Beer

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Beer is the world's oldest^[1] and most popular^[2] alcoholic beverage, selling more than 133 billion litres (35 billion gallons) per year - producing total global revenues of $331.8 billion in 2004.^[3] It is produced by the fermentation of sugars derived from starch-based material—the most common being malted barley; however wheat, corn and rice are also widely used, usually in conjunction with the barley. Less widely used starch sources include cassava root in Africa, potato in Brazil, and agave in Mexico.

Alcoholic beverages fermented from nonstarch sources such as grape juice (wine) or honey (mead), and distilled beverages are not considered to be beer.

The basic ingredients of the vast majority of beers are malted barley, hops, water and yeast. Hops are used to impart bitterness, flavour and aroma to beer, and also for their natural antiseptic qualities. The yeast in beer causes fermentation.

Beer uses varying ingredients, production methods and traditions. The type of yeast and production method may be used to classify beer into ale, lager and spontaneously fermented beers. Some beer writers and organisations differentiate and categorise beers by various factors into beer styles.

Contents 1 History 2 Etymology 3 Mythology 4 Brewing 5 Ingredients 5.1 Water 5.2 Starch source 5.3 Hops 5.4 Yeast 5.5 Clarifying agent 6 Styles 6.1 Categorising by yeast 6.1.1 Ale 6.1.2 Lager 6.1.3 Lambic beers: spontaneous fermentation 6.2 Pale and dark beer 7 Serving 7.1 Draught and keg 7.2 Cask-conditioned ales 7.3 Bottles 7.4 Cans 7.5 Serving temperature 7.6 Vessels 8 Beer and Society 8.1 Social context 8.2 International consumption 8.3 Rating 8.4 Health effects 9 Alcoholic strength 9.1 Exceptional strength beers 10 Related beverages 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External links

History

Main article: History of beer

Beer is one of the oldest human-produced beverages, possibly dating back to at least the 7th millennium BC (perhaps prior even to bread), and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.^[4] Earliest known chemical evidence of beer dates to circa 3500-3100 BC.^[5] As almost any substance containing carbohydrates, namely sugar or starch, can naturally undergo fermentation, it is likely that beer-like beverages were independently invented among various cultures throughout the world.

Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution was mainly made and sold on a domestic scale; though by the 7th century AD beer was also being produced and sold by European monasteries. During the Industrial Revolution, the manufacture of beer moved from artisan manufacture to industrial manufacture, and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century.^[6] The development of hydrometers and thermometers were scientific advances that changed brewing because they allowed the brewer more control of the brewing process and greater knowledge of the results.

Today, the brewing industry is a huge global business, consisting of several multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries to increasingly popular home brewing.

Etymology

Of the two terms, beer and ale, the latter is the older in English. It is believed to come directly from the proto-Indo European root *alu-, through Germanic *aluþ- ([1]). The same word is the stem, through borrowing, for Finnish olut and Estonian õlu and the direct root of Swedish öl, Danish and Norwegian øl and Latvian/Lithuanian alus. Beer, on the other hand, is considered to come from the Latin verb bibere (to drink, [2]). Old English sources distinguish between "ale" and "beer," but do not define what was meant by "beer" during that period, although there is some speculation that it refers to what would now be called cider, the alcoholic form. The Old English form of "beer" disappeared shortly after the Norman Conquest, and the word re-entered English centuries later, in exclusive reference to hopped malt beverages. The beverage is termed "cerveza", or a derivative, in the various dialects of Spanish and Portuguese, from Latin cerevisia. Most other Western European (and even some Eastern European) languages use a form similar to the English "beer." The Common Slavic *pivo, literally "beverage", is the word for beer in most Slavic languages, with minor phonetic variations.

Mythology

The Finnish epic Kalevala, collected in written form in the 19th century but based on oral traditions many centuries old, devotes more lines to the origin of beer and brewing than it does to the origin of mankind.

