2019re thinking: Next he\u2019s going to tell me that beer cured the sick.\u00a0 Well, actually, it did.\u00a0 Beer was used to treat all sorts of ailments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey treated the diseases of the gums with beer.\u00a0 And they actually even used some of the remains of the beer, the grains, and burned them and produced an anal fumigant to treat diseases of the bowel.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: That particular remedy may have gone out of fashion, but ancient beer really did pioneer a startling revolution in medicine 3,000 years before its time.\u00a0 Dr. George Armelagos is a professor of anthropology.\u00a0 He studies mummified bones to find out how ancient Egyptians used to live.\u00a0 He recently made a discovery that shocked modern science.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart stopped— I said this is really big.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: He spotted traces of tetracycline, a modern wonder-drug, in bones 3,000 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such a remarkable discovery.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if you were unwrapping a mummy and you saw a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses attached to the head.\u00a0 It was that unusual.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Scientists told Armelagos he must have made a mistake.\u00a0 And with good reason.\u00a0 Tetracycline is an antibiotic not officially discovered until 1948.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we had to do then was to explain how the tetracycline got into the bone.\u201d\u00a0 [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Whatever got 20th<\/sup><\/span> century antibiotics into ancient bones must have been in the Egyptians diet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe tetracycline use was so prevalent in these bones that it had to be something that they\u2019re consuming every day.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: They tried all sorts of ancient recipes with no luck.\u00a0 Then they found one that fit the bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd all the sudden we came across the recipes for beer.\u00a0 So this gave us the possibility of beer being the source of the tetracycline.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Armelagos and his team brewed the beer according to the instructions of the 3,000 year old recipe.\u00a0 Incredibly, when they tested it, it was full of the modern antibiotic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s a definitive answer that this is tetracycline, and they were getting the tetracycline from beer.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: With the discovery, Armelagos was vindicated and the world of science was forced to accept the fact that ancient beer beat modern medicine by 3,000 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just mind-boggling.\u201d [G.A.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Officially, it was this grumpy looking man, Alexander Fleming, who discovered antibiotics in 1928, winning the Nobel Prize.\u00a0 But now it\u2019s time the real winner gets its share of the glory.\u00a0 Step forward: beer.\u00a0 [Coming up: How beer saved millions of lives in the Middle Ages.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Since caveman drank that very first drop, beer has created civilization, pioneered inventions like math and writing, and built the pyramids.\u00a0 But now it faces its biggest challenge yet: keeping people alive in Medieval Europe when life was nasty, brutish, and above all, short.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe chances of living to age 6 was probably somewhere around 50%.\u201d [R.U.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Warfare. Plague.\u00a0 But there\u2019s another killer: water.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRivers were fouled.\u00a0 Sewage went into them, the\u00a0offal from\u00a0butcher shops, tanneries dumped their waste into the rivers.\u00a0 The water was completely undrinkable, and if you drank the water, you got sick.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Dr. Charlie Bamforth is professor of brewing science at the University of California, Davis. He believes beer saved millions of lives in Medieval Europe, and he wants to prove it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to come up with an experiment which showed that the fundamental brewing process removed the microorganisms, the bacteria, that would make people sick.\u201d \u00a0[C.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Bamforth and his colleagues decide to brew up a typical Medieval beer.\u00a0 First, they take water from a duck pond and test it in a lab.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a test that\u2019s used in the food industry to see if a food has contamination of fecal coliform bacteria.\u201d [K.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Fecal?<\/em> Sounds ominous.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the bacteria like E. coli that cause really serious illness.\u00a0 The pond water was just loaded with this type of bacteria.\u201d [K.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Water with a twist of duck poop, it\u2019s a killer, just like Medieval times.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis water is not safe to drink.\u201d [K.