Beer: all about history, crafting and fun facts
After work, a cold beer, so the man of today treats himself to a little relaxation. Of course, not only the man - and of course not only from today. Because the first beer there was probably already 13,000 years ago; unfortunately, without the testimony of contemporary witnesses. But first, let's take it one step at a time...
The history and manufacture
While the first beer was probably brewed 13,000 years ago, this was done secretly and only through the oral transmission of ingredients and their production. The first written recipe for - let's call it "Urbier" - can be estimated to be about 5,000 years old.
However, the first beers were not comparable with today's beer. While beer was still made from a wide variety of ingredients back then - especially in the Middle Ages - nowadays it is actually brewed to a large extent from hops. Another difference is made by the now bottom-fermented brewing method.
If we now look at the development chronologically and according to its importance, we can probably say that the discovery of the "Pilsner Brauart" of bottom-fermented beer created a major breakthrough. This refers to bottom-fermented beer with an increased hop content, correspondingly also a very strong hop aroma and only a small proportion of original wort. This beer is often known as lager or export beer. It takes its name, of course, from its place of origin: The Bohemian city of Pilsen.
In addition, there are now an enormous number of other varieties, here is just a minimal overview:
- Top-fermented e.g. old beer, Cologne beer or wheat beer, also the ale counts to it
- Bottom fermented e.g. Pils, Pale or the English Lager
Fun facts about beer
- The strongest beer in the world now has over 60% alcohol content. However, this is only possible because there is a little help (for example, by adding fresh yeast, or the like). Actually beer yeast dies from 12% alcohol content.
- Beside the wine tasting known to all, there is also a beer tasting. Not only that the breweries taste and sniff their beers (here the taste ranges from bitter to sweet to mild, the smell from aromatic to caramel-like to musty). No, beer is really tasted. This tasting is mostly done by a beer sommelier.
- Beer with more than 3.5% by volume is not freely available for sale in Sweden. Also, in other countries, such as South Africa, beer and other alcohol can only be purchased in so-called Liquor Stores.
- The first cargo transported by rail was two barrels of beer. Their journey was from Nuremberg to Fürth.
Why the request "liquid bread"
Sometimes people jokingly say that beer can be seen as "liquid bread". This sounds funny, but actually has a really sad background. In the past, beer was served as a drink to children because of its low alcohol content and the sterility created by boiling the beer wort. Since beer, in comparison to the drinking water of that time, was just germ-free. Likewise - and hence comes the saying "Five beers are also a schnitzel" beer is caloric and could therefore be ingested as a supplement to the diet to allow the processing of low-quality grain.