Many of us love this delicious foamy drink, but how much do we know about it? We present to your attention a list of interesting facts about beer, which, of course, can expand your knowledge about the world's most popular alcoholic beverage.
Appearance
You can find many interesting facts about beer and its history. A foamy drink appeared in the Stone Age in Egypt, for several millennia conquered all continents and saved more than one million people from diseases, epidemics and hunger. However, the Egyptians did not know how to filter the wort, so they used a straw when drinking beer, so as not to swallow the malt. Also, the Egyptians at the meeting spoke to each other the phrase "Bread and beer."
English scientists managed to restore the recipe for Egyptian beer after studying the remnants of beer vessels under an electron microscope. The drink is called "Tutankhamun" and in stores sold at 50 pounds per bottle.
You will be surprised, but marijuana and beer have a lot in common: hops for making beer come from the same family of flowering plants as marijuana.
Interesting facts about beer
- Beer is the world's most popular alcoholic beverage and the third most non-alcoholic beverage after tea and water. Every minute, about 0.7% of the total population of our planet is in a state of intoxication. More clearly, these are approximately 50 million people, 10 million of whom are drunk on beer.
- Another interesting fact about beer is that the world leader in beer production is AB-InBev in Belgium, which owns the brands Bass, Spaten, Franziskaner, Lowenbrau, Beck's, Taller, Staropramen, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Stella Artois, Corona, Budweiser (Bud) and others. It produces about 358.8 million hectoliters per year.
- In total there are more than 400 types and varieties of beer in the world. In addition to traditional lagers and ales, you can try foamy drinks that taste like chocolate donuts or pizza. You can find more exotic options: with coffee, watermelon, banana or milk in the composition.
- Skinny girls need to take note of the following fact: one pint of Guinness (about 0.45 liters in size) contains fewer calories than the same amount of freshly squeezed orange juice.
Unusual beer
It is also worth bringing interesting facts about beer that you definitely did not expect to hear.
- Beer in Zambia is an effective way to fight rodents. For rats and mice, farmers still leave pans of milk, where they add a little beer. In the morning, they can only collect animals that are tormented by a hangover and not sober up.
- Traditional corn beer from Peru - chicha, which was brewed in the Inca era. It contained an extremely strange secret ingredient - human saliva. As you know, a lot of enzymes and unusual bacteria can be found in the human mouth. There are also those that can replace brewing processes. And this means that the processes of corn fermentation can be activated by chewing, moisturizing in the oral cavity, and then spitting out in the beer mixture.
- What is the strongest beer in the world? This is Brewmeister's, or the Scottish "snake venom." In ordinary beer, the alcohol content usually does not exceed 5%, in the same beer drink its norm is 67.5%.
Craft beer
Craft beer, which is gaining ground with international brewing giants, is gaining popularity all over the world. True connoisseurs of the true taste of beer can travel hundreds of kilometers for it, just to find authentic beers. The newest direction in the tourism sector was born - beer tourism. What is craft beer, and why is it becoming a new cult for gourmets?
Until about the middle of the 19th century, all beer in the world was craft. However, no one knew about it, because there was no other beer. We can say that craft beer is one of the oldest drinks in human history, which has had a great impact on our civilization.
The term "craft" itself means "manual cooking", "artisanal", "craft". Home brewing has been popular in almost all countries and cultures. In Europe, the Middle Ages preferred to drink beer instead of water, because it was much safer, given the complete unsanitary conditions.
Interesting facts about craft beer
In the nineteenth century, the rapid development of technology and science took place, entire branches of agriculture, which seemed eternal, went into oblivion. Manual labor was replaced by machines, with the help of new technologies man simplified, cheapened and accelerated many processes.
Industrialization also touched the field of brewing. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some breweries became even larger, attracting capital from the outside. They introduced advanced developments, allowing to receive more and more inexpensive products in a shorter period of time. Gradually they drove out of the market and absorbed their competitors, who were less fortunate.
Consumers also opted for cheaper beer, which was brewed with acceptable quality, albeit without much taste. Accordingly, beer production in the world grew, but the drink itself became less interesting and more monotonous - the way everyone knows it today. Beer has become consumer goods - a drink that has an indefinite taste, but a certain degree that suits the average consumer.
In the twentieth century, closer to the 80s in the United States and Europe, more frequent protests by home brewers wishing to return to the roots. They wanted to make beer using traditional technologies, in small batches at breweries independent of large factories, while experimenting with various flavoring natural additives to get a new taste.
In 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter officially authorized home brewing. Starting from this moment, a new term is introduced into the speech of Americans, and then the inhabitants of the rest of the world: “craft beer”. Interesting facts about this popular drink will be presented later. By the way, this was the starting point of the latest beer revolution.
German recipe
To begin, consider interesting facts about beer in Germany.
In this country, beer production is regulated by the Reinheitsgebot Act , which was published in 1516. According to this law, beer should only be brewed using ingredients such as water, yeast, barley and hops. Now there are over 100 different varieties of hops, more than 200 types of yeast and about 40 kinds of malt. Thanks to such possibilities of variations, there can be an infinite number. The taste of beer may vary depending on the properties of the water. According to the German Brewers Federation (DBB), based in Berlin, a new beer can be tasted every day for 15 years.
You can’t go to Germany and not bring a few bottles of beer as a gift. In almost every city you can find your own beer drink, as there is at least one brewery in each village. An interesting fact: in Bremen, draft beer is one of the best in Germany. There are a huge number of private breweries, as well as Beck's brewery.
The founders of the plant in 1873 thought they would sell their products to neighboring countries (since the plant was built on the banks of the Weser River). However, the Beck's beer brand was also liked by the Germans, who tasted it after the Second World War. Nowadays, the products of this brewery can be found in any supermarket.
Coffee for beer
In 1777, King Frederick the Great of Prussia was forbidden by the highest decree to import coffee from abroad. “It is disgusting to observe the increase in the amount of coffee consumed by my subjects ... My people should drink beer,” the phrase was written in the manifest, among other requirements. This law, which was aimed at supporting the national economy, has been in force for 20 years and has contributed to the creation of a black market. Coffee was smuggled into beer barrels, charcoal bags, and even coffins.
USSR and beer
The official date of birth of Soviet brewing is February 3, 1922, since it was this year that the decree "On excise taxes on beer, honey, kvass and fruit and artificial mineral waters" was signed.
It is worth quoting some interesting facts about beer in the USSR. In the era of the Soviet Union, beer was not that scarce, it just was never enough for everyone. Therefore, people who crowded in beer in lines took three-liter cans or cans with them. If there was no such container, then the beer was poured into plastic bags. The seller, on this occasion, always had at hand a three-liter jar. The most common beer purchase unit was three liters to enjoy it to the fullest. If they took beer in a street stall or in a beer hall, then they bought immediately two, and once, three or four mugs.
"Zhigulevskoe"
Most often in the USSR , Zhigulevskoe beer was sold for bottling , which cost 22 kopecks per mug. It was a real national brand, which was known throughout the Union. And the taste of beer was familiar to almost the entire male population of the country.
It's no secret that in the USSR beer was mercilessly diluted with water. In addition, rarely did any of the sellers add beer to the desired volume - it was thought that when filling it was necessary to make a large layer of foam, which slowly settled. When it disappeared, it was possible to notice that the beer actually turned out to be a little more than half a mug.