Janus Brian was down to his last couple of bottles of kitchen garden wine, while the stuff he was brewing was by now barely more potent than lemonade.

BBC: CLOUD ATLAS, BY DAVID MITCHELL

Though it seems to have evolved in ancient Mesopotamia, beer found its true home in northern Europe, where wine grapes did not grow naturally and people were forced into the more complicated process of brewing.

FORBES: Coolest Beers