[tschmidlin]

As with a lot of fermented/moldy foodstuffs I think the discovery of beer was probably a hunger issue. Stored food went "off" and I'm not eating that! was cast aside when nothing was left and starvation became an issue.

And a wonderful discovery was made...

I think that's probably right euge.

And I'm not suggesting that beer was discovered before bread or gruel or anything, but to me bread doesn't seem like sufficient motivation to settle down and cultivate grain.  As long as you're settled down and cultivating grain then sure, bread and lots of other stuff.  Bouef.

[MrNate]

Yeah, I'm of the mind that the discovery of agriculture fueled the rise of civilization, and with it, beer and bread in short order.