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115-728: Alcohol preferences in Europe vary from country to country between beer , wine or spirits . These preferences are traditionally associated with certain regions. Hence, the Central European pattern of alcohol consumption is associated with beer-drinking, the Mediterranean pattern with wine-drinking and the Eastern or Northern European pattern with spirit-drinking countries. However, traditional preferences do not necessarily correspond to current drinking habits, as beer has become

230-685: A Csa climate well inland to ensure hot summers and cold winters. They are generally found in the highly elevated areas of south-eastern Turkey ( Hakkâri ), north-western Iran, northern Iraq, parts of Central Asia , parts of the High Atlas mountain range in central Morocco and very small parts of the Intermountain West in the United States. This climate zone does not exist at all in the Southern Hemisphere, where

345-421: A beer tap at its base. Beer contains the phenolic acids 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid , vanillic acid , caffeic acid , syringic acid , p -coumaric acid , ferulic acid , and sinapic acid . Alkaline hydrolysis experiments show that most of the phenolic acids are present as bound forms and only a small portion can be detected as free compounds. Hops , and beer made with it, contain 8-prenylnaringenin which

460-628: A beer with the consistency of gruel, used by the semi-nomadic Natufians for ritual feasting, at the Raqefet Cave in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa in northern Israel . There is evidence that beer was produced at Göbekli Tepe during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (around 8500  BC to 5500  BC ). The earliest clear chemical evidence of beer produced from barley dates to about 3500–3100  BC , from

575-614: A classification). More extreme and inland humid continental climates, sometimes known as "hyper-continental" climates, are found in northeast China , southern Siberia , Mongolia , Kazakhstan , most of the southern interior of Canada , and the Upper Midwest , where temperatures in the winter resemble those of adjacent subarctic climates (with long, drier, generally very cold winters) but have longer and generally warmer summers (in occasional cases, hot summers). A more moderate variety, found in places like Honshu , east-central China,

690-416: A daily ration of four to five litres of beer, which served as both nutrition and refreshment and was crucial to the pyramids' construction. Some of the earliest Sumerian writings contain references to beer; examples include a prayer to the goddess Ninkasi , known as "The Hymn to Ninkasi", which served as both a prayer and a method of remembering the recipe for beer in a culture with few literate people, and

805-539: A degree that brewers of pale ale add gypsum in a process known as Burtonisation . The starch source provides the fermentable material and determines the strength and flavour of the beer. The most common starch source used in beer is malted grain. Grain is malted by soaking it in water, allowing it to begin germination , and then drying the partially germinated grain in a kiln. Malting produces enzymes that convert starches into fermentable sugars. Different roasting times and temperatures produce different colours of malt from

920-431: A dense head and a creamy mouthfeel . In the 1980s, Guinness introduced the beer widget , a nitrogen-pressurised ball inside a can which creates a moderately dense, tight head. This approximates the effect of serving from a keg, at least for a British-style beer which does not have a specially large head. Cask-conditioned ales (or cask ales) are unfiltered and unpasteurised beers. These beers are termed " real ale " by

1035-481: A document from that year refers to a hop garden in the area paying a tithe to the monastery. It claims to be the oldest working brewery in the world. Top-fermented beers are most commonly produced with Saccharomyces cerevisiae , a top-fermenting yeast which clumps and rises to the surface, typically between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F). At these temperatures, yeast produces significant amounts of esters and other secondary flavour and aroma products, and

1150-516: A marked reduction in wintry precipitation, which increases the chances of a wintertime drought ( w ). Snowfall occurs in all areas with a humid continental climate and in many such places is more common than rain during the height of winter. In places with sufficient wintertime precipitation, the snow cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms , and in North America and Asia an occasional tropical cyclone (or

1265-534: A medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions are present: a person drinks large amounts over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use. Alcoholism reduces

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1380-555: 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. Beer is distributed in bottles and cans, and is commonly available on draught 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

1495-408: A non-profit UK beer organisation, has set a temperature standard range of 12°–14 °C (53°–57 °F) for cask ales to be served. Beer is consumed out of a variety of vessels, such as a glass, a beer stein , a mug, a pewter tankard , a beer bottle or a can; or at music festivals and some bars and nightclubs, from a plastic cup. The shape of the glass from which beer is consumed can influence

1610-510: A person's life expectancy by around ten years and alcohol use is the third leading cause of early death in the United States. No professional medical association recommends that people who are nondrinkers should start drinking alcoholic beverages. In the United States, a total of 3.3 million deaths per year (5.9% of all deaths) are believed to be due to alcohol. Humid temperate climates Humid continental climates are generally found between latitudes 40° N and 60° N , within

1725-623: A popular semi-fermented rice/millet drink in the eastern Himalayas . The Andes in South America has Chicha , made from germinated maize (corn); while the indigenous peoples in Brazil have Cauim , a traditional drink made since pre-Columbian times by chewing manioc so that an enzyme ( amylase ) present in human saliva can break down the starch into fermentable sugars; this is similar to Masato in Peru . Beers made from bread , among

1840-442: A seal less prone to leaking over time than bottles. Cans were initially viewed as a technological breakthrough for maintaining the quality of a beer, then became commonly associated with less expensive, mass-produced beers, even though the quality of storage in cans is much like bottles. Plastic ( PET ) bottles are used by some breweries. The temperature of a beer has an influence on a drinker's experience; warmer temperatures reveal

