A gentleman drinks.* A gentleman is discerning in what and how he drinks, for alcohol is art — from the method of its crafting, to the appreciation of its consumption, to the ideas released under its influence.

A gentleman is well-versed in beer, wine, and spirits, and cultivates an appreciation for each offering. A glass of Scotch, neat, is intimidating to the budding gentleman, but he is tenacious and determined to find the flavors and complexities that have bonded gentlemen over whiskey for centuries. (This column will address that most holy spirit in full on another day.)

Today, the Modern Urban Gentleman turns his focus to the deep historic ties the gentleman has with the hop-infused, fermented starch beverage known as beer. It may surprise some to learn that distilled spirits — gin, whiskey, vodka, brandy, tequila, et al — are an invention of a post-Caesar world: the earliest traces of distillation can be found in first century Greece. Indeed, the production of wine, beer, mead, and other fermented and brewed products, is rooted much deeper in human history.

The Modern Urban Gentleman leaves the historic perspective on wine to his most able colleague. Wine’s dear cousin, beer, has a story just as long and equally tied to the evolution of human culture. It is the gentleman’s duty to be a part of this link from past to present, to understand and to appreciate how the common thread of each sip of beer ties him to the cultures and concepts that have defined humanity.

The ongoing home brew movement is Gentleman to its core, and the Modern Urban Gentleman applauds those who invest themselves in this rich tradition. The godfather of home brewing, the man who took craft brewing mainstream, Sam Calagione, thrives on upending a beer industry that had fallen victim to mass production and watering down of flavors, and he does so to the benefit of gentlemen like us.

Calagione’s brewery, located in Milton, Del., is rekindling our connection to our ancient alcoholic roots. Since 1999, Dogfish Head Brewery has been researching, reconstructing, and releasing examples of prehistoric beverages to recapture the spirit of those times. In the days before purity laws and byzantine tax structures, there was no need to draw a line between a pale ale and a hefeweizen, a lager and an ale, even a beer and a wine. At a time when all alcoholic beverages were small-batch home brews or fermentations, the only applicable rules for these drinks was that they should be made to taste good and to create a slightly altered state of consciousness.

The Dogfish Head Ancient Ales series revives that genre-bending strategy, and the result is an entirely new set of flavors for our modern palettes. The seven concoctions available today are a veritable road trip across the ancient world. Each is derived from archaeological evidence uncovered at millennia-old settlement sites. The flavor profiles can seem, at first glance, off-putting. But the gentleman knows that discovery is only accomplished through adventure. Do not hesitate to try these brews:

• Midas Touch is the original Ancient Ale, and it is an easy-to-find, year-round offering in the eastern United States. The excavation of the tomb of King Midas in Turkey uncovered drinking vessels showing evidence of honey, white muscat grapes, and saffron. This has been reanimated as a “sweet-yet-dry” offering reminiscent of a beer/Chardonnay hybrid.
• The oldest known fermented beverage in history is a beer from China. Over 9,000 years ago, enterprising villagers in Jiahu mixed fermenting rice, honey, and fruit; today, Chateau Jiahu is available in limited quantities to anyone in Dogfish’s coverage area. The beverage contains orange blossom honey, muscat grape juice, barley malt, and hawthorn fruit, all brought together with sake yeast. This is truly an Ancient Ale.
• Theobroma means “food of the gods” and is the genus of the cacao plant. This makes complete sense, and what makes even more sense is to combine the food of the gods with the drink from heaven as well. With a recipe rooted in indigenous Honduras, the brew contains Aztec cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, honey, annatto, and gets an incredible, pleasing heat from the surprising addition of chilies. Theobroma is also a much lighter beer than any other “chocolate” offering on the shelves.
• It’s a safe bet most gentlemen have never sampled a beer from a recipe written in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Ta Henket offers a chance to change that. The centuries-old prescription, including hearth-baked bread and Middle Eastern herbs, is fermented with a yeast strain captured in a petri dish in present-day Cairo. Anyone who avoids hoppy beers will be pleased with this tasty treat.
• The history of Italy is inextricably linked with the one of god’s great gifts: wine. But Birra Etrusca Bronze proves that beer has been brewed in Europe’s boot for nearly 3,000 years. This beer is specifically taken from a tomb of the Etruscan civilization, an area now centered on Tuscany. Among its distinct ingredients are an heirloom Italian wheat, Italian chestnut honey, Ethiopian myrrh resin, and Delaware wildflower honey. Dogfish fermented its Birra Etrusca in bronze, while two Italian brewers are producing the same beer with wood and terra cotta.
• It has become commonplace to find beer infused with or influenced by coffee, but Dogfish has incorporated that other hot beverage sipped the world over. The blueprint for Sah’tea goes back “only” to ninth-century Finland. Sah’tea comes from rye wort caramelized over heated river rocks, fermented with a German weizen yeast, and flavored with wild Finnish juniper berries and black tea.
• The newest offering in the series is Kvasir, a mélange of wheat, cranberries, myrica gale, yarrow, honey, birch syrup, and a trademark of ancient and modern Nordic lands: lingonberries. Kvasir is a “toasty red winter wheat” with a pleasing pungency lent by the berries. Consider that this is the beer of a Danish upper-class dancer or priestess and the red-blooded gentleman must understand the appeal.

