Beer: The Basics

Beer is a fermented beverage principally made from four ingredients; water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. Each one of these ingredients will impart its own flavour characteristics to the finished product, one which is almost as old as civilization itself.

One Egyptian recipe called for bread to be left out in the rain and then allowed to ferment. The result was a soggy but mysteriously invigorating concoction.

Some aboriginals in South America still make a brew called chicha. It is made of corn that is chewed by the tribal women, spat into a bowl, and allowed to ferment for a few days before being consumed by the whole tribe. This could possibly put a whole new spin on the role of women in advertising beer if it were introduced to Canada.