Beer hasn't always been called beer ! In medieval times, this drink was named in a wide variety of ways. Cervoise, gruit, barley wine or sikaru, the way beer was called varied greatly in the Kingdom of France.

Please note that sikaru refers, in the Akkadian language, to beer. It can be translated as liquid bread. This is a reference to the purely accidental manufacture of this drink, in the Mesopotamian region (present-day Iraq). A Sumerian forgot his dry barley bread in his water, which was then transformed into beer.

However, from the 15th century onwards, the term beer began to spread. This popularisation can be explained by an ordinance published in 1435 by King Charles VII. This legislation aimed to regulate the trade in this drink. The term has several origins, from Latin, Germanic and Dutch. In particular, it is derived from the words biber, beuza and bera.

Read our articles about the origin of word beer and the birth of first beers !