title_body: When was the first beer ever brewed?
upvoted_answer: As Slyboty notes correctly, beer is a very ancient drink predating the oldest written records (and likely any archeological discoveries.) For millennia though beer was made only from fermented malt with various add-ons.
  
  The major change that gave origin to modern beers though is the addition of hops, for the first time creating a beer closely resembling modern lagers. The first documented use of hops in beer is dated 822 A.D. [source] although records of hops cultivation dates back to 736 [source] which suggests use of hops in brewing predates written records by a considerable margin.