A clay tablet from the Ur III period decoded in Copenhagen records more than 120 liters of beer distributed over two consecutive days in ancient Mesopotamia, distinguishing between good beer and ordinary beer. The oldest administrative document known to formally classify beer quality.
Vienna Lager was born combining British malting techniques with Bavarian cold fermentation; it was displaced by Czech Pilsner, but survived thanks to Austrian immigrants who arrived in Mexico in the 19th century.
What makes a city of just over 170,000 inhabitants in southern Chile claim the title of beer capital of the southern world without anyone in the region seriously disputing the label?
From sacramental wine regulations to Vatican duty-free shops and Trappist monasteries, the Catholic Church has shaped the alcohol industry in ways most drinkers never consider. The story spans canon law, papal certification of wine producers, and brands that wear the monastic habit without living it.
In 1976, La Zaragozana launched Ambar SIN, Spain’s first non-alcoholic beer. Fifty years later, the country leads European consumption at 14% of the market. The story of the inventor, the blue label, and the journey from 4,000 small bottles to global stardom.
The history of science is filled with characters who worked in the shadows, far from the academic spotlight, but whose contributions ended up transforming entire disciplines. William Sealy Gosset is one such case.
The legend of the Russian Imperial Stout style tells that the future Tsar of Russia, Peter the Great, was captivated by Porter-style beers during a visit to England in the late 17th century.
Although the origin of these names cannot be stated with absolute certainty, one of the most common explanations relates to how alcoholic beverages were historically identified.
Duvel Moortgat is a family brewery founded in 1871 by Jan-Leonard Moortgat in the town of Breendonk, being one of the more than 3,000 breweries operating in Belgium at that time.
Michael Jackson was far more than perhaps the greatest beer writer who ever lived. He was an educator and ambassador who revived interest in beer at its lowest point in quality, variety, and appreciation.
Beer foam (collar or head) is one of those things that has a specific name that most people are unaware of: ‘Giste’, a word that comes from the German ‘Gischt’, which precisely means foam.
The brewing of the Gose style was established during the 16th century in the then-prosperous mining city of Goslar, in the north-central region of Germany (present-day Lower Saxony), which had built its wealth through silver extraction.