1955-539: A secondary carbohydrate source, such as maize (corn), rice, wheat, or sugar, often termed an adjunct , especially when used alongside malted barley. Less widely used starch sources include millet , sorghum , and cassava root in Africa; potato in Brazil; and agave in Mexico. Water is the main ingredient, accounting for 93% of beer's weight. The level of dissolved bicarbonate influences beer's finished taste. Due to

2070-472: A single group of nondrinkers, which hides the health benefits of lifelong abstention from ethanol. The long-term health effects of continuous, moderate or heavy alcohol consumption include the risk of developing alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease . Alcoholism , also known as "alcohol use disorder", is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems. It was previously divided into two types: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence . In

2185-450: A social problem on a different level from other European countries. In many countries traditionally preferring vodka, it has been supplanted by beer as the alcoholic drink of choice since the early 21st century. Residents of Finland and Sweden consume twice as much beer as vodka (in terms of pure alcohol). The Polish Beer-Lovers' Party (which won 16 seats in the Sejm in 1991) was founded on

2300-404: A source of bitterness, flavour, and aroma. The longer the hops are boiled, the more bitterness they contribute, but the less hop flavour and aroma remain. The wort is cooled and the yeast is added. The wort is then fermented, often for a week or longer. The yeast settles, leaving the beer clear. During fermentation, most of the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape through a trap . The carbonation

2415-411: A store or a bar, rather than buying pre-bottled beer, can reduce the environmental impact of beer consumption. Most beers are cleared of yeast by filtering when packaged in bottles and cans. However, bottle conditioned beers retain some yeast—either by being unfiltered, or by being filtered and then reseeded with fresh yeast. Many beers are sold in cans, though there is considerable variation in

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2530-538: A strong, sweet drink rather like mead or cider . Whatever the case, the meaning of bēor expanded to cover the meaning of ale . When hopped ale from Europe was imported into Britain in the late Middle Ages, it was described as 'beer' to differentiate it from the British unhopped ale, later acquiring a broader meaning. Beer is one of the world's oldest prepared alcoholic drinks. The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000 year-old residues of

2645-739: A subarctic climate. In the Southern Hemisphere , it exists in well-defined areas only in the Southern Alps of New Zealand , in the Snowy Mountains of Australia in Kiandra, New South Wales and the Andes Mountains of Argentina and Chile . Since climate regimes tend to be dominated by vegetation of one region with relatively homogenous ecology, those that project climate change remap their results in

2760-526: A thermal profile, but because of semi-arid precipitation portions of it are grouped into the BSk category. In Europe , it is found in much of Central Europe : Germany (in the east and southeast part of the country), Austria (generally below 700 m (2,297 ft)), Poland , Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary (generally above 100 m (328 ft)), Croatia (mostly Slavonia region), in much of Eastern Europe : Ukraine (the whole country except

2875-440: A variety of fruit brandies , many of which are considered their " national drink ", such as Țuică , Rakia , and Pálinka . The UNESCO has declared some wine regions in its World Heritage Sites: Beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley , although wheat , maize (corn), rice , and oats are also used. The grain

2990-517: A year. A brewpub is a type of microbrewery that incorporates a pub or other drinking establishment . The highest density of breweries in the world, most of them microbreweries, exists in Franconia , Germany, especially in the district of Upper Franconia , which has about 200 breweries. The Benedictine Weihenstephan brewery in Bavaria , Germany, can trace its roots to the year 768, as

3105-423: Is a potent phytoestrogen . Hop also contains myrcene , humulene , xanthohumol , isoxanthohumol , myrcenol , linalool , tannins, and resin . The alcohol 2M2B is a component of hops brewing. Barley, in the form of malt, brings the condensed tannins prodelphinidins B3 , B9 and C2 into beer. Tryptophol , tyrosol , and phenylethanol are aromatic higher alcohols ( congeners ) produced by yeast during

3220-496: Is a preservative. Yeast is the microorganism responsible for fermenting beer. It metabolises the sugars, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide , and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition, yeast influences the character and flavour. The dominant types of beer yeast are top-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae and bottom-fermenting Saccharomyces pastorianus . Brettanomyces ferments lambics , and Torulaspora delbrueckii ferments Bavarian weissbier . Before

3335-403: Is brewed with a large proportion of wheat although it often also contains a significant proportion of malted barley . Wheat beers are usually top-fermented . Stout is a dark beer made using roasted barley, and typically brewed with slow fermenting yeast. There are a number of variations including dry stout (such as Guinness ), sweet stout, and Imperial (or Russian) stout. Stout was originally

3450-453: Is brewing. It converts the grain into a sugary liquid called wort and then ferments this into beer in a using yeast . The first step, mixing malted barley with hot water in a mash tun , is " mashing ". The starches are converted to sugars, and the sweet wort is drained off. The grains are washed to extract as much fermentable liquid from the grains as possible. The sweet wort is put into a kettle, or "copper", and boiled. Hops are added as

