It isn't hard to explain... remnants of a former advanced civilization, spread throughout the world after a cataclysm, still remembered the basic techniques for making alcoholic drinks.

Chemical tests on ancient fragments of broken pottery show that Chinese villagers were brewing alcoholic drinks as far back as 7000 BC. That beats the previous record for the oldest evidence of brewing, found in Iran and dated at about 5400 BC. Why brewing developed nearly simultaneously in east Asia and the middle east is something “we haven't resolved yet", McGovern told New Scientist. "The expanse of central Asia in between would seem to preclude any direct connection," he says, but more research may show links - or a common origin.td>

Source: New Scientist