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The Beer Portal

Introduction

P: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. Beer is 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. 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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Image 1
Rauchbier, a smokey style of beer

Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin.

The modern concept of beer styles is largely based on the work of writer Michael Jackson in his 1977 book The World Guide To Beer. In 1989, Fred Eckhardt furthered Jackson's work publishing The Essentials of Beer Style. Although the systematic study of beer styles is a modern phenomenon, the practice of distinguishing between different varieties of beer is ancient, dating to at least 2000 BC. (Full article...)
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Barley wines range in colour from translucent deep amber, to cloudy mahogany (left), to near opaque black (right).

Barley wine (often stylised barleywine) is a strong ale from 6–12% alcohol by volume. (Full article...)
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Steam beer, also known as California common beer, is made by fermenting lager yeast at a higher than normal temperature.

Historically steam beer came from Bavaria, Germany, and is associated with San Francisco and the West Coast of the United States. It was an improvised process, originating out of necessity, and was considered a cheap, low-quality beer, as shown by references to it in literature of the 1890s and 1900s. (Full article...)
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Stoneware beer steins

A beer stein (/ˈstaɪn/ STYNE), or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible. An 1894 article on beer mugs in the American Vogue magazine that describes various types of steins stated: "And it is to this [i.e. German] nation that we owe Wagner's music and the apotheosis of the beer mug."

Such steins may be made out of stoneware, pewter, porcelain or even silver, wood or crystal glass; they may have open tops or hinged pewter lids with a thumb-lever. Steins usually come in sizes of a half litre or a full litre (or comparable historic sizes). Like decorative tankards, they are often decorated in a nostalgic manner with allusions to Germany. (Full article...)
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Bergenhus microbrewery, Bergen, Norway

Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer, than larger "macro" breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, new flavours, and varied brewing techniques.

The microbrewery movement began in both the United States and United Kingdom in the 1970s, although traditional artisanal brewing existed in Europe for centuries and subsequently spread to other countries. As the movement grew, and some breweries expanded their production and distribution, the more encompassing concept of craft brewing emerged. A brewpub is a pub that brews its own beer for sale on the premises. (Full article...)
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Liefman's oud bruin

Oud Bruin (Old Brown), also known as Flanders Brown, is a style of beer originating from the Flemish region of Belgium. The Dutch name refers to the long aging process, up to a year. It undergoes a secondary fermentation, which takes several weeks to a month, and is followed by bottle aging for several more months. The extended aging allows residual yeast and bacteria to develop a sour flavor characteristic for this style. Usually, cultured yeast and bacteria are used, as stainless steel equipment does not harbor wild organisms as wood does. (Full article...)
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Pub with No Beer sign in Ingham Australia

"A Pub with No Beer" is the title of a humorous country song made famous by country singers Slim Dusty (in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States) and Bobbejaan Schoepen (in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria).

Gordon Parsons wrote and arranged the song about his local pub at Taylors Arm, New South Wales, adapted from Irish poet Dan Sheahan's original poem "A Pub Without Beer" about the Day Dawn Hotel in Ingham, North Queensland, now known as Lees Hotel, Ingham, Queensland. The song gently explores the "devastation" caused to a pub and its community when its beer supply is interrupted. (Full article...)
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Beer mile competitors at the starting line

A beer mile is a 1-mile (1.6 km) drinking race combining running and speed drinking. Typically, the race takes place on a standard 400-metre or 1/4-mile running track. The race begins at the 1-mile starting line with the consumption of a 12-US-fluid-ounce (355 ml) beer, followed by a full lap around the track. The next three laps continue in a similar manner: another 12-ounce beer is consumed before commencing the running of each lap. Following the completion of the fourth running lap (and four beers), a competitor has finished the race.

In North America, 12 US ounces of beer are consumed from a can or bottle before every lap. A set of rules has been defined and published by BeerMile.com. (Full article...)
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Beer brewed following a 13th-century recipe using gruit herbs

Gruit (alternately grut or gruyt) is a herb mixture used for bittering and flavouring beer, popular before the extensive use of hops. The terms gruit and grut ale may also refer to the beverage produced using gruit. Today, however, gruit is a colloquial term applied to a beer seasoned with gruit-like herbs. (Full article...)
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Examples of zero-alcohol beer in Iran. As per sharia law, purchasing and consuming alcoholic drinks is prohibited in the country.

Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol by volume that aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating or reducing the inebriating effect, carbohydrates, and calories of regular alcoholic brews. Low-alcohol beers can come in different beer styles such as lagers, stouts, and ales. Low-alcohol beer is also known as light beer, non-alcoholic beer, small beer, small ale, or near-beer. (Full article...)
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Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH₃CH₂OH. It is an alcohol, with its formula also written as C₂H₅OH, C₂H₆O or EtOH, where Et stands for ethyl. Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a characteristic wine-like odor and pungent taste. It is a psychoactive recreational drug, and the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks.

Ethanol is naturally produced by the fermentation process of sugars by yeasts or via petrochemical processes such as ethylene hydration. Historically it was used as a general anesthetic, and has modern medical applications as an antiseptic, disinfectant, solvent for some medications, and antidote for methanol poisoning and ethylene glycol poisoning. It is used as a chemical solvent and in the synthesis of organic compounds, and as a fuel source. Ethanol also can be dehydrated to make ethylene, an important chemical feedstock. As of 2006, world production of ethanol was 51 gigalitres (1.3×10¹⁰ US gallons), coming mostly from Brazil and the U.S. (Full article...)
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A thatched country pub, the Williams Arms, near Braunton, Devon, England

A pub (short for public house) is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
1. is open to the public without membership or residency
2. serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
3. has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
4. allows drinks to be bought at a bar (i.e., not only table service)
The history of pubs can be traced to taverns in Roman Britain, and through Anglo-Saxon alehouses, but it was not until the early 19th century that pubs, as they are today, first began to appear. The model also became popular in countries and regions of British influence, where pubs are often still considered to be an important aspect of their culture. In many places, especially in villages, pubs are the focal point of local communities. In his 17th-century diary, Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England". (Full article...)
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Blow my skull is an alcoholic punch drink that originated in mid-19th century Australia. As listed in The English and Australian Cookery Book by Edward Abbott, it calls for two pints of boiling water, sugar loaf, lime or lemon juice, one pint of ale or porter, one pint rum, and a half a pint of brandy. It has been described as a "notoriously potent alcoholic concoction".

Some alternatively call the drink blow my skull off, which may also refer to a historical version made instead by the mixing of rum, Cocculus indicus, "spirits of wine", cayenne pepper, Turkish opium and water. (Full article...)
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Berliner Weisse (German: Berliner Weiße, pronounced [bɛʁˌliːnɐ ˈvaɪ̯sə] ) is a cloudy, sour beer of around 3.5% alcohol by volume. It is a regional variation of the wheat beer style from Northern Germany, dating back to at least the 16th century. It can be made from combinations of malted barley and wheat, with the stipulation that the malts are kilned at very low temperatures or even air-dried to minimise colour formation. The fermentation takes place with a mixture of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Brettanomyces) and lactic acid bacteria, a prerequisite that creates the lactic acid taste, a distinguishing feature of Berliner Weisse.

By the late 19th century, Berliner Weisse was the most popular alcoholic drink in Berlin, with up to fifty breweries producing it. By the late 20th century, there were only two breweries left in Berlin producing the beer. (Full article...)
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Goldsmith played the Most Interesting Man in the World from 2006 to 2016

The Most Interesting Man in the World was an advertising campaign for Dos Equis beer featuring actor Jonathan Goldsmith as a bearded, debonair older gentleman with voiceovers that were both humorous and outrageous. The advertisements began appearing in the United States in 2006 and became a popular Internet meme. The campaign ended in 2018. (Full article...)

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Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV light American lager beer sold by Molson Coors (previously MillerCoors) of Chicago, Illinois. It was first produced in 1975. The company also produces Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life. Miller Lite competes mainly with Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light. Miller Lite is the official beer sponsor of the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, and Bellator MMA. (Full article...)

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Amund Ringnes (7 October 1840 – 13 January 1907) was a Norwegian businessman, brewery owner and patron.

He was born in Krødsherad, Buskerud, the son of Anders Knudsen Ringnes (1813–75), farmer, and his wife Maren Amundsdatter (1815–76). He grew up at the Ringnes farm, and commenced working at Akers Mekaniske Verksted in 1860. He left Akers Mek. Verksted in 1865, and was employed by the brewery Christiania Bryggeri. In 1876, he founded Ringnes & Compani brewery with his brother Ellef Ringnes and the businessman Axel Heiberg. It was the eighth brewery in Christiania (now Oslo), and later had its name changed to Ringnes Bryggeri. (Full article...)

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... 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 the debate in "Game On" invokes the beer question?
... that Jaega Wise co-hosted the television series Beer Masters alongside musician James Blunt?
... 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 some online social and "Barstool conservatives" spent their Christmas holidays arguing about whether a beer promotional calendar was "demonic"?
... that Abeer Odeh was the first woman to serve as Minister of National Economy in Palestine?

