酿酒，是指应用酒精发酵等的手段生产含有酒精饮料的过程。根据原料和加工方式的不同，酿酒使用的微生物以及酿酒的过程各异。

酿酒是世界上最古老的食品加工方式之一，发酵也是人类较早接触的一种生物化学反应。酿酒的历史可追溯到新石器时代，伊朗西部的札格罗斯山脉的戈丁山丘一带苏美人留下了啤酒的制作方法的相关文献。此外，已出土的文物中记载了一首《给女神宁卡西的圣歌》，提到了美索不达米亚平原的啤酒酿造技术。

在古代中国，酿酒在夏朝或者以前可能已经存在。 一种说法为仪狄发明了酿酒的方法。 另一则传说则认为酿酒始于杜康。。到了周代，酿酒已发展出规模，并设置有专门管理酿酒的“酒正”、“酒人”、“郁人”、“浆人”、“大酋”等管职；《周礼》中有记载“ 五齐”、“ 三酒” 等酒名。1987年在中国河南东南部商代墓地出土古酒，是古代中国人已掌握酿酒技术的最早记录。

Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, at home by a homebrewer, or by a variety of traditional methods such as communally by the indigenous peoples in Brazil when making cauim. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archaeological evidence suggests that emerging civilizations including ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia brewed beer. Since the nineteenth century the brewing industry has been part of most western economies.