5,000 year old Chinese beer recipe found

It looks like the Chinese were brewing beer as long as 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists studying vessels found In the Shaanxi province of China have found certain tools they believe could have been used to make beer in underground rooms between 3,400 and 2,900 BC.

The kits unearthed in the dig contained funnels, pots and special jugs that the archaeologists say could be used for brewing, filtration and storage. Residue in the pottery left behind also contained broomcorn millet, tubers and Job’s Tears, a type of chewy grain. The residue also showed traces of barley, nearly a thousand years earlier than it had earlier been though to have reached the area of the dig. The researchers believe that the ancient Chinese had imported barley specifically for beer-making purposes.

Lead author of the paper publishing these findings, Jiajing Wang of the Stanford University reportedly said that the beer might have tasted a bit sour and bit sweet. Patrick McGovern, an archaeologist with the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved with the research, reportedly said introducing the Middle Eastern barley into a Chinese drink fit with the special role fermented beverages played in social interactions, appealing to emerging elite individuals. He also mentioned that these ancient brewers applied the same principles and techniques as brewers do today to craft a beer.