EDISON'S PUB IMPORT BEER PARLOR
2373 Professors St. Cleveland, Ohio 44113
Beer
Education
Ancient Civilizations
The invention of fermented beverages from grain has been
attributed to both the Sumerians and the Egyptians. Both civilizations are known
to have produced an alcoholic drink more than 5,000 years ago. According to
Egyptian legend, Osiris, the god of agriculture, taught humans to prepare beer.
Beer was often an essential ingredient in Sumerian and Egyptian medicine.
The Babylonians are thought to have made at least 16
types of beer from barley, wheat, and honey by 4000 BC. In South America, for
centuries before the arrival of conquerors from Spain, the ancient Incas enjoyed
a corn-based beer. There are ancient references to millet beers in China and
Japan, and the similar African beer is a traditional beverage of Zaire and
neighboring countries.
BEER AND BREWING.
The most popular drink in the world after tea is beer, an alcoholic
beverage made from grain by a brewing method that involves fermentation, a
chemical process converting starch to alcohol. The origin of the word beer is
obscure; it may come from the Hebrew word for grain (based on the root bre), the
Saxon word for barley (bere), or the Latin bibere (meaning "to
drink").
Alcoholic beverages differ in the way they are made and
in the amount of alcohol they contain. Beer is distinguished from others in that
it is made from a variety of cereal grains such as barley, wheat, oats, rice,
millet, maize, and sorghum. Starchy roots such as sweet potatoes and cassava
(the tropical plant from which tapioca is obtained) are also used to make some
beers.