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General images

The following are images from various beer- and brewing-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Spent grain, a brewing by-product (from Brewing)
Image 2Microbreweries, regional breweries, and brew pubs per capita (from Craft beer)
Image 3Põhjala Brewery, Estonia (from Craft beer)
Image 4Casks of real ale from British microbreweries at a beer festival (from Craft beer)
Image 5Diatomaceous earth, used to create a filtration bed (from Brewing)
Image 6A funerary model of a bakery and brewery, from the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt, c. 2009–1998 BCE (from History of beer)
Image 7Great Leap Brewing operates a chain of brewpubs in China (from Craft beer)
Image 8Zoigl beers from the communal brewhouses of Oberpfalz in Germany (from Craft beer)
Image 9A can of Juicy Ass IPA from Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery in Barrie, Ontario, Canada (from Craft beer)
Image 10A selection of French craft beers (from Craft beer)
Image 11Lauter tun (from Brewing)
Image 12Cask ales with gravity dispense at a beer festival (from Brewing)
Image 13Brew kettles at Brasserie La Choulette in France (from Brewing)
Image 14Philistine pottery beer jug (from History of beer)
Image 15A mash tun at the Bass Museum in Burton-upon-Trent (from Brewing)
Image 16Mexican craft beer from Tequixquiac in Zumpango Region (from Craft beer)
Image 17Robohop, a session IPA from Cervisiam in Oslo, Norway (from Craft beer)
Image 18A 16th-century brewery (from Brewing)
Image 19Castaña, a smoked beer with chestnuts from Cerex in Extremadura, Spain (from Craft beer)
Image 20Alulu beer receipt recording a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BCE, from the Sumerian city of Umma in ancient Iraq. (from History of beer)
Image 21Dogo Beer from Minakuchi-shuzō microbrewery in Matsuyama, Japan (from Craft beer)
Image 22Gambrinus – king of beer (from History of beer)
Image 23Conditioning tanks at Anchor Brewing Company (from Brewing)
Image 24A beer sommelier tapping a barrel for a taste at Nebraska Brewing Company (from Craft beer)
Image 25Modern closed fermentation vessels (from Brewing)
Image 26Bergenhus microbrewery, Bergen, Norway (from Craft beer)
Image 27Bottling beer in a modern facility, 1945, Australia (from History of beer)
Image 28Irish Craft Beer Festival, 2015 (from Craft beer)
Image 29Smoked beer from the Schlenkerla brewpub in Bamberg, Germany (from Craft beer)
Image 30Pasteur Street Brewing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (from Craft beer)
Image 31Yeast ring used by Swedish homebrewers in the 19th century to preserve the yeast between brewing sessions. (from History of beer)
Image 32Steamworks Brewing, Vancouver (from Craft beer)
Image 33A 16th-century brewery (from History of beer)
Image 34The Alulu beer receipt records a purchase of "best" beer from a brewer, c. 2050 BC from the Sumerian city of Umma in Mesopotamia (ancient Iraq). (from Brewing)
Image 35Craft brewing at Allagash in Portland, Maine (from Craft beer)
Image 36D. G. Yuengling & Son is the oldest operating brewing company in the US, established in 1829. It is also the largest craft brewer, and the 6th largest brewing company overall. (from Craft beer)
Image 37A growler of beer from Flounder Brewing, a nanobrewery in New Jersey, US (from Craft beer)
Image 38A yard of ale at Jolly Brewery, Taiwan (from Craft beer)
Image 39A hydrometer measures beer's specific gravity (from History of beer)
Image 40Bill Urquhart at Litchborough Brewery (from Craft beer)
Image 41Open vessels showing fermentation taking place (from Brewing)
Image 42Spontaneous fermentation at Timmermans in Belgium (from Brewing)
Image 43Malted barley before kilning or roasting (from Brewing)
Image 44The Caledonian Brewery, founded in 1869, Edinburgh, Scotland (from History of beer)
Image 45Traditional fermenting building (center) and modern fermenting building (left) in Pilsner Urquell Brewery (Czech Republic) (from History of beer)
Image 46World beer consumption per capita (from History of beer)
Image 47Hop cone grown in a hop field, Hallertau, Germany (from Brewing)
Image 48Rock mortars in Raqefet Cave, used to make beer during the Stone Age. (from History of beer)
Image 49A replica of ancient Egyptian beer, brewed from emmer wheat by the Courage brewery in 1996 (from History of beer)