Students recreate 5,000-year-old Chinese beer recipe

phys.org ^ | February 8, 2017 | Alex Shashkevich

[BenLurkin]

Liu, together with doctoral candidate Jiajing Wang and a group of other experts, discovered the 5,000-year-old beer recipe by studying the residue on the inner walls of pottery vessels found in an excavated site in northeast China. The research, which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provided the earliest evidence of beer production in China so far.

The ancient Chinese made beer mainly with cereal grains, including millet and barley, as well as with Job's tears, a type of grass in Asia, according to the research. Traces of yam and lily root parts also appeared in the concoction.

Liu said she was particularly surprised to find barley – which is used to make beer today – in the recipe because the earliest evidence to date of barley seeds in China dates to 4,000 years ago. This suggests why barley, which was first domesticated in western Asia, spread to China.

"Our results suggest the purpose of barley's introduction in China could have been related to making alcohol rather than as a staple food," Liu said.

The ancient Chinese beer looked more like porridge and likely tasted sweeter and fruitier than the clear, bitter beers of today. The ingredients used for fermentation were not filtered out, and straws were commonly used for drinking, Liu said.

[heterosupremacist]

Where can I get a few cases?

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

It’s good to see a story about students doing something worthwhile.

[deadrock]

Drink a case. In half an hour, you are sober again.

[lee martell]

Confucius say:”Hmmm...That’s some good sh*t! Leave barrel here!”

[Ellendra]

The ancient Chinese made beer mainly with cereal grains, including millet and barley, as well as with Job's tears

I've recently been doing a lot of research on Job's Tears, and according to most of the articles I found, it was referred to as a type of barley in most of Asia. Did they take that into account when reading the recipe?

[Redcitizen]

“Students recreate 5,000-year-old Chinese beer recipe”

Well it was an ancient Chinese secret...

[wtd]

Ellendra said: "The ancient Chinese made beer mainly with cereal grains, including millet and barley, as well as with Job's tears

I've recently been doing a lot of research on Job's Tears, and according to most of the articles I found, it was referred to as a type of barley in most of Asia. Did they take that into account when reading the recipe?

Interesting. See:

[JimRed]

Introducing non-native species can have unforeseen consequences. Learn what good it will do, vs. what harm before acting.