Beer & World History One of the oldest beverages known to humankind, beer has an interesting and colorful history. Discovery Anthropologists can only make an educated guess at how beer was invented. Most likely, it was by accident. They believe the discovery went something like this. Nomadic hunter-gatherers collected wild grains for food. Somehow, possibly in a sudden rainstorm, a pool of warm water formed where the grain was stored. In a short time the grain fermented, turning the water into a thick dark liquid.