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Now using a Medieval recipe, Bamforth\u2019s team brews up a 1,000 year old beer in a modern land.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe ground up the malt and mixed it with this water, and then after a period of an hour or so, then we collected the liquid, separated it off from the residual grains, and then we boiled it.\u201d [C.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: They let it ferment for a week.\u00a0 Now the results of the experiment.\u00a0 Is the beer safe?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter making the pond water into beer, I tested the sample again and found no evidence of any fecal coliform bacteria; making it safe to drink.\u201d [K.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: A miracle transformation: deadly water into drinkable beer.\u00a0 Of course we know today that the boiling killed the bacteria, but Medieval people had no idea.\u00a0 They just did it to make beer more tasty, accidentally saving millions of lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLife in the Middle Ages must have been pretty miserable, so beer absolutely would be the safest drink to consume.\u201d [C.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It worked for Medieval man, but what does the 21st<\/sup> century think of this beer?<\/span><\/p>\n

[Publicans in a bar]: \u201cSomething that\u2019s perfume-y a little bit about this.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s salty.\u201d \u201cTastes like nutmeg or something.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s good.\u00a0 I like it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Then we revealed the source of the beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Publicans in a bar]: \u201cIs that a joke? \u2026 It\u2019s not?\u201d \u201cDuck pond water? Well I guess the ducks are doing pretty good then, right?\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s gross.\u00a0 Aha, ha, ha.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Pond water was lethal, but people could still drink like fish in the Middle Ages, thanks to beer.\u00a0 And everybody, but everybody, joined in.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone drank beer.\u00a0 They drank beer from the cradle to the grave.\u201d\u00a0 [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: By the 16th<\/sup> century, people got through 300 liters of beer per year; every man, woman, and child.\u00a0 That\u2019s six times what we drink today.\u00a0 Yes, that\u2019s right: six times.\u00a0 With demand like that, beer was liquid gold and the group cashing in was the monks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe church didn\u2019t just make money off of beer, the church grew wealthy off of beer.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: In Mideval Europe, monks were the master brewers and beer was a godsend.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople naturally went to church because you were promised afterward that you were gonna get a beer.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The holy alliance of beer and bibles packed pews for centuries.\u00a0 But not even the church could monopolize ale forever.\u00a0 The beer business attracted a new breed: entrepreneurs.\u00a0 They took over brewing, and in the process, transformed Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer brewing was a critical factor in the developments of the economy.\u00a0 It was a spearhead in the creation of trade, commerce, banking, finance.\u201d [R.U.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Narrator<\/strong>: In other words, the creation of modern capitalism.\u00a0 And they still celebrate beer in Europe today. [Coming up: How beer crosses the ocean and helps establish America.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: America: Land of the free, home of the brave and built on beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer is the secret history of America.\u00a0 It\u2019s in our DNA.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Many of America\u2019s founding fathers had one thing in common.\u00a0 George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Sam Adams were all brewers. Together, they fermented a nation, along with Benjamin Franklin, for whom beer was more than just a drink, it was evidence of divine order in the universe.\u00a0 In his words: \u201cBeer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.\u201d\u00a0 Upon such inspirational messages, great nations are formed.\u00a0 But without beer, the first settlers might never have made it to America aboard the Mayflower.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer was vitally important on the Mayflower.\u00a0 Water would spoil in the hold of a ship, whereas beer was naturally preserved by alcohol and hops and it would stay fresh throughout the voyage.\u201d [D.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Beer kept the settlers alive on the voyage and determined the site of the founding colony.\u00a0 The Mayflower was headed for Virginia, but tragedy stuck: the ship ran out of beer.\u00a0 So they landed at the nearest point: Plymouth.\u00a0 Even then, beer was all they would drink.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe pilgrims come ashore, why aren\u2019t they drinking the water? Well, they knew that back in England that if you drank water you get sick.