Ever wonder what beer tasted like 4000 years ago?

August 5, 2002 2:24 PM

Ever wonder what beer tasted like 4000 years ago? Looks like some folks in Japan did to...
posted by aaronscool (15 comments total)

Wine beer. Yuk.
I mixed beer and wine once, during a game of Kings.... Had to drink it, too. That damn last king.
Yuk.
Ancient Egyptians are weird.
posted by Espoo2 at 2:44 PM on August 5, 2002

Cool link, thanks for that. The article says beer-making in Egypt dates back to the 10th century, B.C, but doesn't say if the Egpytians invented brew. Does anyone know who invented beer?
posted by cell divide at 2:49 PM on August 5, 2002

The Japanese aren't the only ones taking an ancient beer recipe and selling it today. A brew pub in Delaware has revived a 2,700-year-old brew and is selling it in 19 states. It sounds a little gimmicky, but interesting nonetheless.
posted by TBoneMcCool at 2:51 PM on August 5, 2002

A brew pub in Delaware has revived a 2,700-year-old brew and is selling it in 19 states

Kind of thumbs its nose at the whole Budweiser born on dating campaign.

Anyways, if it doesn't taste like beer and it doesn't have hops, is it still okay to market it as beer? Or should it be called something else? I offer "alchobarley juice"
posted by Mushkelley at 2:55 PM on August 5, 2002

Does anyone know who invented beer?

Beer's origins are prehistoric. Here is probably more than you want to know about ancient beer.

TBone, Dogfish Head's Midas' Touch is good (if expensive and unexceptional) if you like sweet barleywines (I do).

posted by goethean at 3:00 PM on August 5, 2002

I once smoked a Marlboro Red from a pack of smokes I hid from my parents at least 10 years earlier... I found them pawing through the junk in their crawl-space. I'm not quite sure what effect it had, but I knew it was something special. But anyway.... Beer is good too. It's good enough to name your (my friend's) homebrew after the drunken pain of brewing it causes.
posted by Witty at 3:04 PM on August 5, 2002

Rival Asahi plans an October release for Christ's Hard Lemonade™, an alcopop based on a 2000 year-old recipe found in small print on the Shroud of Turin.
posted by bingbangbong at 3:10 PM on August 5, 2002

...4,400-year-old Egyptian wall paintings. Evidence of beer making in Egypt dates back to the 10th century B.C.

Wouldn't the 10th century B.C. = 1000 B.C.?
Wouldn't 4,400 years ago aproximately = 2398 B.C.?

Is there some confusion here? Is it mine?
posted by gnz2001 at 3:15 PM on August 5, 2002

gnz: It dates back, then just keeps on dating back.
posted by bingbangbong at 3:17 PM on August 5, 2002

gnz2001: This story is more precise on the wall paintings' age, and doesn't mention the 10th century B.C. "evidence" at all.

Leave it to the Aussies to strive for accuracy in beer reporting.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:40 PM on August 5, 2002

Mushkelley: beer is anything made from malted grains. Historically a beer made without hops was an ale, but today that distinction has vanished. In this case, I think the term barleywine works, although for legal reasons it would have to conform to beer regulations in many states.
posted by dhartung at 4:41 PM on August 5, 2002

Not sure if this is what you're talking about (assuming the product eventually made it to mass market), goetheangoethean, but University of Pennsylvania archaeologists recreated the golden elixir served at King Midas' funeral for a special benefit they held in 2000.

More about ancient beer at AncientBeer.com.
posted by Danelope at 5:25 PM on August 5, 2002

Yeah it is, DanelopeDanelope. Here's the brewery's description.

posted by goethean at 7:55 PM on August 5, 2002

mushkelly: The 2,700 year-old brew to which you refer is called 'Midas Touch' and was modeled after a liquid found in a tomb uncovered by U. Penn Museum archaeologists in 1957 in Turkey. I bought a bottle (750ml) about a year ago out of curiosity. It was pretty good (and pricey at $15 a bottle) very fizzy almost like champagne and very malty with a definite honey flavor. It was like no other beer I have ever tasted.

The company who makes it, Dogfish Head Brewing Company is located in Lewes, DE and I am always sure to pick up a case when I am out there visiting my future-mother-in-law. If you ever get a chance, I recommend the Chicory Stout or the Indian Brown Ale. And if you are ever in Rehoboth, DE, make sure to visit their pub. They have fantastic food and all of their beers on tap.
posted by topherbecker at 7:10 AM on August 6, 2002

OK folks, I think I sufficiently covered the 2,700-year-old brew and the Delaware brew pub in the third post.
posted by TBoneMcCool at 7:34 AM on August 6, 2002