The British drinking song "Beer, Beer Beer" ([3]) attributes the invention of beer to the presumably fictional Charlie Mopps:

A long time ago, way back in history

When all there was to drink was nothin' but cups of tea,

Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mopps

And he invented the wonderful drink, and he made it out of hops.

...

The mythical Flemish king Gambrinus (from Jan Primus (John I)), is sometimes credited with the invention of beer.

According to Czech legend, deity Radegast, god of mutuality, invented beer.

Brewing

For a full explanation, see Brewing

Beer is made by brewing. The essential stages of brewing are mashing, sparging, boiling, fermentation, and packaging. Most of these stages can be accomplished in several different ways, but the purpose of each stage is the same regardless of the method used to achieve it.

Mashing manipulates the temperature of a mixture of water and a starch source (known as mash) in order to convert starches to fermentable sugars. The mash goes through one or more stages of being raised to a desired temperature and left at the temperature for a period of time. During each of these stages, enzymes in the starch source produce compounds needed for fermentation and further mashing, including the fermentable sugars. The number of stages required in mashing depends on the starch source used to produce the beer. Most malted barley used today requires only a single stage.

Sparging (a.k.a. lautering) extracts the fermentable liquid, known as wort, from the mash. During sparging the mash is in a vessel known as a lauter-tun, which has a porous barrier through which wort but not grain can pass. The brewer allows the wort to flow past the porous barrier and collects the wort. The brewer also adds water to the lauter-tun and lets it flow through the mash and collects it as well. This rinses fermentable liquid from the grain in the mash and allows the brewer to gather as much of the fermentable liquid from the mash as possible. The leftover grain is not further used in making the beer.

Boiling sterilizes the wort and increases the concentration of sugar in the wort. The wort collected from sparging is put in a kettle and boiled, usually for about one hour. During boiling, water in the wort evaporates, but the sugars and other components of the wort remain; this allows more efficient use of the starch sources in the beer. Hops are added during boiling in order to extract bitterness, flavor and aroma from them. Hops may be added at more than one point during the boil. As hops are boiled longer, they contribute more bitterness but less hop flavor and aroma to the beer.

Fermentation uses yeast to turn the sugars in wort to alcohol and carbon dioxide. During fermentation, the wort becomes beer. Once the boiled wort is cooled and in a fermenter, yeast is propagated in the wort and it is left to ferment, which requires a week to months depending on the type of yeast and strength of the beer. In addition to producing alcohol, fine particulate matter suspended in the wort settles during fermentation. Once fermentation is complete, the yeast also settles, leaving the beer clear. Fermentation is sometimes carried out in two stages, primary and secondary. Once most of the alcohol has been produced during primary fermentation, the beer is transferred to a new vessel and allowed a period of secondary fermentation. Secondary fermentation is used when the beer requires long storage before packaging or greater clarity.

Packaging, the fifth and final stage of the brewing process, prepares the beer for distribution and consumption. During packaging, beer is put into the vessel from which it will be served—a keg, cask, can or bottle. Beer is carbonated in its package, either by forcing carbon dioxide into the beer or by "natural carbonation." Naturally carbonated beers have a small amount of sugar added to them during packaging. This causes a short period of fermentation which produces carbon dioxide to carbonate the beer.

Ingredients

Main articles: Malt and Barley

The basic ingredients of beer are water; a fermentable starch source, such as malted barley; and yeast. It is common for a flavouring to be added, the most popular being hops. A mixture of starch sources may be used, with the secondary starch source, such as maize, rice and sugar, often being termed an adjunct, especially when used as a lower cost substitute for malted barley.

