Introduction
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Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The fermentation of the starch sugars in the wort produces ethanol and carbonation in the beer. Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world, the most widely consumed, and the third most popular drink after water and tea. Most modern beer is brewed with hops, which add bitterness and other flavours and act as a natural preservative and stabilising agent. Other flavouring agents, such as gruit, herbs, or fruits, may be included or used instead of hops. In commercial brewing, natural carbonation is often replaced with forced carbonation.
Some of the earliest writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating it, and "The Hymn to Ninkasi", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, a recipe for it.
Beer is distributed in bottles and cans and is also commonly available on draught, particularly in pubs and bars. The brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of modern beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV).
Beer forms part of the culture of many nations and is associated with social traditions such as beer festivals, as well as activities like pub crawling, pub quizzes, and pub games. (Full article...)
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Oktoberfest (German pronunciation: [ɔkˈtoːbɐˌfɛst] ; Bavarian: Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival, and is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, from mid- or late-September to the first Sunday in October, with more than six million international and national visitors attending the event. Locally, it is called d'Wiesn, after the colloquial name for the fairgrounds, Theresienwiese. Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since the year 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations that are modeled after the original Munich event.
During the event, large quantities of Oktoberfest Beer are consumed: in 2014, 7.7 million litres (2,000,000 US gal) were served. Visitors also enjoy numerous attractions, such as amusement rides, side stalls, and games. There is also a wide variety of traditional foods available. (Full article...)Selected brand -
China Pabst Blue Ribbon (Chinese: 蓝带啤酒; pinyin: Lán dài píjiǔ) is a brand of beer sold in China. It is produced, marketed and distributed by CBR Brewing Company, Inc., which is a Virgin Islands-owned holding company located in Hong Kong. It jointly owns the brand and breweries along with Guangdong Blue Ribbon Group under a sub-licensing agreement with the Pabst Brewing Company.
According to a Bloomberg Businessweek profile, the CBR Brewing Co. was established in 1988. (Full article...)Selected biography -
Did you know (auto-generated) -
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- ... that Pope Pius IX gave the monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey permission to brew Saint Vincent Beer?
- ... that Fred G. Sullivan's film The Beer-Drinker's Guide to Fitness and Filmmaking depicts Sullivan being humiliated with mud and whips for the failings of his previous film?
- ... that Ein Samiya, which provides the water for Taybeh, the first beer brewed in Palestine, was depopulated in 2023 after harassment by neighboring Israeli settlers?
- ... that some online social and "Barstool conservatives" spent their Christmas holidays arguing about whether a beer promotional calendar was "demonic"?
- ... that at the 1965 World Pentathlon Championships, Herbert Polzhuber was said to have drunk ten beers and a bottle of cognac before firing his pistol at the ground and passing out?
- ... that a beer named after the barley variety Golden Promise was not brewed using the variety?
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St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is Draught Guinness.
Originally leased in 1759 to Arthur Guinness at £45 per year for 9,000 years, the St. James's Gate area has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, with an annual output of 1.2 million barrels. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it remains as the largest brewer of stout. The company has since bought out the originally leased property, and during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery had its own power plant. (Full article...)Selected image -
![The landmark Grain Belt beer sign](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Grain_Belt_Beer.jpg/360px-Grain_Belt_Beer.jpg)
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“ | Water is drunk by the four legged beast; man prefers it with hops, malts, and yeast. | ” |
German Trinkspruch |
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WikiProject Beer is an association of Wikipedians with an interest in beer and beer-related subjects. They have come together to coordinate the development of beer and brewery articles here on Wikipedia. Additionally, other groups have formed other projects that entertain subjects that are directly related to beer, bartending and pubs. Additionally, the mixed drinks project covers topics that include beer cocktails. If any of these subjects pique your interest, please feel free to visit their projects. These groups would love to have you participate!
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