brewing

Oast-houses in Hever, Kent, England. Hops, used to flavour beer, are dried in kilns inside the oast-houses.

A brewery in Venezuela. After mashing (steeping) the barley, the resultant liquid, wort, is boiled in large copper vats to sterilize and concentrate it before the addition of hops. The process usually lasts no more than two hours. Filtering, cooling, and the addition of yeast for fermentation then follow.

The exterior of a modern beer brewery in Cape Province, South Africa. Beer is one of the oldest forms of alcoholic drink, and is recorded as being drunk in ancient China, Egypt, and Babylon.

One of the many light-hearted advertisements for Ireland's most famous export. Founded in 1759, the Guinness Brewery in Dublin is one of the largest in Europe, and it dominates the market for the famous dark ale, or porter.

Making of beer, ale, or other alcoholic beverage, from malt and barley by steeping (mashing), boiling, and fermenting.

Mashing the barley releases its sugars. Yeast is then added, which contains the enzymes needed to convert the sugars into ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide. Hops are added to give a bitter taste.

In 2004 researchers discovered the earliest direct evidence of brewing. Nine-thousand-year-old pottery discovered at a Neolithic village site in eastern China showed chemical traces, notably of tartaric acid, a chemical present in wine made from grapes and a clear indicator that fermented beverages had been stored in the pottery. Other evidence from the excavation suggested that honey, fruit, and rice were also added to the beverage.