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Though America\u2019s streams were pristine, the settlers wouldn\u2019t touch water unless it was made into beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer was an absolute essential item for their survival.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Narrator<\/strong>: When the beer supply ran out, the colony hung in the balance.\u00a0 The settlers had to find a way of making beer.\u00a0 But they had no barely or hops until squirrels came to the rescue.\u00a0 Sounds nuts, but they gave settlers the idea of using acorns, and it worked.\u00a0 Acorn beer kept Plymouth alive.\u00a0 With Plymouth safe in the 17th<\/sup> century, beer went on to open up the rest of America by establishing an extraordinary communications network: the internet of the age.\u00a0 Before google, twitter, and facebook came the tavern.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe tavern was a center of commerce, it was a communication hub, it was the place where people passed information back and forth.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Taverns connected up America and turned a colony into a nation, because next, beer inspired one of the great events in human history: the American Revolution.\u00a0 On December 16th<\/sup>, 1773, the struggle for freedom from the British began here in the Green Dragon Tavern, Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sons of Liberty are gathering and they\u2019ve been talking about how oppressed they are.\u00a0 They have a beer, they talk some more treason.\u00a0 They have another.\u00a0 You can just feel their passions rising- you know something\u2019s going to happen that night.\u00a0 \u2018This is the time.\u00a0 Let\u2019s do it.\u2019\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The Sons of Liberty made for Boston harbor, boarded ships and dumped tea.\u00a0 The revolution was on, and the taverns held center stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe taverns became centers where revolutionary activity was discussed and debated and plotted and\u00a0 planned.\u201d [M.O.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Beer\u2019s role in the birth of America was so vital, it\u2019s fitting that the National Anthem was borrowed from an 18th<\/sup> century drinking song.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Men in a bar singing \u201cTo Anacreon in Heaven\u201d]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The words have changed, but the tune\u2019s the same.\u00a0 Back then, it was a sobriety test: if you could sing the song, you were okay for another round.\u00a0 Today, it\u2019s the Star-Spangled Banner.\u00a0 Beer helped found America and gave the young nation it\u2019s anthem into the bargain.\u00a0\u00a0 [Coming up: beer heals the sick and gives us a treat.]<\/span><\/p>\n

With the War of Independence won, beer was free to take on its greatest challenge of all: disease, humanity\u2019s oldest foe.\u00a0 In the 19th<\/sup> century, medicine was mired in the dark ages until beer rode to the rescue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer and science go hand in hand.\u201d [C.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Beer led medical science to a discovery so important that it established how we think about disease to this very day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of the fundamental science that we do today as it applies to health, disease and so on, came out of the brewing industry.\u00a0 Beer was the basis of modern medicine.\u201d\u00a0 [C.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It all started in the 1850s with scientist Louis Pasteur.\u00a0 He invented pasteurization.\u00a0 Tragically, people always link him to this [image of milk], but he was actually studying this [image of beer].<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome people think he was looking at milk, but in fact he was actually looking at beer, and beer was the first beverage, actually, to be pasteurized.\u00a0 [D.R.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Pasteur started by trying to answer a vexing question: Why does beer sometimes spoil?\u00a0 Then he made a startling discovery: beer is alive. Along with large round yeast cells, he spotted something smaller and more sinister.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe would have seen smaller bacteria cells. He concluded that the bacteria were causing the spoilage.\u201d [K.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Pasteur had discovered bacteria, a previously unknown microscopic life form. It was the reason beer was turning bad.\u00a0 But the discovery had massive implications for all humanity because next he asked himself a simple but brilliant question: if bacteria can make beer sick, could they do the same thing to people?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer is basically yes, and that is really the basis of germ theory.\u201d [C.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Germ theory sounds dull, but it\u2019s the cornerstone of modern medicine because before it, nobody had a clue that germs even existed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we had germ theory, people weren\u2019t sure what caused diseases.\u00a0 They thought it was caused by bad air coming off of the swamps or evil spirits.\u201d [K.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Swamps.\u00a0 Evil spirits.