Where was beer first brewed and how was it believed to originate?

Egyptians had been thought to have brewed the first beer, but there now appears to have been even earlier beer brewing activity discovered by archaeologists in Mesopotamia.

Any time a stored grain collection might get wet, as through flooding or rain, there is potential for fermentation. It is possible some ancient Mesopotamian watched birds eat soggy grain and get drunk off it. After that the technique for wetting the grain to start the conversion of starch to sugar (maltose), drying it, cracking the grain and boiling it down for a malt would have involved a lot of trial and error to improve the final product.

Hop flowers were not added to beer until northern Eurpopeans (probably Germans) began doing that in medieval times. Nor was any early beer carbonated. The first carbonated beer probably occurred when a beer in a stout container was bottled too earlier (easy enough to do). People probably feared drinking foaming concoctions at first, but the amount of work required to brew beer might compel brave souls to sip a lively stout, and quickly realize how the carbonation improved the character of the beer.