Beer and the Beginnings of Civilization
Ancient tablets written in Sumerian language already described the recipe to make the drink that "makes people feel  exhilarated, wonderful and blissful". The drink made of fermented mix of water and grains is a staple of every primitive culture, from the Bohemians to the Bavarians to the Aztecs and Aborigines.

My research reveals that beer was the trigger to civilization. Let me explain how.

Everyone knows that grains are a basic ingredient in beer making. The first Homo Sapiens started farming grains. Farming generated excess production of food that allowed people to dedicate time to activities more interesting than survival such as art, literature, politics, sex as recreation. A social fabric formed, people specialized. The era of nomadic journeys across the continents was over. Civilization was born. Beer was possible.

Bottles, Cans, Taps, Glasses and Beer Temperature

As for any other art, there is a lot of folklore in beer drinking. Let's  demystify little the simple art of drinking beer.

The best beer is fresh and comes from a tap/barrel.  Bottles or cans are equally bad to conserve beer. Better beer is usually bottled  (not canned) and is made outside the US, but that is mere convention. Aluminum cans and twist-off bottles are not necessarily bad ideas, but they usually indicate lower quality beer.

The ideal temperature of beer is slighter colder than the "experts" say. For me, that is about 5C for Lagers and about 10C for Ales. But, unless you have a thermometer and really want to look idiot, a few degrees warmer or colder don't make that much difference. Just cool it enough and if you think it is too cold, let it warm for 30 seconds before drinking. Once cooled, do not let it warm again. If you do, it is still better to cool it again than to drink it warm, so the previous rule does not really apply.

Beer should be poured in the glass so that there is at least 1 inch of creamy foam on top. The foam looks good, offers a subject for beer conversation, and, say the experts, delays oxidation. But the point is that it looks good and offers a subject for beer conversation.

The right glass for Lagers is a clean tulip made of fine, thin glass. The right glass for the Ales are the glasses they serve Ales in when you go to an English pub. The right glass to drink lots of bad beer are mugs. If you drink it directly from the bottle (specially if they squeeze a dirty slice of lime through its neck), that is not beer, it is Corona. 

Beer and Health

Beer is an all-natural drink. Other than taking additional water, it is made of roughly the same ingredients as the universal and biblical food staple: bread. It is fat-free, cholesterol-free, hormone-free. It is very rich in carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamin B. It is also a great source of energy. Low-carb beers is an oxymoron.

Everyone knows that drinking large amounts of water (like, 10 glasses) at once is dangerous. Drinking alcoholic drinks like wine with pizza puts an extra load on your liver and makes you dehydrated. Too much water, too bad. Too much alcohol, worse.

With a concentration of 4-6% of alcohol and mostly composed of water, beer has the perfect balance of simultaneous hydration and dehydration. You can drink as much beer as you want without worrying about it, it is perfectly isotonic. Drinking lots of beer makes you pee a lot and cleanses your body of impurities. Recent studies shows that beer is rich in anti-oxidants and is aphrodisiac.

How is beer made?

Barley, wheat and other grains can be dried right before they sprout and start to consume its own sugar. We say that the grains are malted. The malt is milled and mixed with hot water, spices, and hops (plant rich in oils that provides the bitterness) and boiled for a while. Yeast is added and fermentation takes place.

What are the types of beer?

Strictly, there are only two types of beers: lagers and ales.

The term "Lagers" designates most beers brewed today in non-traditional beer producing countries. Lagers are fermented with yeast that works at low temperatures and at the bottom of the fermentation tank. They are usually light and clean. Examples of lagers are Pilsen (from Pilsen, Bohemia region, Czech Republic), Bock (from Northern Germany, with higher alcoholic content), Munchen (from Munich), Weizen (wheat beer, from Bavaria, Germany).

Ales are fermented at higher temperatures. They are usually darker and have richer flavors. England and Belgium prefer ales. Examples of ales are: Stout (dark, bitter, from Ireland), Porter (malted/toasted taste, England), Brown Ale (sweeter, England), Belgian Ale (made by monks using middle-age methods), Bitter (the traditional English pub beer).

Beer Around the World

To brew this page, I have been reading, studying, and tasting for many many years. Not an easy task...

I have traveled quite a lot. One of the first words I memorize when visiting a country, after "Thank You" and "Please" is the local word for beer.

Germany (bier), Czech Republic and England compose the developed beer world. United States, Australia, Japan (Biru) and Brazil (Cerveja) consume lots of beer, but quality is not great.

South America: Brazilian beers are all very similar. Not good, not bad, light Pilsens drank very cold at the beach or in a bar on Friday night. "Bohemia" was the first beer brewed in Brazil with imported ingredients by a German immigrant living in Petropolis-RJ. Today, Bohemia is owned by the giant AmBev, which has handled the brand reasonably well. As of today, it is probably the best beer in Brazil and in South America. The only non-brazilian beer I know is Pacena from Bolivia.

Germany: I don't like weizenbier (hefe-weizen) too much, but when I'm in Bavaria, I drink Erdinger. It is cloudy and has a less pronounced medicine-like aftertaste typical of wheat beers.

Czech Republic: Ceska Budejovice (Budvar Budweiser) is, by far, the best Pilsen (and otherwise) in the world. Until 1842 all beers were dark or cloudy, until someone in Pilsen created a beer that was light, golden clear. It was the Budvar Budweiser, until the American company copied the name and registered it worldwide. Today, the real Budweiser can be found only East of Germany (the real Budweiser can sometimes be found here as "Checkvar").

North America: It is difficult to pick a drinkable beer among the ones produced by the large breweries. Some of the Ales are ok (Samuel Adams). But the best are probably from some microbrewery I was never able to locate. Since I live in San Jose, I drink a lot of Gordon Biersch (Marzen, Bock), which is less than ok German-style beer served in personality-less noisy brew-pub-restaurants around here.

Africa: While South Africa has good lagers, it suffers from the same problem as other beer drinking countries in the Southern hemisphere: large number of brands manufactured by a single dominant brewery (SAB, which also owns the american Miller). My pick for best beer in the African continent goes to Windhoek, a good lager, which is brewed in Namibia but has followers in Johannesburg.

Japan: Sapporo. I like this Lager that can be found in the notable big aluminum can at most supermarkets in California. Kirin is probably the worst beer I've ever seen.

Southeast Asia: The San Miguel Brewery in the Philippines and Tiger beer in Singapore dispute the market there. I think the Tiger is an excellent lager.

England: My experience is limited. I like the bitters served at the London pubs, but it is not easy to find then here. Bass is probably the easiest to find here in California but it is really bad.

Australia: I once went to a nightclub in Melbourne and they gave me a plastic bucket at the entrance. I later realized that the bucket was for drinking beer. While Fosters is not bad, they seem to value more quantity than quality. My best beer experience in Australia was actually drinking the best served Guinness I have ever had at Chloe's.

Ireland: Guinness. Any question?