9,000-Year-Old Beer Tastes Great

Work up a buzz with ancient history.

According to VOA News, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, a Delaware brewery that specializes in specialty beers, has used a 9,000-year-old recipe to make their latest beer.

The beer is called Chateau Jiahu. Its ancient recipe was discovered by Dr. Patrick McGovern, an archaeochemist at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia. The ingredients and amounts for the recipe were derived from residue found in pottery jars, and include honey, grapes, rice, and hawthorn fruit. This mix is the earliest chemically attested alcoholic beverage in the world.

And the location of this ancient beer? China.

"I think it's really quite remarkable that it doesn't come from Middle East," says Dr. McGovern. "People often assume the first wine and first beer has to be from the Middle East, but it comes from China."

Bryan Selders, the lead brewer at the Delawere brewery, explains to VOA news how they make the ancient beer. The first step is using a vessel called 'mash tun'. "In the mash tun what we do is mix up the mash. And what a mash is is a combination of crushed malted barley and hot water." Rice flakes are then added.

"In the boil kettle we collect the full volume of wort that we need and we boil the wort," continues Selders. "What that accomplishes is it concentrates sugars and sterilizes the wort. Then we are able to spice the wort with hops. We also add honey and hawthorn berries."

Sake yeast is used to ferment the beer. It ferments for a month and then is chilled in another tank.

And the result? Clean and tasty, a gold-colored, fragrant beer. As the owner, Sam Calagione, explains:

"I am sure the original wines and beers back then had infections of bacteria and wild yeast, whereas today in our modern brewing facility with our lab and high tech equipment, we can make sure that no wild yeast and bacteria gets into the beer. So it will be a lot cleaner tasting."

The taste is really what is most remarkable about the ancient beer. It is getting solid reviews from beer enthusiasts. Beer Advocate rated it an 85 out of 100. It tastes almost like a wine, very sweet, and slightly fruity.