\u00a0 Try finding a pill for those.\u00a0 But Pasteur\u2019s revelation changed everything.\u00a0 For the first time, we realized that bacteria and germs caused sickness.\u00a0 And once you know the cause, you can look for a cure; vaccines which virtually wiped out killer diseases like smallpox and polio.\u00a0 Plus, doctors started washing their hands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the germ theory was understood, doctors, for example, might come straight from an autopsy to help a woman give birth.\u00a0 But after the discovery of this germ theory, just a simple recommendation— \u201cwash your hands before you help a woman give birth\u201d— the incidence of these infections went way down— saved millions of lives.\u201d [K.B.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: So now you know: wash your hands next time you deliver a baby, and give thanks to beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Publicans in a bar]: \u201cThat\u2019s absolutely awesome.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYou gotta love beer.\u201d \u201cBeer, thanks for everything.\u00a0 Cheers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: With disease ticked off the list, beer could now take on its next great challenge: heat.\u00a0 In the 19th<\/sup> century, heat meant rotting meat and vegetables.\u00a0 Sickness, disease, uninhabitable climates and some very grumpy people.\u00a0 All problems we solved today with something we take for granted: refrigeration.\u00a0 And guess who came up with the goods?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first commercially viable refrigeration systems were built by beer.\u00a0 They were developed because of the brewing industry— financed by the brewing industry initially, and applied most often to the brewing industry.\u201d\u00a0 [B.N.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It\u2019s all thanks to a new type of beer that took America by storm in the 19th<\/sup> century: lager.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLager beer changed America, and once it hit American shores, things were never the same again.\u201d [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It arrived in the 1840s along with German immigrants like Frederick Miller and Adolph Coors. \u00a0But unlike old-fashioned beers, lager beer had to be brewed cold.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTypically lagers need cold because we need to be able to undertake the fermentation slowly, that way we can control the beer flavor.\u201d\u00a0 [D.R.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: One hundred and fifty years ago, the only option was ice, carved from nature and shipped to the brewery.\u00a0 Far from ideal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIce is very heavy, which meant it was expensive to transport, and expensive to store and of course eventually it\u2019s going to melt.\u201d [M.O.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: When spring came, the beer dried up until the following winter.\u00a0 Every summer, brewers dreamed about creating cold, artificially.\u00a0 In the 19th<\/sup> century— science fiction.\u00a0 But beer has an eye for the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBrewers were keenly interested in the work being done in artificial refrigeration.\u201d [M.O.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Many thought them mad, but they poured money into research.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was automatic cold, right, this is like mass-produced cold air.\u00a0 Certainly an improvement over ice.\u201d [M.O.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Now, you wouldn\u2019t want this in your kitchen [footage of a large machine], but it\u2019s the world\u2019s first commercial fridge: the cold ammonia machine invented by Carl von Linde in 1881 for beer.\u00a0 For brewers, refrigeration was the goose that laid the golden egg.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you have refrigeration, you can make this beer year-round.\u201d\u00a0 [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: It made the beer industry millions, gave us a constant stream of cold lager, and changed the world forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRefrigeration has solved one of the greatest problems afflicting mankind: the storage of food.\u00a0 The beer industry made it possible for us to do that for billions of people.\u201d\u00a0 [B.N.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: There goes beer, saving lives again. Refrigeration means air-conditioning, the manufacture and storage of medicines, even the ability to keep organs alive for transplants.\u00a0 And most importantly, for this little girl: ice cream.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just so many different things that refrigeration does for us, we really would have a hard time existing without it nowadays.\u00a0 And just think of it: it\u2019s all due to beer.\u201d [B.N.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The quest for the perfect drop produced some of the greatest discoveries and inventions of the modern age. [Coming up: beer invents modern industry and gets ready to blast off into space.]<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 21st<\/sup> century, we live in the age of mass-production.\u00a0 Our standard of living is higher than ever before, all thanks to that great American icon: the factory.