3565-417: Is determined by the malt. The most common colour is a pale amber produced from using pale malts. Pale lager and pale ale are terms used for beers made from malt dried and roasted with the fuel coke . Coke was first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it was not until around 1703 that the term pale ale was used. In terms of sales volume, most of today's beer is based on the pale lager brewed in 1842 in

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3680-521: Is found in northern Kazakhstan , southern Siberia , parts of Mongolia , northern China , and highland elevations in the Koreas . Like its hot-summer counterpart, these climates are typically dry in the winter and bitterly cold due to the Siberian High (often with winter temperatures comparable to their nearby subarctic climates ), while summers are warm and long enough to avoid classification as

3795-669: Is historically the most popular alcoholic drink, informally known as the wine belt , are located to the south of beer belt and vodka belt. The wine belt has been variously defined as approximately spanning 41–44°N, 30–50°N, and 35–50/51°N. Countries in the wine belt include Spain , Portugal , Italy , Greece , Georgia , Cyprus , Albania , Kosovo , North Macedonia , Serbia , Montenegro , Croatia , Bulgaria , San Marino , Switzerland , Romania , France , and Southern Federal District of Russia . The countries of Austria , Hungary , and Slovenia , which themselves produce some highly-regarded wines, may sometimes be considered as part of

3910-467: Is less extreme than the most inland hyper-continental variety. Using the Köppen climate classification , a climate is classified as humid continental when the temperature of the coldest month is below 0 °C [32.0 °F] or −3 °C [26.6 °F] and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C (50 °F). These temperatures were not arbitrary. In Europe,

4025-565: Is less seasonally uniform in the west. The western states of the western United States (namely Montana , Wyoming , parts of southern Idaho , most of Lincoln County in Eastern Washington , parts of Colorado , parts of Utah , isolated parts of northern New Mexico , western Nebraska , and parts of western North and South Dakota ) have thermal regimes which fit the Dfa climate type, but are quite dry, and are generally grouped with

4140-413: Is mashed to convert starch in the grain to sugars , which dissolve in water to form wort . Fermentation of the wort by yeast produces ethanol and carbonation in the 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 . Most modern beer is brewed with hops , which add bitterness and other flavours and act as

4255-516: Is not a meal in itself. A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis found that moderate ethanol consumption brought no mortality benefit compared with lifetime abstention from ethanol consumption. Some studies have concluded that drinking small quantities of alcohol (less than one drink in women and two in men, per day) is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease , stroke , diabetes mellitus , and early death. Some of these studies combined former ethanol drinkers and lifelong abstainers into

4370-724: Is noted during the autumn of deciduous forests. In the poleward direction, these climates transition into subarctic climates featuring short summers (and usually very cold winters) allowing only conifer trees. Moving equatorword, the hot-summer continental climates grade into humid subtropical climates (chiefly in North America and Asia) while the warm-summer continental climates grade into oceanic climates (chiefly in Europe), both of which have milder winters where average temperatures stay above 0°C (or -3°C). Some continental climates with lower precipitation (chiefly in Central Asia and

4485-454: Is often increased either by transferring the beer to a pressure vessel and introducing pressurised carbon dioxide or by transferring it before the fermentation is finished so that carbon dioxide pressure builds up inside the container. The basic ingredients of beer are water; a starch source, usually malted barley ; a brewer's yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring such as hops . A mixture of starch sources may be used, with

4600-461: Is partially frozen and the ice is repeatedly removed, until the desired strength is reached, a process that may class the product as spirits rather than beer. The German brewery Schorschbräu's Schorschbock , a 31% ABV eisbock, and Hair of the Dog 's Dave , a 29% abv barley wine made in 1994, used the same fractional freezing method. A 60% ABV blend of beer with whiskey was jokingly claimed as

4715-424: Is the sole commercial use of hops . The flower of the hop vine acts as a flavouring and preservative agent in nearly all beer made today. The flowers themselves are often called "hops". The first historical mention of the use of hops in beer dates from 822 AD in monastery rules written by Adalard of Corbie , though widespread cultivation of hops for use in beer began in the thirteenth century. Before then, beer

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4830-701: Is to be found in northern China including Manchuria and parts of North China , south-east Russia , and over much of the Korean Peninsula ; it has the Köppen classification Dwa . Much of central Asia , northwestern China , and southern Mongolia has a thermal regime similar to that of the Dfa climate type, but these regions receive so little precipitation that they are more often classified as steppes ( BSk ) or deserts ( BWk ). Dsa climates are rare; they are generally restricted to elevated areas adjacent to mid-latitude Mediterranean climate regions with

4945-625: Is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume (ABV). Some of the earliest writings mention the production and distribution of beer: the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating it, while "The Hymn to Ninkasi ", a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, contains a recipe for it. 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 . In early forms of English and in

5060-752: Is usually around 4% to 6%, measured as alcohol by volume (ABV). The perceived bitterness is measured by the International Bitterness Units scale (IBU), defined in co-operation between the American Society of Brewing Chemists and the European Brewery Convention . The international scale was a development of the European Bitterness Units scale, often abbreviated as EBU, and the bitterness values should be identical. Beer colour

