Ancient Ceramic Cups Reveal Oldest Direct Evidence of Beer in Mesopotamia

Archaeologists have long known beer was important in the ancient world, but mainly from writings and drawings—finding actual archaeological evidence of the fermented beverage has been a major challenge.

But archaeologists have now employed a new technique to detect beer residues in nearly 2,500-year-old clay cups dug up in a site in northern Iraq.

“What Elsa [Perruchini] has demonstrated is the chemical signature of fermentation in the vessels that also contains the chemical signatures consistent with barley,” says Claudia Glatz, a senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Glasgow and a coauthor of a study published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science. “Putting those together is the interpretation that this is barley beer.”

Read more at Smithsonian Magazine. 

Straining for good taste: New research creates new lager hybrids that pack new flavor

Lagers aren’t the most popular brews among craft beer enthusiasts, and sometimes for good reason. Many of us spent our college years shot-gunning pale big-brand lagers because there was no reason to sip the stuff in appreciation — the warmer the swill got, the worse it often tasted.

But researchers have been tinkering with yeast strains in an effort to create quicker-brewing lagers that offer the same kinds of flavor profiles as the ales we’ve come to love in the years spent paying back all that wasted student loan money.

Read more at Virginia Craft Beer

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Canada’s Craft Beer Invasion of America

Sallying forth with armies and erecting fast food restaurants are time-tested modes of world conquest. But while these modes have proven successful for such respectable conquistadors as Napoleon Bonaparte and Ronald McDonald, Canada has spent much of its relatively short history avoiding these pursuits.

Read more at Chill Magazine

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5 Bands with Brews

Sinus-deep in the craft beer scene as we are, Chill has recently been detecting the aroma of something unusual wafting through the normal interplay of hops, malt and living yeast. In fact, we’ve been detecting the suspicious scent of tight leather pants, polished drums and hairsprayed mullets. The sweet smell of cherrywood guitars and the definitive pungency given off as bodies slam against bodies in the simmering mess of a mosh pit. That’s right, dear readers—we’ve detected the stink of rock music and we’re surprised to say that the lingering note of cheap groupie perfume seems to have done no wrong to the fermented malt we hold so dear to our hearts.

Read more at Chill Magazine

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New Beers Resolutions

 Now that several days have passed and your ridiculous resolution of cutting back on the brew has faded, it’s time for reality to kick in like the boot-to-your-head hangover that seems like it will last well into the New Year. But don’t fret—new life springs gloriously from death and Chill is here to help you resolve a few better ways to drink the beer you probably won’t be giving up in 2014.

Read more at Chill Magazine

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Want to Avoid a Recession? Drink More Beer

Thanks for having a beer. Well, to get technical, thanks for having 235 beers in 2012—and that’s not even counting the pints. According to a new study by The Conference Board of Canada, those 235 beers you chugged or calmly sipped while enjoying the latest symphonic reinterpretation by the London Philharmonic Orchestra helped boost the Canadian economy in a time of dire need.

Read more at Chill Magazine

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Craft Brewers Plot a Hockey Takeover

Hockey fans can now kick back and crack open a crafty cold one as craft breweries are making serious inroads into the world of Zambonis and bodychecks.

While this realm has traditionally been dominated by mainstream macro-breweries, the little beer companies are set to mount a pugnacious offensive into the market. Their reasoning? The spheres of beer and hockey have (gasp!) much room for overlap.

The owner of Ontario craft brewery Lake of Bays Darren Smith says that there is a “good fit” between beer and ice hockey from a “cultural standpoint.”

Read more at Chill Magazine

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Argentina: The beer down here

In El Bolson, Argentina, the weekly craft market where local beer brewers set up is a major tourist draw. On market days you can browse a remarkable array of crafts, artisanal jams and preserves and Argentine foods, but spaced between the shopping stalls are the real prizes: Parapapoto, Piltri and Pilker, local beers vended by bottle or plastic cup.

Read more at the National Post

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