Random Trivia Wednesday: Beer

Beer is the world's oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage. Some of the earliest known writings refer to the production and distribution of beer.

The most common starch source for beer is malted barley. Still, wheat, corn, and rice are also widely used, usually in conjunction with barley. The starch source is mashed, steeped in water while enzymes in the malt break down the starch molecules, producing a sugary liquid known as wort, which is then flavoued with hops, which acts as a natural preservative. Other ingredients such as herbs or fruit may be added. Yeast is then used to cause fermentation, which produces alcohol and other waste products from anaerobic respiration of the yeast as it consumes the sugars. The process of beer production is a branch of zymurgy called brewing. Alcoholic beverages fermented from non-starch sources such as grape juice (wine) or honey (mead), as well as distilled beverages, are not classified as beer

Beer is one of the world's oldest beverages, possibly dating back to the 6th millennium BC, and is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer. A prayer to the goddess Ninkasi known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi" serves as both a prayer as well as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people.

The earliest known chemical evidence of beer dates to circa 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. As almost any substance containing carbohydrates, mainly sugar or starch, can naturally undergo fermentation, it is likely that beer-like beverages were independently invented among various cultures throughout the world. The invention of bread and beer has been argued to be responsible for humanity's ability to develop technology and build civilization.

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