5175-698: The Black Sea coast), Belarus , Russia (mostly central part of European Russia ), south and central parts of the Nordic countries not bathed by the Atlantic Ocean or North Sea : Sweden (historical regions of Svealand and Götaland ), Denmark , Finland (south end, including the three largest cities ), Norway (most populated area), all Baltic States : Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania and also in parts of: Romania (generally above 100 m (328 ft)), Bosnia and Herzegovina , Turkey and in

5290-470: The CAMRA organisation. When a cask arrives in a pub, it is placed horizontally on a " stillage " frame, designed to hold it steady and at the right angle, and then allowed to cool to cellar temperature (typically between 11–13 °C or 52–55 °F), before being tapped and vented—a tap is driven through a rubber bung at the bottom of one end, and a hard spile is used to open a hole in the uppermost side of

5405-482: The Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland , (generally above 100 m (328 ft)). It has little warming or precipitation effects from the northern Atlantic. The cool summer subtype is marked by mild summers, long cold winters and less precipitation than the hot summer subtype; however, short periods of extreme heat are not uncommon. Northern Japan has a similar climate. In Asia, this climate type

5520-484: The Dfa climate type is present near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine , the Southern Federal District of Russia , southern Moldova , Serbia , parts of southern Romania , and Bulgaria , but tends to be drier and can be even semi-arid in these places. In East Asia, this climate exhibits a monsoonal tendency with much higher precipitation in summer than in winter, and due to the effects of

5635-546: The Industrial Revolution was made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced and sold by European monasteries . During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal to industrial manufacture , while domestic production ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century. In 1912, brown bottles began to be used by

5750-751: The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin , in the United States. This innovation has since been accepted worldwide as it prevents light rays from degrading the quality and stability of beer. 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 . As of 2006, more than 133 billion litres (35 billion US gallons) of beer are sold per year, producing global revenues of US$ 294.5 billion. In 2010, China's beer consumption hit 450 billion litres (120 billion US gallons), or nearly twice that of

5865-538: The Korean Peninsula , parts of Eastern Europe , parts of southern Ontario , much of the American Midwest , and the Northeast US , the climate combines hotter summer maxima and greater humidity (similar to those found in adjacent humid subtropical climates ) and moderately cold winters and more intermittent snow cover (averaging somewhat below freezing, too cold for a more temperate classification), and

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5980-763: The beer belt are located to the southwest of countries preferring vodka ("vodka belt") and to the northeast of the countries preferring wine ("wine belt"). These countries' geography is closely tied to the historical growing range of its two main ingredients, barley and hops . Barley was first domesticated during the Neolithic in the ancient Near East . It has been brewed into beer-like beverages for thousands of years and grown in most of Europe since ancient times. Hops are more narrowly distributed, preferring humid temperate climates , similar to potatoes . Originally, European "ale" (not yet called beer in Germanic languages)

6095-552: The mineral properties of each region 's water, specific areas were originally the sole producers of certain types of beer, each identifiable by regional characteristics. Dublin 's hard water is well-suited to making stout , such as Guinness , while the Plzeň Region 's soft water is ideal for brewing Pilsner , such as Pilsner Urquell . The waters of Burton in England contain gypsum , which benefits making pale ale to such

6210-647: The 21st century, larger breweries have repeatedly absorbed smaller breweries. In 2002, South African Breweries bought the North American Miller Brewing Company to found SABMiller , becoming the second-largest brewery after North American Anheuser-Busch . In 2004, the Belgian Interbrew was the third-largest brewery by volume, and the Brazilian AmBev was the fifth-largest. They merged into InBev , becoming

6325-505: The Bavarian Reinheitsgebot ("Purity Law") established that barley, hops and water were the only allowable ingredients in beer (yeast was considered a by-product rather than an ingredient). This became the template for beers across Europe. While non-barley beers (e.g. wheat beer ), and non-hopped-beers (e.g. flavoured with gruit ) are still produced, across most of Europe "beer" is synonymous with barley and hops. Since

6440-530: The CO 2 emissions from a 6-pack of micro-brew beer is about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds). The loss of natural habitat potential from the 6-pack of micro-brew beer is estimated to be 2.5 square metres (26 square feet). Downstream emissions from distribution, retail, storage and disposal of waste can be over 45% of a bottled micro-brew beer's CO 2 emissions. Where legal, the use of a refillable jug, reusable bottle or other reusable containers to transport draught beer from

6555-591: The Canadian Prairie Provinces and below 40°N in the high Appalachians . In Europe, this subtype reaches its most northerly latitude in Bodø at the 67°N . High-altitude locations such as Flagstaff, Arizona , Aspen, Colorado and Los Alamos, New Mexico in the western United States exhibit local Dfb climates. The south-central and southwestern Prairie Provinces also fits the Dfb criteria from

6670-510: The EU's vodka. Vodka preference is sometimes associated exclusively with the Slavic countries of Central and Eastern Europe , as they are the historical homeland of vodka (Poland and Russia being the nations most often associated with the invention of the drink). Before the 19th century, vodka was considered very much a "people's drink" that was common among the peasantry who made up the majority of

6785-525: The Scandinavian languages, the usual word for beer was the word whose Modern English form is ale . The modern word beer comes into present-day English from Old English bēor , itself from Common Germanic , it is found throughout the West Germanic and North Germanic dialects (modern Dutch and German bier , Old Norse bjórr ). The earlier etymology of the word is debated:

6900-462: The United States, but only 5 per cent sold were premium beers, compared with 50 per cent in France and Germany. Beer is the most widely consumed of all alcoholic drinks. A widely publicised study in 2018 suggested that sudden decreases in barley production due to extreme drought and heat could in the future cause substantial volatility in the availability and price of beer. The process of making beer

7015-547: The Western United States) grade into semi-arid climates with similar temperatures but low precipitation. A hot summer version of a continental climate features an average temperature of at least 22 °C (71.6 °F) in its warmest month. Since these regimes are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, the warmest month is usually July or August. High temperatures during the warmest month tend to be in

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7130-541: The alcohol content of their beers. Samuel Adams reached 20% ABVwith Millennium , and then surpassed that amount to 25.6% ABV with Utopias . The strongest beer brewed in Britain was Baz's Super Brew by Parish Brewery, a 23% ABVbeer. In September 2011, the Scottish brewery BrewDog produced Ghost Deer, which, at 28%, they claim to be the world's strongest beer produced by fermentation alone. The product claimed to be

7245-566: The ancient advice ("Fill your belly. Day and night make merry") to Gilgamesh , recorded in the Epic of Gilgamesh by the alewife Siduri , may, at least in part, have referred to the consumption of beer. The Ebla tablets , discovered in 1974 in Ebla , Syria , show that beer was produced in the city in 2500 BC. A fermented drink using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike sake , mould

7360-422: The beer appear bright and clean, rather than the cloudy appearance of ethnic and older styles such as wheat beers . Clarifying agents include isinglass , from the swimbladders of fish; Irish moss , a seaweed; kappa carrageenan , from the seaweed Kappaphycus cottonii ; Polyclar (artificial); and gelatin . Beer marked "suitable for vegans" is clarified either with seaweed or with artificial agents. In

7475-400: The beers to continue to ferment, and to clear any sediment. Lager yeast is a cool bottom-fermenting yeast ( Saccharomyces pastorianus ). Lager typically undergoes primary fermentation at 7–12 °C (45–54 °F), and then a long secondary fermentation at 0–4 °C (32–39 °F) (the lagering phase). During the secondary stage, the lager clears and mellows. The cooler conditions inhibit

7590-412: The brewing process. as secondary products of alcoholic fermentation Beers vary in their nutritional content. The ingredients used to make beer, including the yeast , provide a rich source of nutrients; therefore beer may contain nutrients including magnesium , selenium , potassium , phosphorus , biotin , chromium and B vitamins . Beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread ", though beer

7705-623: The cask. The act of stillaging and then venting a beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a suitable period of hours to days to "drop" (clear) again, as well as to fully condition the beer . At this point the beer is ready to sell, either being pulled through a beer line with a hand pump, or simply being "gravity-fed" directly into the glass. Draught beer's environmental impact can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences. A life cycle study of one beer brand, including grain production, brewing, bottling, distribution and waste management, shows that

7820-420: The central and northeastern portions of North America , Europe , and Asia . Occasionally, they can also be found at higher elevations above other more temperate climate types. They are rare in the Southern Hemisphere , limited to isolated high altitude locations, due to the larger ocean area at that latitude, smaller land mass, and the consequent greater maritime moderation. In the Northern Hemisphere, some of

7935-696: The city of Plzeň in the present-day Czech Republic . The modern pale lager is light in colour due to use of coke for kilning, which gives off heat with little smoke. Dark beers are usually brewed from a pale malt or lager malt base with a small proportion of darker malt added to achieve the desired shade. Other colourants—such as caramel—are also widely used to darken beers. Very dark beers, such as stout , use dark or patent malts that have been roasted longer. Some have roasted unmalted barley. Beer ranges from less than 3% alcohol by volume (abv) to around 14% abv, though this strength can be increased to around 20% by re-pitching with champagne yeast, and to 55% ABVby

8050-459: The classification symbol defines seasonal rainfall as follows: while the third letter denotes the extent of summer heat: Within North America, moisture within this climate regime is supplied by the Great Lakes , Gulf of Mexico and adjacent western subtropical Atlantic . Precipitation is relatively well distributed year-round in many areas with this climate ( f ), while others may see

8165-449: The container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide ". It is applied to both bottle conditioned and cask conditioned beers. As for the types of top-fermented beers, pale ale predominantly uses pale malt. It is one of the world's major beer styles and includes India pale ale (IPA). Mild ale has a predominantly malty palate. It is usually dark, with an abv of 3% to 3.6%. Wheat beer

8280-425: The continents either do not penetrate low enough in latitude or taper too much to have any place that gets the combination of snowy winters and hot summers. Marine influences are very strong around 40°S and such preclude Dfa , Dwa , and Dsa climates from existing in the southern hemisphere. Also known as hemiboreal climate , areas featuring this subtype of the continental climate have an average temperature in

8395-426: The development of artificial refrigeration and by the 1870s, was spread in those countries that concentrated on brewing pale lager. Chilling beer makes it more refreshing, though below 15.5 °C (60 °F) the chilling starts to reduce taste awareness and reduces it significantly below 10 °C (50 °F). Beer served unchilled—either cool or at room temperature—reveal more of their flavours. Cask Marque ,

