Final answer:
The sweetness of beer would have been highly valued by Mesopotamians due to the scarcity of other sweets. The production of maltose from grain soaking in water, necessary for beer-making, offered both a unique flavor and a method to preserve grains and ensure a safer drinking supply.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Mesopotamians learned that grain soaked in water tasted sweet due to the production of diastase enzymes, which convert starch to maltose sugar. This process of fermentation likely led to the creation of beer, and given the scarcity of other sweetness sources at the time, the sweetness of beer would have been highly valued. Though fruits and honey were available as sweeteners, beer played a significant cultural and nutritional role in ancient civilizations, and because of its relative novelty and function as both a food and a drink, its sweetness would indeed have been highly prized.
Maltose, also known as malt sugar, is released during the beer-making process from the partial hydrolysis of starch by malt, primarily from germinating barley. Maltose is about 30% as sweet as sucrose, making it a valuable source of sweetness in a world where sweet foods and flavors were limited. Moreover, the process of beer-making facilitated the preservation of grains and provided a safer alternative to often unsanitary water supplies, further increasing the value of beer in these societies.