Dogfish Head truly plumbed the depths of the human experience not just by bringing these ingredients together, but also by incorporating the very methods used by our ancestors. Drinking these beers is an experience like no other: breathe the brisk Nordic air, feel the tart berry juice in the mouth, smell the North African and West Asian herbs, and taste the rich tapestry of flavors thanks to the efforts of the men and women at Dogfish Head Brewery.

Yet it would perhaps seem ironic that the Modern Urban Gentleman would bestow its blessing upon a company such as Dogfish Head. Indeed, the culture among the employees and masterminds of the business is decidedly anti-suit-and-tie. The company motto, after all, is “Off-centered ales for off-centered people.” But the Dogfish ethos of passion, innovation, tradition, and expression is a perfect reflection of the template for the modern urban gentleman.

Gentlemen of the U.S. East Coast, or gentlemen traveling there: Experience the Dogfish culture for yourself. The brewery offers free tours of its Milton facility that include four samples from its bar (book early), where an incredible wealth of knowledge and passion is on display in each employee. Then take a trip to the ocean and stop by the Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where the food is excellent, the music is live, and a few experimental beers are always on tap.

Dogfish Head is, of course, not alone in revolutionizing the brewing world. But its commitment to learning from history makes it a perfect entry point for gentlemen looking to join the community of drinkers that binds all mankind.

* — The art of drinking balances enjoyment and self-control. In that vein, there is one and only one acceptable reason not to drink, and that is when a gentleman knows that his self-control will not allow him to imbibe responsibly. Those who are working to overcome a substance abuse problem are exemplars of self-control and afforded all the respect of a gentleman.

Before we part ways this week, the Modern Urban Gentleman would be remiss if he did not make a brief comment on the men’s fashion of the Academy Awards (due in no part to the prodding of a certain feminist). GQ named Bradley Cooper its best-dressed man of the night, and the Modern Urban Gentleman won’t knock the choice, but he would go in a different direction.

For two years running, the best dressed man at the Oscars has been Daniel Day-Lewis. Last year, he wore a midnight blue tuxedo as he accepted the Best Actor award for his role in Lincoln; this year, he presented Best Actress to Cate Blanchett in a classic shawl collar black tux with a killer patterned pocket square. The actor defines what it means to be a modern urban gentleman.

Another actor who pulls off black-tie flawlessly is Christoph Waltz. He does nothing special with his tuxedos; he just nails the size and fit and carries himself like someone who belongs on any red carpet. He looked great winning an award last year, and kept it up as a presenter this year.

The Modern Urban Gentleman will present a full-length primer on tuxedos in the future. Stay tuned.