Alcoholic beverages have origins that go back to prehistoric times, with evidence of early fermentation appearing in multiple ancient regions. While there isn’t a single inventor or pinpoint date, most scholars place the emergence of alcohol production thousands of years ago, long before written records. Key points to consider:

• Early fermentation likely occurred independently in different cultures as people discovered that fruit, grains, or honey could ferment and turn into drinkable alcohol.
• The oldest archaeological evidence often cited comes from Neolithic China (around 7000 BCE) in the Jiahu site, where jar residues suggest a fermented mixture of rice, honey, and fruit. This marks one of the earliest known examples of intentional fermentation, though other regions may have developed similar practices around the same era or earlier.
• Ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the broader Near East show extensive use of fermented beverages in ritual, daily life, and medicine, indicating that fermentation was well established by several millennia BCE.
• The general scientific explanation is that natural yeasts present in the environment would fermentation of sugars present in fruits, grains, or honey, producing ethanol over time. People likely recognized, refined, and standardized processes over generations.

If you’d like, I can summarize the major archaeological sites and oldest dated evidence from different regions, or provide a concise timeline highlighting the key milestones in the global development of alcoholic beverages.