Water

Beer is composed mostly of water, and water used to make beer nearly always comes from a local source. The mineral components of water are important to beer because minerals in the water influence the character of beer made from it. Different regions have water with different mineral components. As a result, different regions are better suited to making certain types of beer. For example, Dublin has hard water well-suited to making stout, for which Dublin is famous, and Pilzen has soft water well-suited to making pilsener, for which it is famous, but water from these cities could not be used to make the other's style of beer.^[7] As a result, the mineral components of water probably have an effect on the evolution of beer styles.^[8]

Starch source

The starch source in a beer provides the fermentable material in a beer and is a key determinant of the flavor of the beer. The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain. Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination, and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln. Malting grain produces enzymes that convert starches in the grain into fermentable sugars. Different roasting times and temperatures are used to produce different colours of malt from the same grain. Darker malts will produce darker beers.

Nearly all beer includes barley malt as the majority of the starch. This is because of its fiberous husk, which is important in the sparging stage of brewing, and high concentration of amylase, a digestive enzyme which facilitates conversion of starch into sugars. Other malted and unmalted grains (including wheat, rice, oats, and rye, and less frequently, maize and sorghum) may be used.

Hops

Main article: Hops

The flower of the hop vine is used as a flavoring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. The flowers themselves are often called "hops." Hops have commonly been used as a bittering agent in beer for over a thousand years, but the earliest evidence of cultivation for this purpose dates back to the seventeenth century.^{[citation needed]} Hops contain several characteristics that brewers desire in beer: hops contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt; hops also contribute floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavors to beer; hops have an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms; and the use of hops aids in "head retention",^[9][10] the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. The bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale. Beer is the sole major commercial use of hops.

Yeast

Main articles: Brewer's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Saccharomyces uvarum

Yeast is the microorganism that is responsible for fermentation in beer. Yeast metabolizes the sugars extracted from grains, which produces alcohol and carbon dioxide, and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition to fermenting the beer, yeast influences the flavors in beer. The dominant types of yeast used to make beer are ale yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and lager yeast (Saccharomyces uvarum); their use distinguishes ale and lager. Brettanomyces ferments lambics, and Torulaspora delbrueckii ferments Bavarian weissbier. Before the role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts. A few styles such as lambics rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast cultures directly to wort.

Clarifying agent

Some brewers add one or more clarifying agents to beer. Common examples of these include Isinglass finings, obtained from swimbladders of fish; kappa carrageenan, derived from seaweed; Irish moss, a type of red alga; polyclar (artificial), and gelatin.

Styles

Main article: Beer style

A great many beers are brewed across the globe. Local traditions will give beers different names, giving the impression of a multitude of different styles. However, the basics of brewing beer are shared across national and cultural boundaries.

The British beer writer Michael Jackson wrote about beers from around the world in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer and organised them into local style groups based on local information. This book had an influence on craft and homebrewers in United States who developed an intricate system of categorising beers which is exemplified by the Beer Judge Certification Program.

The traditional European brewing regions—the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, The Netherlands and Austria—all have local varieties of beer. In some countries, notably the USA, Canada and Australia, brewers have adapted European styles to such an extent that they have effectively created their own indigenous types.

Categorising by yeast

Main article: Brewer's yeast

A common method of categorizing beer is by the behaviour of the yeast used in the fermentation process. In this method of categorising, those beers which use a fast acting yeast which leaves behind residual sugars are termed ales, while those beers which use a slower and longer acting yeast which removes most of the sugars leaving a clean and dry beer are termed lagers.

Ale

Main article: Ale

A modern ale is commonly defined by the strain of yeast used and the fermenting temperature.

Ales are normally brewed with top-fermenting yeasts, though a number of British brewers, including Fullers and Weltons, use ale yeast strains that have less pronounced top-fermentation characteristics.^[11] The important distinction for ales is that they are fermented at higher temperatures and thus ferment more quickly than lagers.

Ale is typically fermented at temperatures between 15 and 24 °C (60 and 75 °F). At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and the result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling but not limited to apple, pear, pineapple, banana, plum, or prune. Typical ales have a sweeter, fuller body than lagers.

