Here are a few quirky facts about beer:

Some 5,000 years ago the Chinese brewed a beer called 'kui'

A 4,000-year-old clay tablet was discovered in Mesopotamia which indicates that brewing was highly respected - and the master brewers were women

In ancient Babylon, the women brewers were also priestesses. Goddesses Siris and Nimkasi were patronesses of beer, and certain types were exclusively brewed for temple ceremonies

Beer mugs over 3,000 years old were uncovered in Israel in the 1960s. Archaeologists said the find at Tel Isdar indicated Israelis' beer drinking went back to the days of King Saul and King David

An Assyrian tablet from 2,000BC lists beer among the foods Noah used to provision the ark

Beer came into its own in the Christian era through the influence of the monasteries. Monks often built the first breweries as pioneers of the hotel business, providing shelter, food and drink to pilgrims and other travellers

European beer first arrived in America with Christopher Columbus' ships. On his last voyage to America in 1502, Columbus found the natives of Central America making a first-rate brew "of maize, resembling English beer".