5,000-Year-Old Beer Brew Revelation: Research Shows How An Ancient Chinese Pottery Changes Beer History; Adds Insight To Asian Agriculture

Researchers revealed on Monday a 5,000-year-old recipe from a residue found on pottery revealing the earliest evidence of beer brewing in China. This recent findings could lead to development of the Asian agriculture at the ASEAN region.

The artifacts prove that ancient Chinese civilization had already mastered an advanced beer brewing recipe that enclosed influence from West, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study stated that this beer recipe points out a mixture of Chinese and Western elements. Whereas, the barley is from the West while the Job's tears, millet and tubers are from China. The findings indicate that barley arrived to China some 1,000 years much earlier than previously recorded in history. It added that the Barley may have been used as a beer-making ingredient even before it grew to be an agricultural staple.

The archaeological site at Mijiaya, near a branch of the Wei River in northern China, comprises two wells dating back 3,400 to 2,900 BC. There were artifacts that indicate beer brewing, filtration and underground storage space including stoves which were probably used to heat and pound grains.

How can it impact the history of brewing?

This introduction of Middle Eastern barley into a Chinese drink immerse with a particular role of fermented beverages in social relations and could be an exotic ingredient that appeals to elite individuals, said Patrick McGovern, a specialist on biomolecular archeology at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, The Washington Post reported.

Although not part of the study, McGovern approved the techniques used for brewing in China were advanced and used the same principles and techniques as brewers do today. They knew how to use heat to smash down carbohydrates and the subversive site of brewing is very significant, TWP added.

Recently, modern beer-maker Dogfish Head Brewery tried to remake various drinks from the past where McGovern suggested that it may have a flavor similar to the 5,000-year-old brew concocted in northern China.