What Did Beer Taste Like 3,000 Years Ago? Egyptian Beer Recipe Brewed Using Ancient Yeast

Ancient Origins ^ | 07/06/2026 | RamseyHardin

[Adder]

A recent quirky project is challenging the taste buds of modern beer drinkers. Can a beer be made from yeast that’s nearly 3,000 years old, in combination with a 3,500-year-old Egyptian papyrus? The man behind this historic brew is Dylan McDonnell, a homebrewer and nonprofit operations manager. He holds a Master’s in Middle Eastern studies. During the pandemic, McDonnell heard about a man who was using a 4,500-year-old yeast strain to bake sourdough bread.

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TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: ancientbeer; beer; dietandcuisine; godsgravesglyphs; oenology; zymurgy

[ansel12]

I don’t think I have ever drank a case of Bud without it resulting in a headache.

[Don W]

I have a similar problem with wine, especially reds. A glass of wine and I have a nasty headache within 20 minutes. Which really sucks because I live near a very good wine producing region.

[tired&retired]

Per AI

Iron City Beer does not use rice as its primary brewing adjunct. Instead, the brewery’s signature recipe traditionally utilizes corn (often in the form of corn syrup) alongside barley malt, hops, yeast, and water to achieve its classic flavor profile.

[tired&retired]

Anheuser-Busch is the largest single buyer of rice in the United States. Budweiser beer is brewed with rice making up a large portion of the grist.

[tired&retired]

Red wine headaches are typically caused by quercetin, a natural flavanol found in grape skins. When combined with alcohol, it blocks the liver enzyme needed to fully break down alcohol. This creates a buildup of toxic acetaldehyde, leading to a rapid headache.

You could possibly stop the wine headache by taking diamine oxidase enzyme prior to drinking wine. This assumes that the wine (sulfates) causes a histamine release and DAO enzyme degrades histamines in the body.

[Democrat = party of treason]

Tastes just a little stale...

[tired&retired]

Bud is a rice beer.

According to some bartenders, people who drink rice beers tend to get an angry drunk rather than a relaxing drunk.

[Don W]

I’ll give that a try. It would be nice to do a wine tour without the (to me) inevitable side effect...

[ansel12]

I’ve never heard a bartender say that and it doesn’t sound credible, 20 or 30 beers of one brand leads to anger and 20 or 30 beers of the other doesn’t, in the same person.

[Paal Gulli]

Historically, baking bread and brewing beer evolved side-by-side because they use the same basic ingredients — water, grain, yeast, salt & botanicals — and the same basic processes. The differences are in the details.

Yeast is a naturally-occurring, wild fungus that pees alcohol and farts carbon dioxide gas. Manage its growth in one fashion and it primarily makes CO2, which makes your bread rise (a leavener), giving it its soft texture. Manage the yeast in a different fashion and it produces more alcohol.

But it’s never all one or the other so yeast always makes a little of both alcohol and CO2. If you’ve ever smelled of a brewer’s “mash” or a breadmaker’s dough when “fermenting,” the aromas are remarkably similar.

[The Louiswu]

IYKYK

[IYAS9YAS]

Jayne Cobb. The Hero of Canton!

[week 71]

They should call it Sphinx Light. Or Sphinx Platinum.

[Georgia Girl 2]

In other words Old Milwaukee. 😉

[telescope115]

Before I stopped drinking alcohol I used to drink Belgian Ales, I loved the taste. Leffe was my favorite.I still have the glass with Their logo on it

I didn’t drink it on a regular basis, just as a treat once in a while. That stuff was expensive, but it sure was good….

[telescope115]

My brother in law was an angry drunk. Come to think of it, he was angry when he wasn’t drunk, and that was a rarity. Not being drunk, that is. He was angry when he was drunk and he was angry if he wasn’t drinking. But I repeat myself.

He’s in the hospital now, after having suffered a stroke.

No more drinking, no more cigarettes. No more marijuana. I think that’s gonna kill him quicker than indulging, like he has for the past 50 years.

[TexasGator]

“Bud is a rice beer.”

Barley, hops and rice.

[ansel12]

I’m very much a believer in the observation that the inner person comes out when drunk, sometimes you see the better side of a guy you thought was a jerk, and sometimes you learn about the jerk living behind the facade of a nice guy.

[dware]

I’d try it, but as a fellow home brewer, I tend to agree with you. I have made beer with juniper, as was more the tradition in colonial days (hops not being native to America). I once brewed George Washington’s recipe with juniper tips. Was decent and a lot better than a modern day IPA. More floral from the juniper rather than cat piss tasting. I hate IPAs, but I do love the fact that the man bun generation absolutely loves them, considering IPAs history.

[telescope115]

In my brother in law’s situation, he has a head full of bad wiring, and always has. Now, unfortunately, his son is following in Dear Old Dad’s footsteps, has already taken up the mantle of Black Sheep of the family and is surpassing his dad by far. I am certain he won’t live nearly as long as his father. He’s traveling much faster on his path to self destruction than his father has.

Booze, drugs, and a head full of bad wiring are not a good combination….