Beer is the world’s most widely consumed
alcoholic beverage; it is the third-most popular drink overall, after
water and tea. It is thought by some to be the oldest fermented
beverage.
Beer is produced by the saccharification
of starch and fermentation of the resulting sugar. The starch and
saccharification enzymes are often derived from malted cereal grains,
most commonly malted barley and malted wheat.
Unmalted maize and rice are widely used
adjuncts to lighten the flavor because of their lower cost. The
preparation of beer is called brewing.
Most beer is flavoured with hops, which
add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, though other
flavourings such as herbs or fruit may occasionally be included.
Some of humanity’s earliest known
writings refer to the production and distribution of beer: the Code of
Hammurabi included laws regulating beer and beer parlours, and “The Hymn
to Ninkasi”, a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, served as
both a prayer and as a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a
culture with few literate people.
Today, 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 beer is usually around 4%
to 6% alcohol by volume (abv) although it may sometimes vary between
0.5% (de-alcoholized) and 15% (malt liquors).
Beer forms part of the culture of
beer-drinking nations and is associated with social traditions such as
beer festivals, as well as a rich pub culture involving activities like
pub crawling and pub games such as bar billiards.
