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How Beer Gave Us Civilization https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/s

by rch 8y ago

How Beer Gave Us Civilization https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-g...

mirimir 8y ago
That's a great article, for sure. But back in the day, it's arguable that beer was mainly for grain preservation. It's very hard to get wasted on low-EtOH beer. Which is what early beers would have been.
- lostlogin 8y ago
  Chicha in Peru seems to be up to about 3%, which isn’t strong but presumably you could get drunk without too much suffering.
  - jacobush 8y ago
    Especially if I have been off the stuff for a time, I get a real buzz from 3%. Given that they may have had it on an empty stomach too, I'd say, 3% is quite enough to be psychoactive.
- mrob 8y ago
  What evidence do you have for low alcohol content of early beers? Modern beers fermented with wild yeast[0] have roughly the same ABV as beers fermented with selectively bred yeast, and it's rare for modern beers to aim for the highest ABV the yeast is capable of fermenting. ABV is more commonly a consequence of how much you choose to dilute the wort. Higher ABV requires less fuel for heating the water, and results in a product that keeps better, so why wouldn't some early brewers produce it? [0] https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/50/ https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/50/
  - soundwave106 8y ago
    According to one site I ran into (https://www.ancient.eu/article/1033/beer-in-ancient-egypt/ https://www.ancient.eu/article/1033/beer-in-ancient-egypt/), Egyptian beer was classified by strength or flavor. The typical "everyday" Egyptian beer would be roughly the same as typical sessionable beer today, 3-4%. Higher strength beers definitely existed, particularly for religious festivals or ceremonies. The article unfortunately didn't go into details, but this makes sense to me. It is actually pretty easy to make a strong mead (a more ancient alcoholic beverage than beer, and also present in Egypt) and a few references indicate that Egyptians fortified beer with honey or dates sometimes (which would serve mostly to increase ABV, in addition to adding a little flavor). (https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/zymurgy/pharaoh-ale-brewing-a-replica-of-an-ancient-egyptian-beer/ https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/zymurgy/pharaoh-ale-b...). So they certainly were capable of brewing stronger stuff; I have doubts that they went for the low-intoxicant "session beer" all the time.

by rch 8y ago

How Beer Gave Us Civilization https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-g...

mirimir 8y ago

That's a great article, for sure. But back in the day, it's arguable that beer was mainly for grain preservation. It's very hard to get wasted on low-EtOH beer. Which is what early beers would have been.

lostlogin 8y ago
Chicha in Peru seems to be up to about 3%, which isn’t strong but presumably you could get drunk without too much suffering.
- jacobush 8y ago
  Especially if I have been off the stuff for a time, I get a real buzz from 3%. Given that they may have had it on an empty stomach too, I'd say, 3% is quite enough to be psychoactive.
mrob 8y ago
What evidence do you have for low alcohol content of early beers? Modern beers fermented with wild yeast[0] have roughly the same ABV as beers fermented with selectively bred yeast, and it's rare for modern beers to aim for the highest ABV the yeast is capable of fermenting. ABV is more commonly a consequence of how much you choose to dilute the wort. Higher ABV requires less fuel for heating the water, and results in a product that keeps better, so why wouldn't some early brewers produce it? [0] https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/50/ https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/50/
- soundwave106 8y ago
  According to one site I ran into (https://www.ancient.eu/article/1033/beer-in-ancient-egypt/ https://www.ancient.eu/article/1033/beer-in-ancient-egypt/), Egyptian beer was classified by strength or flavor. The typical "everyday" Egyptian beer would be roughly the same as typical sessionable beer today, 3-4%. Higher strength beers definitely existed, particularly for religious festivals or ceremonies. The article unfortunately didn't go into details, but this makes sense to me. It is actually pretty easy to make a strong mead (a more ancient alcoholic beverage than beer, and also present in Egypt) and a few references indicate that Egyptians fortified beer with honey or dates sometimes (which would serve mostly to increase ABV, in addition to adding a little flavor). (https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/zymurgy/pharaoh-ale-brewing-a-replica-of-an-ancient-egyptian-beer/ https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/zymurgy/pharaoh-ale-b...). So they certainly were capable of brewing stronger stuff; I have doubts that they went for the low-intoxicant "session beer" all the time.