8510-672: The earliest forms of the drink, are Sahti in Finland, Kvass in Russia and Ukraine , and Bouza in Sudan. 4000 years ago fermented bread was used in Mesopotamia. Food waste activists got inspired by these ancient recipes and use leftover bread to replace a third of the malted barley that would otherwise be used for brewing their craft ale. Beer is measured and assessed by colour, by strength and by bitterness. The strength of modern beer

8625-707: The freeze-distilling process. The alcohol content of beer varies by local practice or beer style. The pale lagers that most consumers are familiar with fall in the range of 4–6%, with a typical ABVof 5%. The customary strength of British ales is quite low, with many session beers being around 4% abv. In Belgium, some beers, such as table beer are of such low alcohol content (1%–4%) that they are served instead of soft drinks in some schools. The weakest beers are described as 'alcohol-free' , typically containing 0.05% ABV; this compares to low alcohol beers which may contain 1.2% ABV or less, and conventional beers which average 4.4% ABV. The strength of beers has climbed during

8740-526: The high 20s to low 30s °C (80s °F), while average January afternoon temperatures are near or well below freezing. Frost-free periods typically last 4 to 7 months in this climate regime. Within North America , this climate includes portions of the central and eastern United States from east of 100°W to south of about the 44°N to the Atlantic . Precipitation increases further eastward in this zone and

8855-439: The humid continental climate covers a much larger area than the hot subtype. In North America, the climate zone covers from about 42°N to 50°N latitude mostly east of 100°W , including parts of Southern Ontario , the southern half of Quebec , The Maritimes , and Newfoundland , as well as the northern United States from eastern North Dakota east to Maine . However, it can be found as far north as 54°N , and further west in

8970-474: The humid continental climates, typically in around Hokkaido , Sakhalin Island , northeastern mainland Europe , Scandinavia , Nova Scotia , and Newfoundland are closer to the sea and heavily maritime-influenced and comparable to oceanic climates , with relatively cool summers, significant year-round precipitation (including high amounts of snow) and winters being just below the freezing mark (too cold for such

9085-418: The largest brewery. In 2007, SABMiller surpassed InBev and Anheuser-Busch when it acquired Royal Grolsch , the brewer of Dutch brand Grolsch. In 2008, when InBev (the second-largest) bought Anheuser-Busch (the third-largest), the new Anheuser-Busch InBev company became again the largest brewer in the world. As of 2020 , according to the market research firm Technavio, AB InBev was the largest brewing company in

9200-532: The later years of the 20th century. Vetter 33, a 10.5% ABV (33 degrees Plato , hence Vetter "33") doppelbock , was listed in the 1994 Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest beer at that time, though Samichlaus , by the Swiss brewer Hürlimann, had also been listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the strongest at 14% |BV. Since then, some brewers have used champagne yeasts to increase

9315-413: The long established traditions of its production, a brand protection similar to the " protected designation of origin ". The "Schnellhardt compromise", proposed by Horst Schnellhardt , suggests that vodkas from other than cereals, potatoes and molasses , should be labeled to say "Vodka produced from". Countries in Europe in which beer is historically the most popular alcoholic drink, informally known as

9430-479: The most popular alcoholic drink world-wide. The following countries, known as the vodka belt , are significant producers and consumers of spirits, particularly vodka : The southern boundary of this region corresponds to the −2 °C (28°F) January isotherm in lowlands. With the exception of Slovakia , Poland , Ukraine , and some regions of southern Russia, cultivation of grapes is impossible or very difficult. EU-countries preferring vodka produce over 70% of

9545-730: The natural production of esters and other byproducts, resulting in a "cleaner"-tasting beer. With improved modern yeast strains, most lager breweries use only short periods of cold storage, typically no more than 2 weeks. Some traditional lagers are still stored for several months. Lambic , a beer of Belgium , is naturally fermented using wild yeasts, rather than cultivated. Many of these are not strains of brewer's yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) and may have significant differences in aroma and sourness. Yeast varieties such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus are common in lambics. In addition, other organisms such as Lactobacillus bacteria produce acids which contribute to

9660-456: The northern and eastern (German-speaking) cantons of Switzerland and the French regions of Alsace , Lorraine , Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the department of Ardennes . There is quite a bit of overlap in these French regions, as well as in southwestern Germany, Luxembourg and most parts of Austria, due to the considerable consumption and cultivation of fine wine there, and Poland is also a part of

9775-580: The northern range of hops does not include most of Scandinavia or Russia (or much of Scotland), these areas, for the most part, are outside of the beer belt and lie in the vodka/whisky belt. As of 2012 the beer-preferring countries include Belgium , Ireland , the United Kingdom , the Netherlands , Denmark , Germany , some parts of Austria , Luxembourg , Czech Republic , Slovakia , Poland , Slovenia , Central Federal District of Russia ,

9890-575: The notion of fighting alcoholism by a cultural abandonment of vodka for beer. And indeed in 1998, beer surpassed vodka as the most popular alcoholic drink in Poland. The term has received much attention since 2006 in the context of the " vodka war " within the European Union about the standardisation of vodka: the vodka-preferring countries insist that only spirits produced from grains and potato must be allowed to be branded as "vodka", according to

