In the first half of the Twentieth Century, Australians drank more beer per capita than any other country in the world.
Beer is one of the oldest drinks produced by humans dating back to before 5000 BC in Iran. It was recorded in the ancient history of places such as Egypt, Mesopotamia and China.
As most cereals containing certain sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeast in the air, it is highly likely that different forms of beer were independently developed across the globe.
By the 7th Century AD beer was being produced and sold by monasteries across Europe.
During the Industrial Revolution the production of beer became industrially manufactured.
Across the planet today nearly 135 billion litres of beer are sold annually producing gross revenues over US$300 billion.
Beer arrived in Australia with the arrival of the First Fleet (although technically Captain Cook had beer aboard the Endeavour).
By the early part of the 21st Century Australia had fallen to fourth on the table of per capita beer consumption. However, on an annual basis we still consume around 110 litres per head of adult population.
While rum was the initial drink of alcoholic choice in the early Australian colonies, beer quickly came to prominence in the 19th Century.
The first official brewer in Australia was John Boston who in Sydney in early 1796 brewed a beverage from Indian corn battered with cape gooseberry leaves.
The first pub in our country was the Mason Arms in Parramatta opened in 1796 by James Laura, a freed convict.
Over the years there have been dozens of brewing companies in Australia. Today the industry has been rationalised with the two largest players Fosters Group and Lion Nathan being owned respectively by the Japanese companies Asahi and Kirin Brewing Company.
The oldest Australian-owned brewery is the family owned Coopers Brewery based in Adelaide.
The oldest brewery still in operation is the Cascade Brewery, Hobart, which was established in1824.
Speciality beers are produced across Australia by a variety of microbreweries and both major brewers.
Most speciality and international labelled beers as produced by the two majors brewery companies.
In spite of the increasing popularity of speciality beers, the most popular Australian beer is Carlton Draught, drunk by 17% of the country's beer drinkers, followed by Victoria Bitter (12%), XXX Gold (12%) and Cooper's {ale Ale (11%).
More than three quarters (76%) of Australia's beer drinkers are men.
