Beer – Wine – Beverages

While traveling through Europe you’ll find great beers, wonderful wines and popular local beverages to compliment Europe’s diverse cuisine. For centuries European’s have taken the crafting of beer and the aging of wine to levels of acceptance the world over. When traveling across Europe restaurants will recommend and serve local favorites that won’t disappoint.

 Legal Drinking Ages in Europe…

Most countries in Europe allow for the consumption of alcohol in private at any age, they may not in public. It is also lawful to consume in public at ages anywhere from 16 or older. Countries may have higher age requirements distilled spirits than those ages allowed for beer, wine and cedar.

While there may be low age, or even no age, requirement for the consumption of alcohol , there may be stricter laws on the sale and or purchase of alcohol. A country may ban the sale to anyone under 18 yet there is no age for the consumption of alcohol.

The earliest evidence of wine production in ancient times may have started in Armenia around 4100 BC. Wine spread westward throughout the Mediterranean by the Phoenicians and became an important drink in Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Romans cultures. As the Romans expanding their empire they took with them them their knowledge of viticulture, planting vineyards into the conquered areas of Gaul, Iberia and Germania. Monks during the middle ages became major producers of supplying wine for the celebration of mass. In fact Benedictine monks invented sparkling wine near Carcassonne in 1531. Since those early years wine has become a common drink of all social classes. 

Europe makes around two thirds of the world’s wine. This year global production is expected to hit 271 million hectolitres, or 27.1 billion litres. In Europe today there are over 22,000 wine producers who make over 123,000 different wines from over 1,900 growing areas. 

There archaeological evidence that shows forms of barley fermentation around 3500 BC. Recorded history shows beer in ancient Egypt and Iraq. Beer was spread throughout Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes. Early beer wouldn’t be recognizable from todays beers as they didn’t consist of hops. Early beers would have been made fruits, honey, numerous plants, spices and narcotic herbs. For centuries beer was only produced domestically and by monasteries. Not until the industrial revolution was beer industrially manufactured.

The hub of modern brewing, Europe is home to an estimated 80 beer styles and 50,000 different beer brands. Europe’s estimated 8500 breweries, dispersed across the continent are a major impact on the European economy and lifestyle. They consist of microbreweries, brew pubs, regional players and larger breweries that produce beer for world wide exporting. 

Beer brewing produces a diversity of tastes for varied pallets.