Minecraft wiki entry for Development_versions, associated text: Beta 1.9 Prerelease[1][2][3] is the first pre-release for Java Edition 1.0.0, released on September 22, 2011,[4] which adds nether fortresses, 6 new blocks including nether bricks and some variants, 5 new mobs including villagers, 4 new items including ghast tears, the mushroom island biome and some minor changes.