Differences between some ales and lagers can be difficult to categorise. Steam beer, Kölsch, Alt and some modern British Golden Summer Beers use elements of both lager and ale production. Baltic Porter and Bière de Garde may be produced by either lager or ale methods or a combination of both. However, lager production results in a cleaner tasting, dryer and lighter beer than ale.

Lager

Main article: Lager

Lager is the English name for bottom-fermenting beers of Central European origin. They are the most commonly-consumed beer in the world. The name comes from the German lagern ("to store"). Lager yeast is a bottom-fermenting yeast, and typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7-12 °C (45-55 °F) (the "fermentation phase"), and then is given a long secondary fermentation at 0-4 °C (32-40 °F) (the "lagering phase"). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions also inhibit the natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "crisper" tasting beer.

Modern methods of producing lager were pioneered by Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger, who perfected dark brown lagers at the Spaten Brewery in Bavaria, and Anton Dreher, who began brewing a lager, probably of amber-red color, in Vienna in 1840–1841. With modern improved yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically 1–3 weeks.

Lambic beers: spontaneous fermentation

Main article: Lambic

Lambic beers use wild yeasts, rather than cultivated ones. Many of these are not related to brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces), and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness. Yeast varieties such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus are quite common in lambics. In addition, other organisms such as Lactobacillus bacteria produce acids which contribute to the sourness.

Pale and dark beer

The most common color is a pale amber produced from using pale malts. Pale lager is a term used for beers made from malt dried with coke. Coke had been first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it wasn't until around 1703 that the term pale ale was first used.^[12]

In terms of volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in the town of Pilsen, in the Czech Republic. The modern Pilsner lager is light in colour and high in carbonation, with a strong hop flavour and an alcohol by volume content of around 5%. The Pilsner Urquell, Bitburger, König Pilsener, and Heineken brands of beer are typical examples of pale lager, as are the American brands Budweiser, Coors, and Miller.

Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or pils malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants - such as caramel - are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as stout, use dark or patent malts. These have been roasted longer.

Serving

Draught and keg

Main articles: Draught beer, Widget (beer), and Keg beer

Draught beer from a pressurised keg is the most common method of dispensing in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurised with carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas which drives the beer to the dispensing tap or faucet. Some beers, notably stouts, such as Guinness and "Smooth" bitters, such as Boddingtons, may be served with a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture. Nitrogen produces fine bubbles, resulting in a dense head and a creamy mouthfeel.

In the 1980s Guinness introduced the beer widget, a nitrogen pressurised ball inside a can which creates a foamy head.^[13] The words "draft" and "draught" are often used as marketing terms to describe canned or bottled beers containing a beer widget.

Cask-conditioned ales

Main article: Cask ale

Cask-conditioned ales (simply referred to as "Cask Ales" in the US) are the unfiltered and unpasteurised beers often called "Real Ale" in the UK. Typically, when a cask of real ale arrives in a pub, it is placed horizontally on a stillage and allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically around 13 °C / 55.4 °F), before being tapped and vented — a tap is driven through a (usually rubber) bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard spile or other implement is used to open a hole in the side of the cask, which is now uppermost. The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period to "drop" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition — this period can take anywhere from several hours to several days. At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being "gravity-fed" directly into the glass.

Bottles

Main article: Beer bottle

Most beers are filtered before bottling; see Filtered beer. Some, however, are bottle conditioned.

Main article: Bottle conditioning

Bottle conditioned beers are unfiltered and unpasteurised. It is usually recommended that the beer is poured slowly, leaving any yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. However, some drinkers prefer to pour in the yeast; this practice is, in fact, customary with wheat beers. Typically, when serving a hefeweizen, 90% of the contents are poured, and the remainder is swirled to suspend the sediment before pouring it into the glass. Alternately, the bottle is inverted prior to opening.

