How beer brewed 5,000 years ago in China tastes today
Stanford archaeology students recreate recipe based on discovery at the Mijiaya site in Shaanxi province
Stanford University students have recreated a Chinese beer using a recipe that dates back 5,000 years.
The beer “looked like porridge and tasted sweeter and fruitier than the clear, bitter beers of today”, said Li Liu, a professor in Chinese archaeology, was quoted by the university as saying.
Last spring, Liu and her team of researchers were carrying out excavation work at the Mijiaya site in Shaanxi province and found two pits containing remnants of pottery used to make beer, including funnels, pots and amphorae. The pits dated to between 3400BC and 2900BC, in the late Yangshao era. They found a yellowish residue on the remains of the items, including traces of yam, lily root and barley.
The finding suggests that the Mijiaya site was home to China’s earliest brewery.
Liu published research on the finding, saying ancient Chinese made beer primarily with cereal grains, including millet and barley, as well as with Job’s tears, a chewy Asian grain also known as Chinese pearl barley.