10005-407: The perception of the beer and can define and accent the character of the style. Breweries offer branded glassware intended only for their own beers as a marketing promotion, as this increases sales of their product. The pouring process has an influence on a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the centre or down

10120-595: The population in most countries of the time, while the aristocracy preferred imported wines or other alcoholic drinks that were considered less plebeian. There are exceptions, such as Żubrówka , a type of Polish vodka that dates back to the 16th century, which became popular among the szlachta (nobility) as well as the peasantry as early as the 18th century. In his book about the Soviet Union , Alex de Jonge elaborates on his concept of "geoalcoholics". In particular, he explains Russian peculiarities by their belonging to

10235-441: The proportion between different countries. In Sweden in 2001, 63.9% of beer was sold in cans. People either drink from the can or pour the beer into a glass. A technology developed by Crown Holdings for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 'full aperture' can, so named because the entire lid is removed during the opening process, turning the can into a drinking cup. Cans protect the beer from light (thereby preventing spoilage) and have

10350-875: The range of flavours in a beer but cooler temperatures are more refreshing. Most drinkers prefer pale lager to be served chilled, a low- or medium-strength pale ale to be served cool, while a strong barley wine or imperial stout to be served at room temperature. Beer writer Michael Jackson proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: well chilled (7 °C or 45 °F) for "light" beers (pale lagers); chilled (8 °C or 46 °F) for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers; lightly chilled (9 °C or 48 °F) for all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers; cellar temperature (13 °C or 55 °F) for regular British ale , stout and most Belgian specialities ; and room temperature (15.5 °C or 60 °F) for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer ) and barley wine . Drinking chilled beer began with

10465-537: The remnants thereof). Though humidity levels are often high in locations with humid continental climates, the "humid" designation means that the climate is not dry enough to be classified as semi-arid or arid . By definition, forests thrive within this climate. Biomes within this climate regime include temperate woodlands, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous or evergreen forests, coniferous forests, and coniferous swamps. Within wetter areas, maple , spruce , pine , fir , and oak can be found. Fall foliage

10580-535: The result is often a beer with slightly "fruity" compounds resembling apple, pear, pineapple, banana , plum, or prune, among others. After the introduction of hops into England from Flanders in the 15th century, "ale" came to mean an unhopped fermented brew, while "beer" meant a brew with an infusion of hops. The term ' real ale ' was coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973 for "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in

10695-435: The role of yeast in fermentation was understood, fermentation involved wild or airborne yeasts. A few styles, such as lambics , rely on this method today, but most modern fermentation adds pure yeast cultures . Some brewers add clarifying agents or finings to beer, which typically precipitate (collect as a solid) out along with protein solids, and are found only in trace amounts in the finished product. This process makes

10810-708: The same grain. Darker malts produce darker beers. Nearly all beers use barley malt for most of the starch, as its fibrous hull remains attached to the grain during threshing. After malting, barley is milled, which finally removes the hull, breaking it into large pieces. These pieces remain with the grain during the mash and act as a filter bed during lautering , when sweet wort is separated from insoluble grain material. Other grains, including wheat, rice, oats , and rye , and less frequently, corn and sorghum may be used. Some brewers have produced gluten-free beer , made with sorghum, for those who cannot consume gluten -containing grains like wheat, barley, and rye. Flavouring beer

10925-416: The side) into the glass all influence the result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and the release of carbonation . A beer tower or portable beer tap is sometimes used in bars and restaurants to allow a group of customers to serve themselves. The device consists of a tall container with a cooling mechanism and

11040-670: The site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran . Beer is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt , and archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilizations. Approximately 5000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk (modern day Iraq) were paid by their employers with volumes of beer. During the building of the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt , each worker got

11155-575: The sourness. Around the world, many traditional and ancient starch-based drinks are classed as beer. In Africa, there are ethnic beers made from sorghum or millet , such as Oshikundu in Namibia and Tella in Ethiopia. Kyrgyzstan also has a beer made from millet; it is a low alcohol, somewhat porridge-like drink called "Bozo". Bhutan , Nepal, Tibet and Sikkim also use millet in Chhaang ,

11270-532: The steppe ( BSk ) climates. In the eastern and Midwestern United States, Pennsylvania , Ohio , Illinois , Indiana , southern New York , most of Connecticut and Rhode Island , and eastern Massachusetts fall into the hot-summer humid continental climate. In Canada, this climate type exists only over portions of Southern Ontario . In the Eastern Hemisphere, this climate regime is found within interior Eurasia and east-central Asia. Within Europe,

11385-488: The strong Siberian High much colder winter temperatures than similar latitudes around the world, however with lower snowfall, the exception being western Japan with its heavy snowfall. Tōhoku , between Tokyo and Hokkaidō and Western coast of Japan also has a climate with Köppen classification Dfa , but is wetter even than that part of North America with this climate type. A variant which has dry winters and hence relatively lower snowfall with monsoonal type summer rainfall

11500-507: The strongest beer by a Dutch brewery in July 2010. Draught (also spelled "draft") beer from a pressurised keg using a lever-style dispenser and a spout is the most common method of dispensing in bars around the world. A metal keg is pressurised with carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) gas which drives the beer to the dispensing tap or faucet. Some beers may be served with a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture. Nitrogen produces fine bubbles, resulting in

