Kegged, Casked, Bottled or Canned: 10,000 Years of Beer

Kegged, Casked, Bottled, or Canned: 10,000 Years of Beer zeroes in on the intoxicating brew’s history, which dates back to the 6th millennium B.C. One of the world’s oldest beverages, beer is mentioned in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian accounts and also shows up in the earliest Sumerian writings. In Europe, beer’s colorful past includes this tidbit—during the Middle Ages, monks brewed it to drink while fasting (a loophole in the rules allowed liquids). During the industrial revolution, the invention of steam engines and refrigerators made brewing a science. This exhibition tells the story with advertising material, tap handles, metal signs, prints, beer steins, and fixtures from the home brewing industry.