Cans

Main article: Beer can

Many beers are sold in beer cans, though there is considerable variation in the proportion between different countries. In 2001, in Sweden 63.9% of beer was sold in cans, in the Netherlands none at all.^[14] People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass. Cans protect the beer from light and have a seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles. Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, but are now commonly associated with less-expensive, mass-produced beers such as US-made Budweiser and Miller, who also sell their lines of beer in bottles as well. Good-quality imported beers and many in-country micro-brewed beers will usually be bought in beer bottles.

Serving temperature

The temperature of a beer has an influence on a drinker's experience. Colder temperatures allow fully attenuated beers such as pale lagers to be enjoyed for their crispness; while warmer temperatures allow the more rounded flavours of an ale or a stout to be perceived. Beer writer Michael Jackson proposes a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled (7 °C/45 °F) for "light" beers (American and Australian lagers), chilled (8 °C/47 °F) for Berliner Weisse and Canadian Ales and Pilsners, lightly chilled (9 °C/48 °F) for European lagers, all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers, cellar temperature (13 °C/55 °F) for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialities and room temperature (15.5 °C/60 °F) for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer) and barley wine.

Vessels

Main article: Beer glassware

Beer is drunk from a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a beer stein, a mug, a pewter tankard or even a beer bottle or can. Many drinkers consider that the type of vessel influences their enjoyment of the beer. In Europe, many breweries produce glassware intended only for their own beers.

The pouring process has an influence on a beer's presentation.

The rate of flow from the tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the center or down the side) into the glass all influence the end result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and turbulence of the beer and its release of carbonation.

Unfiltered bottled beers may be served with the addition of the remaining yeast at the bottom of the bottle to add both flavour and colour.

Beer and Society

Social context

See also: Category:Beer culture

Various social traditions and activities are associated with beer drinking, such as playing cards, darts or other pub games; attending beer festivals, or visiting a series of different pubs in one evening; rating beer; joining an organization such as CAMRA; or brewing beer at home. Various drinking games, such as beer pong, and Quarters are also very popular.

International consumption

See also: Beer consumption by country

Beer is considered to be a social lubricant in many societies.^[15] Beer is consumed in countries all over the world. There are breweries in Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Syria as well as African countries (see African beer) and remote countries such as Mongolia. Sales of beer are four times as much as wine, the second most popular alcoholic beverage.^[16][17]

Rating

Main article: Beer rating

Rating beer is a recent craze that combines the enjoyment of beer drinking with the hobby of collecting. People drink beer and then record their scores and comments on various internet web sites, such as ratebeer.com [4] and beeradvocate.com [5]. This is a worldwide activity and people in the USA will swap bottles of beer with people living in New Zealand and Russia. People's scores may be tallied together to create lists of the most popular beers in each country (among the participants) as well as the most highly rated beers in the world.

Image:99bottlesbeerstore.jpg Many people who are enjoying the hobby of rating beer are also turning into beer connoisseurs. These connoisseurs are collecting and cellaring bottle-conditioned ales with high alcohol volumes (ABV); like fine wines, many of these ales and barleywine styles improve with age. Cellarable ales and hardy barleywines can be obtained from specialty beer stores.

Health effects

Main articles: Alcohol consumption and health and Beer belly

The moderate consumption of alcohol, including beer, is associated with better health and greater longevity than is either abstaining or drinking heavily, although there is absolutely no proof of this.^[18]Beer, like wine, is hormetic.^[19]

Brewer's yeast is known to be a rich source of nutrients; therefore, as expected, beer can contain significant amounts of nutrients, including magnesium, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, biotin, and B vitamins. In fact, beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread".^[20] Some sources maintain that filtered beer loses much of its nutrition.^[21][22]

A 2005 Japanese study found that low alcohol beer may possess strong anti-cancer properties.^[23] Another study found nonalcoholic beer to mirror the cardiovascular benefits associated with moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages.^[24] However, much research suggests that the primary health benefit from alcoholic beverages comes from the alcohol they contain.^[25]

It is considered that over-eating and lack of muscle tone is the main cause of a beer belly, rather than beer consumption. A recent study, however, found a link between binge drinking and a beer belly. But with most overconsumption it is more a problem of improper exercise and overconsumption of carbohydrates than the product itself.^[26]

There is evidence that very heavy and prolonged consumption of alcohol may lead to liver damage and also leave the organ vulnerable to cancer cells. Beer consumption is associated with gout.