11615-411: The strongest beer made is Schorschbräu's 2011 Schorschbock 57 with 57,5% ABV. It was preceded by The End of History , a 55% Belgian ale , made by BrewDog in 2010. The same company had previously made Sink The Bismarck! , a 41% ABV IPA , and Tactical Nuclear Penguin , a 32% ABV Imperial stout . Each of these beers are made using the eisbock method of fractional freezing , in which a strong ale

11730-522: The strongest variety of porter , a dark brown beer popular with the street and river porters of eighteenth century London. Lager is cool-fermented beer. Pale lagers are the most commonly drunk beers in the world. Many are of the " pilsner " type. The name "lager" comes from the German "lagern" for "to store", as brewers in Bavaria stored beer in cool cellars during the warm summer months, allowing

11845-503: The sweetness of the malt; the bitterness of beers is measured on the International Bitterness Units scale . Hops further contribute floral, citrus, and herbal aromas and flavours. They have an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms, and aids in " head retention", the length of time that a foamy head created by carbonation will last. The acidity of hops

11960-696: The three main theories are that the word originates in Proto-Germanic * beuzą (putatively from Proto-Indo-European * bʰeusóm ), meaning ' brewer's yeast , beer dregs'; that it is related to the word barley , or that it was somehow borrowed from Latin bibere 'to drink'. Christine Fell , in Leeds Studies in English (1975), suggests that the Old English/Norse word bēor did not originally denote ale or beer, but

12075-524: The vodka belt and the absence of the beer belt in the Soviet Union. Other than the prevalent hard liquor, the vodka belt is also characterised by a higher occurrence of binge drinking compared to the rest of Europe. Likewise, in his Russia and the Russians , historian Geoffrey Hoskins notes the distinct effect vodka culture has had on the countries of the former Russian Empire , creating drinking as

12190-472: The vodka belt. The same applies to Latvia and Lithuania (in a lesser extent to Estonia as well), where beer and honey beer has been a traditional drink for centuries and is a traditional part of celebrations like Jāņi and the Saint Jonas's Festival . In 2016, UNESCO inscribed Belgian beer culture on their list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity . Countries in Europe in which wine

12305-435: The warmest month below 22 °C (72 °F). Summer high temperatures in this zone typically average between 21–28 °C (70–82 °F) during the daytime and the average temperatures in the coldest month are generally well or far below the −3 °C (27 °F) (or 0 °C (32.0 °F)) isotherm. Frost-free periods typically last 3–5 months. Heat spells lasting over a week are rare. The warm summer version of

12420-595: The wine belt, but they overlap largely and are in line more with the Beer Belt instead. Additionally, Southwest England (if one classes cider as a wine analogue), parts of the Low Countries, southwestern Germany and parts of Austria could be considered to lie either within the belt or within an overlap region. A number of countries in Southeast Europe that fall within the wine belt also produce

12535-471: The world, with Heineken second, CR Snow third, Carlsberg fourth, and Molson Coors fifth. A microbrewery , or craft brewery , produces a limited amount of beer. The maximum amount of beer a brewery can produce and still be classed as a 'microbrewery' varies by region and by authority; in the US, it is 15,000 US beer barrels (1.8 megalitres; 390 thousand imperial gallons; 460 thousand US gallons)

12650-455: The −3 °C (27 °F) average temperature isotherm (line of equal temperature) was near the southern extent of winter snowpack . In the United States, it is more common to use the 0 °C [32.0 °F] isotherm instead. The 10 °C (50 °F) average temperature was found to be roughly the minimum temperature necessary for tree reproduction and growth. Wide temperature ranges are common within this climate zone. Second letter in

12765-557: Was different from every brewer. What they did not contain was hops , as that was a later addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot and again in 1067 by abbess Hildegard of Bingen . In 1516, William IV, Duke of Bavaria adopted the Reinheitsgebot (purity law), perhaps the oldest food-quality regulation still in use in the 21st century, according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, hops , and barley- malt . Beer produced before

12880-573: Was flavoured with other plants such as grains of paradise or alehoof . Combinations of aromatic herbs, berries, and even wormwood were combined into aflavouring mixture known as gruit . Some beers today, such as Fraoch' by the Scottish Heather Ales company use plants other than hops for flavouring. and Cervoise Lancelot by the French Brasserie-Lancelot company, Hops contribute a bitterness that balances

12995-430: Was mainly brewed on a domestic scale. The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today. Alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers may have contained fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices, and other substances such as narcotic herbs. This mixture was called gruit, where if some were improperly heated could cause hallucinations. The mixture of gruit

13110-599: Was not used to saccharify the rice (amylolytic fermentation); the rice was probably prepared for fermentation by chewing or malting . During the Vedic period in Ancient India , there are records of the consumption of the beer-like sura . Xenophon noted that during his travels, beer was being produced in Armenia . Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it

13225-560: Was produced without hops, which were introduced to Europe from the east. The first evidence of hops in Europe dates from 736  CE , in the Hallertau region of present-day Germany , although the first mention of the use of hops in brewing in that country was not until 1079. The westward spread of hops was slow, not reaching England until 1524. Ireland was still importing hops in the eighteenth century; more than 500 tons of English hops were imported through Dublin alone in 1752. In 1516,

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