By Daniel Strain /University of Colorado Boulder Oktoberfest, the German beer festival, kicked off this week in Munich. To mark the occasion, Travis Rupp, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Classics, tackles the question: “How old is beer?” Humans are no strangers to kicking back with a cool pint of beer. The Ancient Egyptians, for example, had a hankering for beer that was a little bit tart, almost like a modern-day gose, a lemony beer from Germany. Homer, the Ancient Greek poet, spoke of a beverage called κυκέων (pronounced “kee-kay-own), which was a mixture of grape wine and fermented grains. But exactly how old is beer? Old, says Rupp. Really, really old. Deeply Historic Role of Beer Rupp, a.k.a