Alcoholic strength

Beer ranges from less than 3% alcohol by volume (abv) to almost 30% abv. The alcohol content of beer varies by local practice^[27] or beer style. The pale lagers that most consumers are familiar with fall in the range of 4-6%, with a typical abv of 5%.^[28] The customary strength of British ales is quite low, with many session beers being around 4% abv.^[29][30] Some beers, such as tafelbier (table beer) are of such low alcohol content (1%~4%)that they are served instead of soft drinks in some schools.^[31]

The alcohol in beer comes primarily from the fermentation of sugars that are produced during mashing. The quantity of fermentable sugars in the wort and the variety of yeast used to ferment the wort are the primary factors that determine the amount of alcohol in the final beer. Additional fermentable sugars are sometimes added to increase alcohol content, and enzymes are often added to the wort for certain styles of beer (primarily 'light' beers) to convert more complex carbohydrates (starches) to fermentable sugars. Alcohol is a waste product of yeast metabolism and is toxic to the yeast; typical brewing yeast cannot survive at alcohol concentrations above 12% by volume. Low temperatures and too little fermentation time decrease the effectiveness of yeasts, and consequently decrease the alcohol content.

Exceptional strength beers

Some brewers have used champagne yeasts to increase the alcohol content of their beers. Samuel Adams reached 20% abv with Millennium^[32] and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% abv with Utopias. The strongest beer sold in Britain was Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout, a 21% abv stout which was available from UK Safeways in 2003.^[33] In Japan in 2005, the Hakusekikan Beer Restaurant sold an eisbock, strengthened through "freeze distillation", believed to be 28% abv.^[34] The beer that is considered to be the strongest yet made is Hair of the Dog's Dave - a 29% abv^[35] barley wine made in 1994.

Related beverages

See Category:Fermented beverages

There are a number of related beverages such as kvass, sahti and chicha.

• Africa: Hundreds of local drinks made from millet, sorghum, and other available starch crops.
• Andes, South America: Chicha, an Andean beverage made from germinated maize.
• Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim: Chhaang, a popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalaya.
• China: Huangjiu,Choujiu.Jiǔ refers to all alcoholic drinks, most of which are distilled liquors (báijiǔ), but there are traditional grain-based relatives of beer such as sulima, made by the Mosuo people, and lijiang yinjiu, made by the Nakhi people, both in the Lijiang region of Yunnan.
• Finland: Sahti, a traditional Finnish beer.
• Indonesia: Brem, a Balinese fermented rice wine.
• Japan: Sake, a rice-based fermented drink.
• Korea: Soju, a Korean rice beverage, usually made in combination with other starch ingredients such as wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca.
• Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia: Kumis (in Kyrgyz called kymyz), is the fermented mare's milk drink popular in many parts of Central Asia and Mongolia. It is very easy to obtain as it is sold in any market and at small stands on the side of the highway in rural areas as a source of income for the local nomads.
• Kyrgyzstan: Bozo is a low alcohol, somewhat porridgey drink made from millet. The Kyrgyz are also fans of kymyz (see kumis).
• Mexico: Pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. Though commonly believed to be a beer, the main carbohydrate is a complex form of fructose rather than starch.
• Russia/Ukraine: Kvass, a fermented nonalcoholic or mildly alcoholic beverage.
• Bouza: An ancient Egyptian beer made from bread which is still made in Sudan.

See also

Template:Commons

• Brewery
• Brewing
• History of beer
• Homebrewing
• Category:Beer and breweries by region
• Beer style
• List of countries ordered by per capita beer consumption

Notes

References

Wikipedia information about Beer This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Beer". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.