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Myths about beer

The first "brewery" is said to have existed in the Rakefet Cave in the area of the Natufia culture about 13,000 years ago. The oldest surviving beer recipe comes from China and is said to be about 5000 years old. There are also recipes for the production of beer from the ancient Mesopodamian region. The ancient Egyptians were given a type of beer in which they let half-baked bread ferment with water. Several types of beer, however, were known to the Celts. Widespread among them was the corm or curma, which was a simple barley beer. While the cervisia or cervesia was a wheat beer made with honey. A drink for the wealthier population.

Beer was made from all kinds of ingredients in the Middle Ages. The brew was mainly brewed from top-fermented yeast. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, hop beer replaced the usual herb beers.

Beer is a drink produced by fermentation of starchy substances and is not distilled. Hops or other seasonings are added in the production process of the carbonated beverage. These are fruits, herbs such as grut or other spices.

Beer and wine are produced through fermentation. In wine production, sugar from plant or animal sources is added and fermented. With beer, the strength of the fermentation is always decisive. The starch of cereals (oats, millet, barley, rice or maize) is the basis for sugar production. This is obtained from the starch by malting or other enzymatic processes. Very rarely, starch is obtained from potatoes or vegetables.

In Germany and Austria the beers have an alcohol content between 4.5 and 6 percent.

In 2015, Germans drank an average of over 106 litres of beer. That is quite astonishing. There are some rumors about the barley juice. Let's see what wisdom there is about this dear drink.

Drinking beer regularly causes a beer belly

Wrong! It's the crowd that counts. Because a liter of beer (Pils) has about 420 Kcal. A good liter of wine can offer 800 Kcal more. But drinking beer stimulates the appetite. This can already lead to a small belly. If you have a fatty liver or a fat metabolism disorder, every gram of alcohol is metabolized into fat.

Beer on wine, let it be

Wrong! But where did that toast come from, "Wine on beer, I advise you" and "Beer on wine, don't bother"? Those sayings go back to the Middle Ages. where beer was considered the drink of the common man of the people. whereas the upper classes in the Middle Ages drank wine.

So wine on beer was a reference to social advancement. On the other hand, beer on wine meant the social decline of a person.

These sayings have been preserved to this day, without us knowing their exact origin and meaning. Nowadays many people believe in the truth of these sayings and think that they have something to do with our metabolism.

A good glass of Pils should not be tapped for less than seven minutes

Wrong! After seven minutes at most the beer begins to become stale. This myth may have been true at the beginning of the last century, when the old beer taps were still in use. Today, a glass of beer can be tapped in less than three minutes.

Beer is harmful for athletes

Wrong! Beer in moderation and not in bulk after the competition compensates for the loss of liquid. To this the body is supplied with carbohydrates, protein components, minerals and vitamins.

Alcohol-free beer contains a little alcohol

Right! In Germany, non-alcoholic beer may contain a maximum of 0.5 percent alcohol. So if you drink 10 bottles in the afternoon, you already have some alcohol in your blood. Whereby in Germany, non-alcoholic beers usually contain less than the permissible maximum of 0.5 percent.

Beer cannot spoil or become "bad"

Right! This means the barley juice in the closed bottle. If the beer is "fresh", it usually tastes best. Beer consumption after the best-before date usually decreases significantly.

Warm beer is a good "anti-freeze"

Right! Grandma's old home remedy relieves cold. This is thanks to the essential oils and bitter substances. Because the bitter substances have an antibacterial effect. But: warm beer and not hot beer! The temperature should not exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Above this temperature the active ingredients decompose. The drink then promotes sleep and is calming. One glass a day is sufficient here. If fever is involved, you should be careful with alcohol because the immune system is weakened.

In the sun, the alcohol in beer acts faster

Right! By sweating in the sun, the body loses more sweat and thus water. The concentration of alcohol in the blood increases and the buzz sets in more quickly. But the same applies to any drink containing alcohol. The same mechanism exists when I am not exposed to the sun's rays, but have to sweat a lot in warm weather.

Beer beautifies the hair

Right! After washing the hair, massage some beer into it and then blow-dry it at low heat. This gives the hair better hold and makes it shine.

Only beer brewed in accordance with the "Reinheitsgebot" may be sold in Germany

Wrong! In 1516, the Purity Law was introduced in Bavaria and is today considered the oldest food law in the world. Here only barley malt, hops and water were allowed to be used for brewing. Some time later yeast was added. But in our country there are exceptions: Light and wheat beers are among the special beers and require official permission. For these beers the imprint: "brewed according to the German Purity Law" is a taboo. The Reinheitsgebot does not apply to beers from the EU, these may also add other substances to the barley juice.

There's no beer in Hawaii,

Wrong! Even if that's what Paul Kuhn sang in his 1963 pop song. They say there are over a hundred breweries on the island.

Beer enlarges the female breast

Wrong! If women drank beer more often they'd have bigger breasts. Unfortunately this is a Moravian. The vegetable oestrogens contained in beer are in such low concentrations that they have no effect on the growth of the breasts. If this were the case, plastic surgeons would not have to enlarge breasts any more.