Is there life after beer?

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Beer is probably one of the oldest alcoholic drinks in the world; it was already drunk in Mesopotamia 4000 years B.C. At the beginning of our era the Egyptian beer was very famous, especially the beer from a town called Pelusium , a little to the east of the Nile delta. The Germans added some oak bark to the beer, to influence the taste. Later on a combination of herbs was used, and at the end of the middle ages hop was being used. During this period, a lot of beer was drunk, because at that time, most drinking water was spoiled by diseases. At the time brewing beer got more and more craftsmanship. Because of the growing popularity of coffee and tea during the 18th century, beer wasn't wanted as much in the earlier days. After reaching the middle of the last century, beer gained more popularity again.
Beer is made of malted grains. Out of these malted grains, the wort is made, at which the hop is being added. After this, the fermentation takes place. At the European mainland the fermentation mostly takes place at the bottom, which results in a Lager. In England fermentation takes place mostly at the top, which results in an Ale. The last thing to do is pasteurization, which kills the yeast. After this, it's being bottled or put in barrels, and ready to DRINK.

Beer Facts

• It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon".
• Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb".
• In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts so in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".
• Beer was the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It's clear from the Mayflower's log that the crew didn't want to waste beer looking for a better site. The log goes on to state that the passengers "were hassled ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer".
• After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without armor or even shirts. In fact, the term "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.
• In 1740, Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral Vernon, Old Grog, after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog" soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy", a word still in use today.
• In the middle ages, "nunchion" was the word for liquid lunches. It was a combination of the words "noon scheken", or noon drinking. In those days, a large chunk of bread was called lunch. So if you ate bread with your nunchion, you had what we still today call a luncheon.
• Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle", is the phrase inspired by this practice.

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