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'World's oldest brewery' found in cave in Israel, say researchers
Researchers say they have found the world's oldest brewery, with residue of 13,000-year-old beer, in a prehistoric cave near Haifa in Israel. The discovery was made while they were studying a burial site for semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers.
Brewing beer was thought to go back 5,000 years, but the latest discovery may turn beer history on its head. The findings also suggest beer was not necessarily a surplus of making bread as previously thought. The researchers say they cannot tell which came first, and in October's issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, they suggest the beer was brewed for ritual feasts to honour the dead [DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.08.008] [DX].
When will Dogfish Head seize the research?
Related: Beer Domesticated Man
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5,000-Year-Old Chinese Beer Recipe Recreated by Students
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday September 16 2018, @06:15AM (14 children)
-r.
So I once read anyway.
I speculate that fermentation was originally not just a way to get wasted but also a way to preserve nutrients. But we'll never know because they never put Nutrition Facts labels on hooch.
I do know that fermentation was used as a way to keep drinking water sanitary. While not strictly correct that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer, it's not far off: the crew of the ship they had hired were concerned about having enough low-alcohol Small Beer to make it all the way back to England, so the Pilgrims agreed to be delivered a lot farther north than the location they originally planned for.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday September 16 2018, @07:30AM (12 children)
And yes, a little alcohol helps to keep the bacteria down.
I suspect we had fermented fruit juice for millennia before we had proper beer. It's not hard to do that, in fact you might have to work to avoid it. Ripe fruit in a tropical environment can setup fermentation very quickly. I'm pretty sure I've even seen chimps pull that trick off.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday September 16 2018, @08:20AM (1 child)
I was a resident of the LA County Central Men's Jail's 2600 Mental Health Block for a couple weeks during the Summer of 1985.
One of my fellow incarcerated wingnuts started w00ting with great joy as he announced the success of his homemade wine: bits of fruit in water with the yeast supplied by the jail's tasty and nutritious fresh-baked bread.
I tried that later myself, but the deputies spotted it during a cell inspection. No Drunky For Mikey.
(That same jail also served us Sheriff Sherman Block-Brand milk with each meal, from the contented cows at the LA County Honor Rancho.)
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by suburbanitemediocrity on Sunday September 16 2018, @08:41PM
Anything with sugar in it (carbohydrates in flour are a sugar) will naturally ferment and turn into wine. Beer is just wheat wine. Rum is sugar cane wine that is distilled. Brandy is distilled grape wine. Vodka is traditionally distilled potato wine. Whisky is distilled beer.
All more or less
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 16 2018, @10:17AM (2 children)
A number of animals enjoy fermented fruit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIDJ-sTuoO8 [youtube.com]
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1) by fritsd on Sunday September 16 2018, @12:55PM (1 child)
Bad aftereffects of eating too many rotting apples: with a head that big, can you imagine the headache?!?
a mööse once bit my sister [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday September 16 2018, @02:21PM
Holeeee shit! I guess he climbed up in the tree, trying to get the last few apples? He'd be embarrassed if he knew it was posted on Youtube for all the world to see.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @12:37PM (1 child)
You're thinking of filtered beer. Leave the yeast in and it's quite healthy.
(Score: 1) by fritsd on Sunday September 16 2018, @12:59PM
Hefeweizen [wikipedia.org] ...
Trappist [wikipedia.org] ...
yum!
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @01:22PM (2 children)
Table beers (very low alcohol) were brewed as an alternative to drinking the local water in many places. Besides the alcohol, beer also has hops and a low pH to keep bacterial contamination low. Plus, the process of making beer involves boiling the liquid which sanitizes it.
Table beers were not notably nutritious, but there were styles brewed to be so, with lots of carbohydrates and residual (unfiltered) yeast. The best known are the big dopplebocks brewed by the monks to get them through Lent [catholicnewsagency.com].
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Sunday September 16 2018, @08:35PM (1 child)
I believe hops were added to beet later on for flavour. The only two ingredients you need are flour and water. Just mix a few spoons of flour in glass of water and let it sit on the counter for a few days. It's start to smell like beer and be alcoholic. I wouldn't recommend drinking it. Add some sugar to speed up the process and boil it to kill off competing molds.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday September 16 2018, @11:51PM
I thought hops were added as a preservative.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by suburbanitemediocrity on Sunday September 16 2018, @08:50PM
A friend who lived in Ghana said people could get very drunk by leaving coconuts out in the sun for a while and drinking the juice which had fermented.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Monday September 17 2018, @10:29AM
Depends on what you call nutritious. Back in the distant past, the problem wasn't staying thin, it was getting enough calories to survive. By that metric beer, especially the murky high carb beer, is actually pretty good.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 2) by suburbanitemediocrity on Sunday September 16 2018, @08:28PM
When I make pizza, I let the dough sit on the counter for a day or two. I've gotten buzzed from eating the raw dough before it's baked. And I've made sourdough bread leaved with natural yeasts in the environment.
So yeah, anyone who develops flour will very soon discover beer once their flour become damp. But there are also many other natural sources of alcohol - all fruits will naturally turn into wine. Most coconuts you find laying on the ground are likely alcoholic.