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe factory became the symbol of everything that was glorious about America and exemplified the American ability to look off into a future of infinite possibility.\u201d [M.O.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Most people think the factory was invented by Henry Ford and the motor car, but they\u2019re wrong.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the car that put America on the road to economic power, it was beer.\u00a0 Dr. Quintin Skrabec is a professor of American Industrial History.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer production revolutionized American industry.\u00a0 It really automated the production line at least ten years before Henry Ford.\u201d\u00a0 [Q.S]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: This is the machine that changed the world [film of an automated bottling machine], invented by Michael Owens in 1904, and it didn\u2019t make cars, it made beer bottles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at Michael Owens automated machine, there\u2019s no question, you have to say that it all started with beer.\u00a0 The first product he made on the machine was a beer bottle.\u201d [Q.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: A little known fact with massive ramifications.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOwens bottle making machine was the most significant machine invention in the 19th<\/sup> century— there\u2019s no question about it.\u201d [Q.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: In the first place, it spelled the end of child labor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it automated the glass industry which was the main abuser of child labor in the United States at the time, his machine virtually wiped out child labor in a matter of six to ten years.\u201d\u00a0 [Q.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Not only that, it completely transformed the economic landscape forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeer automated America.\u201d\u00a0 [Q.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Ten years before the first car rolled off the production line in 1914, companies like Miller and Coors had blazed the trail of automation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt changed the world, not only our country, and it all started with beer.\u201d [Q.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: Beer\u2019s forward march continues to this day.\u00a0 Americas now brew 6.2 billion gallons of beer every year and drink on average over 20 gallons of it each. Today, beer truly is the number one adult beverage on the planet.\u00a0 Tomorrow, it could well be number one in space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just think to myself how cool would it be sitting up in a space bar, floating around in zero-g, looking down at the Earth and having a beer.\u00a0 Just there\u2019d be nothing better.\u201d [J.M.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: With space tourism coming, Australian brewer Jaron Mitchell wants his beer to be first into orbit.\u00a0 But space beer must be flat because a burb in zero-g would be seriously bad news.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow, on Earth the water molecules and the gas molecules separate just due to gravity etc., in space they won\u2019t, so by burping in space you\u2019ll have liquid and gas simultaneously coming up.\u00a0 A wet burp.\u00a0 Beer in space, and there was fifty people in a space bar and there was zero-g and everybody was floating around, and everybody was wet burping— it\u2019d be a mess.\u00a0 One hell of a party.\u201d\u00a0 [J.M.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: The prototype space beer is uncarbonated, burp-proof, and ready for its first launch. And given beer\u2019s history, it\u2019s fitting that it should be with us at the final frontier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout history, many have proclaimed the greatness of beer, now we know just how great it truly is. So great that we could even use it as the official yardstick for human history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCommonly, history is divided into two parts: B.C. and A.D., and we think of it on a timeline.\u00a0 But we could also think of it as B.B. and A.B.: \u2018before beer\u2019 and \u2018after beer\u2019.\u00a0 Before beer: wild nomads roaming around, hunting-gathering.\u00a0After beer, people are settling in one spot, we\u2019re building towns, we\u2019re farming, we\u2019re developing towns, developing commerce. \u00a0Beer driving the building of cities and the establishment of science.\u00a0 Perhaps that\u2019s a better timeline for us to use.\u201d\u00a0 [G.S.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Narrator<\/strong>: For 10,000 years, beer has been the fuel in the engine of history.\u00a0 It\u2019s given us our greatest wonders and our most brilliant discoveries, not to mention, one heck of a ride.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it: beer hasn\u2019t just changed the world, it saved it.\u00a0 Cheers.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Produced for the Discovery Channel by Beyond Productions, PTY LTD, Copyright \u00a9 Discovery Communications Inc. 2011]<\/span><\/p>\n

(This transcript is intended for teaching\/educational purposes only.)<\/p>\n\n

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