The Archaeology of Beer 89
cold fjord writes with an excerpt from The Atlantic's profile of Dr. Pat McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, who has what sounds like a fascinating job: decoding ancient clues about what (and how) humans in the distant past were brewing and drinking.
"'We always start with infrared spectrometry,' he says. 'That gives us an idea of what organic materials are preserved.' From there, it's on to tandem liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, sometimes coupled with ion cyclotron resonance, and solid-phase micro-extraction gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The end result? A beer recipe. Starting with a few porous clay shards or tiny bits of resin-like residue from a bronze cup, McGovern is able to determine what some ancient Norseman or Etruscan or Shang dynast was drinking." The article points out that McGovern has collaborated with the Dogfish Head brewery to reproduce in modern form six of these ancient recipes.
Re:But ... (Score:2, Interesting)
Ancient beers. I'm afraid to ask what the recipes are. I've heard of (but not verified) fermented milk from various animals. People ferment anything from potatoes, to wheat, to barley, to rice. I'll wager that if a group of people couldn't find anything else to ferment, they'd ferment their own urine.
I'm sure as hell not paying for some untested recipe that some egghead has extrapolated from a bunch of broken pottery dug up at an ancient dig site. Let those eggheads drink their own brew.
Fermented mare's milk is a national drink in Kazakhstan.
Re:Beer shaped history (Score:5, Interesting)
Ancient Egypt used "small beer", which had a low ABV, as a daily drink because the water up and down the Nile was not drinkable. Beer wasn't just something to get sloshed on, but something to actually imbibe to survive, day by day.
Of course, ships needed something, be it beer (as in the above mentioned link) or grog to keep the bugs out of the drinking water supply.
This gets me curious about homebrewing a batch of something as I can get accurately towards an Egyptian small beer. It might be a decent Gatorade replacement.
Re:But ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Ahh First World Food squeemishment.
Fermentation was one of the first way you could preserve your food. As well as making more healthier to eat.
What we call Fresh Milk, has been Homogenized and Pasteurized, so we don't get sick from drinking it. fermented milk was probably healthier overall than fresh milk at the time. The same with other sources of food. Having a way to dehydrate and keep your food clean was very difficult too.
Fermentation was the key to early civilization, it allowed them to store enough food for the hard times, and have some in excess... Allowing them to worry about other issues at hand.
Good, more for me.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Have tried all of DFH's "Ancient Ales" (except the Kvasir which hasn't showed up locally yet), and they were all interesting and surprisingly drinkable. Their "Theobroma", a cacao-based beer based on a Honduran recipe is one of their best products.
Dogfish beers aren't for everyone. But their slogan "Off-Centered Ales for Off-Centered people" should explain that...